Liquid vs. Granular Lawn Fertilizer

Choosing the right fertilizer for your lawn care routine depends on your environment, your lawn goals, and the dedication you have to the upkeep of your lawn. One of the crucial choices you must make in your lawn care regimen is the type of fertilizer to use. Before you can look at the needs of your lawn to choose a formula, you first have to decide whether to use liquid lawn fertilizer or granular fertilizer. There are quite a few factors that come into play when deciding between liquid and granular, but here at Simple Lawn Solutions, we’ll break it down to make the decision easy for you, and your lawn care regimen!

 

What Is Liquid Lawn Fertilizer?

Liquid lawn fertilizer is a liquid concentrate of nutrients for your lawn. This concentration is added to water to create a nourishing solution of food for your plants and grass. It is a fast-absorbing way to fertilize your lawn and plants.

 

What Is Granular Lawn Fertilizer?

Granular lawn fertilizer is fertilizer known as dry pellets or solid fertilizer. As a solid, this fertilizer is scattered onto your lawn.

 

Is There a Difference in Lawn Nutrients?

In terms of lawn care, plants need three basic nutrients for growth, root development, enhancing green, and strengthening. Those nutrients are nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. Both liquid lawn fertilizer and granular fertilizer contain these three main nutrients, and plants can’t tell the difference.

 

What Do These Nutrients Do?

The benefits of these nutrients start at the cellular level. All three work together to create and strengthen the membranes of cells. They also produce amino acids which are used as building blocks for growth. Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium generally are considered the most important in the development of a fertility program for turf. These three elements are required in the highest quantities among the mineral elements.

 

Nutrient Comparison

While the basic nutrients in liquid lawn fertilizer are the same compared to granular fertilizer, there is one specific feature that makes the way they deliver nutrients differently. Most liquid lawn fertilizer delivers a quick release of nutrients, while granular fertilizer has a slow release of food for your plants. These features work differently for different types of lawns, so let’s compare the two.

 

Spatial Difference: Fast-Absorption vs. Slow-Release

When comparing liquid lawn fertilizer to granular fertilizer, we can look at the spatial difference. By “spatial,” we mean the distance from the fertilizer nutrients to the plant roots for absorption to take place. One of the nutrients plants need most —phosphorous — is not a very mobile nutrient. That means this nutrient has a hard time moving from where the fertilizer was applied to the root of the plants. Spatially, liquid lawn fertilizers provide a better option for your plants, with nutrients quickly applied to soil solution, resulting in easier plant absorption!

 

Fertilizer Salt Content

Most granular fertilizers are meant to be a slow-release fertilizer, which means it contains high concentrations since the nutrients need to last longer. This high concentration also means granular fertilizer can have a higher salt content compared to liquid lawn fertilizer. That might not seem like a big deal, but it is to your plant’s roots. 

 

Consistency of Fertilizers

While the type of nutrients and amount of each is the same in liquid lawn fertilizer compared to granular, the distribution within the fertilizers may be different. In liquid lawn fertilizer, each ounce and drop of fertilizer contains identical nutrient percentages to the rest of the bottle. In granular fertilizer, each dry pellet may contain a different variation. This means when spreading your fertilizer, you know there is an even distribution of nutrients in liquid form, but in granular, you may have patches of high concentration dry pellets in one area, and undernourished in other areas.

 

Fertilizer Application

In that same mindset, the consistency matters beyond the bottle of liquid fertilizer or packaged granular fertilizer. Applying fertilizer to your lawn needs to be as consistent as possible, especially if you want a lawn full of even, green grass. 

 

Liquid Lawn Fertilizer Application

Liquid lawn application is as simple as watering your lawn. With hose in hand, you just spray evenly to apply the fertilizer to your lawn. If you know how to water a lawn without creating puddles, then you can apply liquid lawn fertilizer evenly. An even application of fertilizer will create that even, green, lush lawn you’ve been working towards without the risk of overgrown or undergrown patches. Having a lawn that grows evenly means the rest of your lawn care regimen stays intact, such as mowing and watering. Having an even lawn without any weak patches can also protect your lawn from unwanted guests, like invasive weeds.

 

 

Which Is Better for In-Season Fertilization?

In-season varies based on the type of grass you have on your lawn. For example, cool-season grass needs to be fertilized in the fall, and spring. Warm-season grass needs to be fertilized in the spring, and the summer. Granular fertilizer is slow-release and takes a while to break down. That makes it a great choice to use if there are long periods between fertilizing. However, unless you are willing to chart out and follow the calendar to time your fertilizing correctly, you could accidentally fertilize before your previous round of granular fertilizer breaks down. Over-fertilizing may not seem problematic, but it can have serious consequences for your plants and the environment.

 

Dangers of Over-Fertilizing your Lawn

Here are some signs of an over-fertilized plant:

•       Yellow leaves
•       Wilting leaves
•       Browning tips
•       Rotting roots that are black or brown
•       Slow or dormant growth
•       Drooping leaves
•       Crusty surface on your soil created by fertilizer

 

Liquid Fertilizer for In-Season

Liquid’s fast-absorbing formula allows for plants to quickly soak up the nutrients. This makes it a perfect option for in-season fertilizing because the risk is lower for accidentally over-fertilizing. This is especially important for lawns that need fertilizing twice in one season, whether it's spring or fall. Liquid fertilizer can also be customized to the season, such as spring & summer, or summer & fall.

 

Slow Release vs. Quick Release Fertilizer

We’ve discussed the benefits and consequences of granular fertilizer’s slow-release formula. While liquid lawn fertilizer gives quick-release nutrients, you might be wondering how the nutrients will last for long periods without fertilizing. Certain formulas, like our 28-0-0 Liquid Lawn Food, has 70% quick release, and 30% slow release to keep your lawn fed between applications of fertilizer. You can adapt to your lawn’s needs and the application round you are focused on in the process.

 

 

Which Fertilizer Is Easier to Use?

If you take pride in your lawn, but don’t want it to become a full-time job, you might be looking for the easiest way to deliver nutrients to your grass. Liquid lawn fertilizer makes it easier. All you have to do is hook up your hose and spray your lawn. No lifting heavy fertilizer bags, hoping your fertilizer spreader is calibrated, or sidewalk cleanup required. With liquid lawn fertilizer, just attach, spray, then detach to store!

 

The Most Efficient Fertilizer Option

After weighing all the benefits and consequences of granular and liquid fertilizer, it seems the easiest way to fertilize in your lawn care routine is liquid. Here are all of the benefits of using a liquid lawn fertilizer:

•       Easy application
•       Even application
•       Effective as a starter
•       Effective in-season
•       Easy to customize
•       Fast-absorbing nutrients
•       Enhanced mobility of nutrients through the soil
•       Lower risk of over-fertilizing
•       Easy cleanup

 

In the end, only you can choose the right fertilizer for you and your lawn. Don’t forget that at Simple Lawn Solutions, we use high-quality feed-grade ingredients! We can help get you with your new, efficient lawn care routine today, so get started right now!