There’s nothing quite like a lawn in a garden. Not only do they look good, they are great places for humans (and pets) to spend time, whether that’s lounging, entertaining or playing. With all the use the average lawn gets, it’s hardly surprising that lawns usually benefit from a bit of care and maintenance and for most people that starts with a good lawn feed.
If you already know all about lawn care then you can skip right down to our “lawn feed review” section to see our top picks. If, however, you’d like to know a bit more about lawn feeding, then please keep reading.
The basics of lawn feeding
Lawns need feeding to fuel growth. It’s very much in your interests to fuel that growth because strong, healthy grass can overpower weeds and moss, thus cutting down the amount of time and/or money you have to spend to deal with them. Without feeding, your lawn can easily use up all its strength fighting a losing battle against weeds. First it will start looking pale and sickly, then it will develop bare patches and then the weeds will just take over.
Different forms of lawn feed
Lawn feeds generally come as granules/powder and liquid. Some granular lawn feeds can be applied either dry or dissolved in water.
If you’re using a “pure” granular lawn feed, pay close attention to the size of the granules. The larger they are, the longer they will take to dissolve in water (be that rain or watering) and the more likely it is that they will end up being wasted through being either blown away or carried off on feet (be that human or animal).
If you’re using a granular lawn feed which can be applied either dry or dissolved in water, we’d generally recommend the latter option. Although it can be very convenient to apply you lawn feed as a powder, it can also be difficult to get the dosage right. This is unlikely to matter too much with “pure” lawn feeds, but if you’re using products with added weedkiller and/or mosskiller, then you can easily overdo the application and wind up damaging the lawn you were trying to protect.
Liquid lawn feeds can literally be poured (or more likely sprinkled) on your lawn, but they can be bulky to carry around and hard to store. It’s often more convenient just to buy a powder and mix it with water yourself.
Whatever form of lawn feed you buy, make sure that you follow the dosage instructions. Too much lawn feed is bad for lawns (in the same way that too much food is bad for humans).
What makes a good lawn feed?
A good lawn feed is a lawn feed which does a good job on your particular lawn. This means that there are no hard-and-fast rules about the best lawn feed to choose in any situation. There are, however, some general points to consider.
Time of year
In spring you want to encourage your grass to get moving again after the winter and you may need to deal with winter damage before it can turn into a serious problem. This is the time you are most likely to benefit from a lawn feed with added weedkiller and/or mosskiller to stop either of them from taking hold while your lawn is getting back on its feet.
In summer you should just be on relatively light maintenance, at least in terms of feeding, especially if you are leaving your grass clippings on your lawn for their goodness to be reabsorbed (mulching). For most people it will be enough to give a light feed every 6-8 weeks or so. Go very easy on the food, especially in dry periods, when grass will slow down its growth or even stop completely. By contrast, do whatever you (legally) can to keep your grass hydrated.
In autumn, you want to focus on getting your lawn “settled” for the winter, so it’s less about growth and more about “toughening up” the grass, and in particular the roots, to be able to withstand what the weather’s about to throw at them.
In winter, you aim to leave your lawn alone as much as possible and, in particular, try to avoid walking on it. If your lawn is the main route from A to B, then see if you can put down some form of proper path, even if it’s just stepping stones, which you can remove later in the year if need be.
Condition of your lawn
The rule of thumb is to use nitrogen-heavy lawn feeds in spring and summer to encourage growth and potash/phosphates-based lawn feed in autumn to encourage general strength. Rules of thumb, however, are just that.
For example, if you’re having a really hot summer, you might want to use an “autumn” lawn feed as your priority will probably be your lawn’s survival rather than its growth and harsh heat and lack of water can be as tough on lawns as drought. By contrast, if early autumn is mild, you might want to try for “one last push” with “spring” lawn feed to try to get your lawn into its best possible condition before you start easing off for the autumn.
Child and pet friendliness
These days, most lawn feeds are probably going to be reasonably pet and child friendly, but even so, you’ll want to exercise some care, especially with stronger products. Be sure to read the instructions and remember that even when a product is described as “pet-friendly”, that’s usually from the outside. Cats can absorb liquids through their paws and some pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs will take any opportunity to eat grass, so take particular care with them (and young children when they’re at the stage where they put anything in their mouths).
How to feed your lawn
We’ve split this section into two parts, the short section will apply during spring and summer and can be used in autumn if you’re pushed for time. The longer section is for “proper” autumn care and you should ideally go through the whole process as often as you can, but at least do it once at the end of autumn to give your lawn the best chance of making it through the winter (and yourself the least hassle come spring).
Spring/summer lawn feeding
Rake the lawn gently to remove surface debris (scarify it), then rake it properly and mow it. Have this done at least three days before you want to apply your feed.
Apply the feed. If you’re using dry granules, check the weather forecast and if there is no likelihood of rain, consider going round with a watering can to dissolve the granules and make sure they go into the soil rather than the air (or onto feet).
If you can’t/don’t want to water, try to keep people (and pets) off the lawn until the granules have dissolved.
