Why Your Tri cities, WA Lawn Needs Potassium before Winter
It’s Late Fall and the mornings are VERY Cold, and while your lawn grows the best in colder temperatures, growth is slowing down the closer it gets to winter.
That’s why your Kennewick, Pasco and Richland property needs potassium before the ground freezes. Potassium is often in winterizer fertilizer and is a crucial nutrient for helping your turfgrass to prepare for coming season.
As you know, cool season grasses are developed for lawns in the northern part of the U.S. Turfgrass varieties, such as Kentucky blue, various fescues and perennial ryegrasses, grow best in colder climates.
Your Lawn Needs Potassium
As the fall progresses toward winter, and nighttime lows hover in the 30’s or below, the top part of your yard grass slows down and eventually stops growing. However, photosynthesis is still continuing as long as there are sunny days and no snow cover.
Photosynthesis is the process where nutrients, minerals and water are converted into carbohydrates with the help of chlorophyll (green pigment found in lawn grass) and the sun.
These carbohydrates are stored as food in the roots of lawn grass. Plus, your property’s turf is still developing root systems down deep into the soil to store carbohydrates and moisture.
Potassium’s primary job is to harden cells in the grass plant by allowing water to leave the plant’s cells. If water isn’t released, there’s a risk that the water expands at a cellular level and bursts—resulting in frost injury or winterkill.
Winter winds, ice and brief warm-ups followed by plunging temperatures all have the potential to damage or kill your lawn over the winter. Potassium helps to strengthen your turf, so it withstands winter’s brutal temperature extremes.
6 Potassium Benefits Found in Winterizer
Most turfgrass experts agree that winterizer is the best fertilizer—especially if this is the only time your feed your lawn grass throughout the year. Here are six benefits of winterizer fertilization:
- It helps your lawn grass better absorb nutrients: Winterizer helps your lawn better absorb all nutrients including phosphorous and nitrogen.
- Makes yard grass more cold tolerant: Tri Cities WA, gets very cold during the winter, and your yard grass needs the ability to withstand freezing—and below freezing temperatures—for the duration of the winter.
- Makes turfgrass more disease resistant: All lawns are susceptible to disease. Hot, conditions in the summer to snowpack over the winter provide the right conditions for fungal diseases to develop. The potassium-heavy winterizer strengthens your lawn to fight against these diseases—no matter what Mother Nature throws your way.
- Aids in root development: Deep roots and root hairs collect moisture and nutrients from the soil during the winter to feed your lawn. It’s vital to develop deep roots in your turfgrass to find moisture and deliver it to the rest of the plant.
- Improves heat tolerance: Summer temperatures normally soar into the 90’s and sometimes into the 100’s. Summer heat is tough on lawns. Your cool season grass will go into dormancy as a matter of survival. Potassium helps build up your turf to handle these hot summer conditions—even during dormancy.
- Enhances drought tolerance: In the summertime,Tri-Cities WA, has long dry spells where there is no rain. Your lawn wants to go into dormancy, but winterizer helps your lawn hold onto moisture longer and strengthens it, so it doesn’t die during a drought.
Birch’s Lawn Care, Wants You to Have a Beautiful, Healthy Lawn
At Birch‘s Lawn Care, we provide solutions for your Kennewick, Pasco, Richland and West Richland lawn. We provide winterizer fertilization services so your yard can stand up to Washington’s harshest winters.
If you want to give your property a potassium boost, call us today at 509-910-6318 or fill out our contact form.