A concern that many of our home-owning clients bring to us is how they can achieve and maintain a lush green lawn, especially in the heat of the summer. The fertilizer that we stock here at Van Dongen’s is Agromart ‘Magic Carpet’ Fertilizer. We usually recommend the 25-5-10 formulation. What do these numbers mean, exactly?

Product

Magic Carpet is a strong slow-release fertilizer. It is not diluted, but it is a slow-release nature prevents it from burning your lawn. The strong commercial grade wax coating (XCU= 65%) on the granules allows it to break down slowly over time, usually taking 6-8 weeks to completely dissolve. This means that you can overseed simultaneously without fear of burning! 

Application

If you are overseeding or seeing a new lawn, good soil is very important. We have a specialty soil called Viva Lawn Repair, which is very finely screened. This soil contains peat loam, an important ingredient for germination of new seed.

Magic Carpet fertilizer is commercial grade that should be used every 6-8 weeks, whether you have existing grass or newly placed seed. You will require about 4lbs of Magic Carpet for every 1000 square feet of lawn you hope to fertilize. Our Magic Carpet bags are 25 kilograms (approximately 55 lbs). This means that a full bag will cover about 13,750 sq. ft.

Some spreaders use arbitrary numeric values rather than actual quantities. If this is the case, put about 0.4 lbs in the spreader (for 100 sq. ft.) and set the spreader to an estimated value. If all of the fertilizer is used up before the 100 sq. ft. has been covered, or if there is some left after you have finished the 100 sq. ft., try again until you have found an accurate setting. Then, keep note of this setting and use the previously mentioned 4lbs of fertilizer for every 1000 sq. ft.

If you are keeping the fertilizer for future use, keep in mind it should not be left in the spreader. If it is kept in its bag and in a dry area, Magic Carpet fertilizer can last for years.