Fertlizer Spreader

My neighbor Harry looked perplexed as he surveyed his lawn. He fertilized it last week, but rather than growing into a thick carpet of lush green, it was a mottled mix of green, yellow and brown. I had to chuckle. You see, Harry has a drop spreader. It applies fertilizer accurately if you do the job right, but Harry made just about every mistake possible.

Harry has a habit of leaving fertilizer stored in his spreader between applications. I've told him not to do it, but he doesn't listen. "I keep the spreader in the garage," he tells me. "It won't get wet in there."

He's wrong. Fertilizer can absorb moisture from the air, causing it to cake up like cement and clog the small openings in the spreader that dispense a precise amount with each pass. In Harry's case, some openings were clogged and others weren't, which caused an uneven application.

Don't be fooled into thinking that fertilizer spreaders are self-cleaning or will unclog when fertilizer is run through them. The right thing to do when you have fertilizer or other mixtures caked into openings is to clean it out. A toothbrush or pipe cleaner works well. If possible, don't use water when you knock out debris. If you do, wipe well and let the hopper air-dry before you put in any fertilizer.

Harry had a different method in mind. He kept bumping the spreader to make it apply more, but that just put a double dose in some areas. The brown patches on his lawn were burn spots left by the overapplication of fertilizer. The pale green and yellow areas showed where the fertilizer didn't make it to the lawn.

Most fertilizer bags will help you determine the correct setting for broadcast and drop spreaders. The rate is based on the fertilizer analysis. You will want to put down a certain amount of actual nitrogen. A bag of 10-10-10 fertilizer is 10 percent nitrogen, so a 10-pound bag would contain one pound of nitrogen. If you follow a standard recommendation of applying one pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet, you would spread 10 pounds of fertilizer per 1,000 square feet.

To apply an even amount to the entire lawn, you need to know the size of your lawn. If your lawn is rectangular, measure the length and the width and multiply these numbers to arrive at the square footage. Be sure to subtract spaces occupied by planting beds and trees, using the same formula to figure their area. Subtract the square footage for all of the non-lawn areas to arrive at the total size of your lawn.

Harry's lawn is 4,000 square feet, so he would need to apply 40 pounds of the 10-10-10 fertilizer to apply one pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet. The fertilizer bag will tell him what setting to use for his spreader. If he would always use the same fertilizer analysis, he could leave the setting the same. But he doesn't. About every other month, Harry finds a great deal on a new type of fertilizer, which would be fine if he would just read the label and make the necessary adjustments.

Fortunately, Harry sticks with the same type of applicator. With a drop spreader, the proper technique is to first take two laps around the perimeter of the lawn, with one lap just a wheel width inside of the first. It is important to overlap by a wheel width because a drop spreader applies fertilizer just beneath the openings. If you don't overlap the wheel patterns, you will leave an unapplied strip that will appear yellowish once the rest of the lawn greens up.

Make application passes parallel to the two strips along the perimeter. Close the hopper with the hand lever when you reach the end of the strip. Then reposition the spreader for the next pass. Walk inside the perimeter pass and open the hopper as you enter the unfertilized area. Repeat until the entire area is covered. Close the hopper when back-tracking over already-fertilized areas.

Broadcast spreaders work differently: a rotating disk spreads fertilizer in a circular pattern in front of the hopper. The greatest amount of fertilizer is spread closest to the hopper, so overlap the edge of the pattern by a few feet for even coverage.

Fill the hopper with just the right amount of fertilizer so you will use it all up. If some is left in the hopper, return it to the fertilizer bag. Be sure the hopper's openings are free of debris. If some fertilizer is caked on, knock it free with a cloth or soft brush. Often fertilizer hoppers just need to be wiped down with a dry cloth.

If the spreader does become dirty or muddy, wash it down with a hose and then wipe up the excess moisture. Let the spreader dry thoroughly before the next use. A couple of times each season, use some penetrating oil on the moving levers and parts to keep them operating smoothly.

Applying fertilizer is an easy task, if you follow directions. Make sure the spreader openings are clear and that the open-and-close lever operates smoothly before you begin. Then calculate the correct amount of fertilizer, fill the hopper, select the proper spreader setting and walk at a steady, even pace. That's all there is to it. Water the fertilizer into your lawn and you can look forward to a lush, green carpet.