Autumn lawn feeding and care
Remove surface debris with a rake. In autumn, you can be a bit more thorough than you can in spring/summer as you don’t have to worry about pulling out new growth. This is just as well because autumn is the time of year when gardens tend to have a lot of debris.
Trim your edges properly. Technically this isn’t necessary, but it is nice to make your edges look neat before winter and it can reduce the amount of lawn feed you use by a small amount.
Level your lawn. This may be a pain but it’s really important because UK winters tend to be seriously wet (and even if there is snow instead of rain it will melt eventually) and the last thing you want is for pools of water to form on your lawn.
Aerate your lawn. This is basically picking up from the previous point. There are all kinds of reasons for aerating your lawn but one of them is to improve drainage and hence to help stop your lawn becoming waterlogged. There are also all kinds of ways to aerate your lawn but one of the easiest is just to buy a pair of rugby boots (with spikes) and walk all over it.
If there are parts of your lawn which are really compacted (typically areas which get a lot of traffic), then you’ll probably need to resort to sterner measures, like getting out a fork and sticking it into the ground. For these sorts of situations, you’ll need to push in the prongs a good 10-15cm (4 to 6 inches) to be sure that the job is done properly.
Apply your feed. If you’re using dry granules, then this is one time you’ll probably have the weather on your side, but we still generally recommend applying lawn feed in liquid form to ensure correct dosage.
Have Trouble With Ants? Read Our Article On The BEST AT KILLER HERE
Lawn Feed Review
Here is our pick of the best lawn feeds on the UK market. We’ve put together a selection for different situations, purposes, sizes of lawns and budgets. Our picks have been chosen on a combination of performance and price, in other words, overall value for money.
EverGreen 400sqm Complete 4-in-1 Lawn Care, Lawn Food, Weed and Moss Killer Bag
This lawn feed may sound too good to be true, but it actually does exactly what it says it will. You’ll start to see a difference in your lawn in about a week, it takes a couple of weeks to kill off any moss and full weed control takes about three to five weeks. It also has a WaterSmart formula to help protect your lawn against water shortages.
There is one key point to remember about this product, which is basically that you need to follow the instructions particularly with regards to the time in which you use this product (April to September) and above all the quantity you use. If you overdo it you can easily burn your lawn!
Another point to note is that this product basically burns out moss, which means that if you have a serious moss problem, your lawn is going to look pretty horrendous for a couple of weeks. That said, if you have a serious moss problem then your lawn probably looked pretty bad to start with and at least with this lawn feed you can be confident that it will look better in a couple of weeks.
2 X 400sqm Complete 4-in-1 Lawn Care, Lawn Food, Weed and Moss...
GUARD-EN-FORCE 25 Kilogram Bucket of Iron Sulphate Premium Lawn Tonic and Moss Killer
If you have a lot of lawn to manage then this lawn feed could be an affordable and effective option. It isn’t all that great against weeds in general, but it is excellent against moss and it not only fertilizes your lawn but it hardens the turf too. Even if you don’t have a moss problem, then you can use this lawn feed at a lower concentration just as a fertilizer. It also does a lovely job on plants which prefer alkaline soil such as azaleas, camellias, heathers and rhododendrons.
For the record, according to the instructions, you can sprinkle this lawn feed on as a powder and then water it in. That’s probably true in theory, but in practice it’s really hard to get the quantities right and this lawn feed is so powerful that it’s very easy to wind up using too much and burning your lawn, especially if you’re dosing to kill moss. We would therefore recommend that you put it in water and sprinkle it on, pacing it out as you go.
GUARD-EN-FORCE 25 Kilogram Bucket of Iron Sulphate Premium Lawn Tonic, Feed and...
- ✓ EASY TO USE: Coverage of 25 KG approx 20,000-25,000 sq metres for LAWN GREENING - Gives grass and lawns a fresh, healthy dark green colour quickly - Full instructions for usage including suggested dosages for grass greening etc are included.
- ✓ EASY TO USE: Coverage of 25 KG approx 20,000-25,000 sq metres for LAWN GREENING - Gives grass and lawns a fresh, healthy dark green colour quickly - Full instructions for usage including suggested dosages for grass greening etc are included.
- ✓ EXTREMELY POWERFUL, HIGH QUALITY 3 in1 FORMULA: 25KG Plastic Bucket of Iron Sulphate is an Iron rich and long lasting fertiliser that will encourage strong growth and healthy dark green grass and act as a turf hardener. Can be used dissolved in water as a solution (RECOMMENDED FOR EVEN COVERAGE) or can be applied dry by spreader or hand. WARNING: can blacken moss and make lawn unsightly higher dose application.
- ✓ USED & TRUSTED BY EXPERT GARDENERS: Used by Discerning Domestic Gardeners, professional green keepers, lawn keepers, park keepers, sports grounds men etc for perfect pitches, green lawns, and superior golfing greens. Sulphate of Iron is used as a lawn greener and a lawn conditioner by many discerning home users across the UK to improve their grass quality.
- ✓ HELPS TO PREVENT LAWN DISEASE: Our thoroughly researched & developed, tried and tested formula gives grass sensational colour, and even helps to prevent lawn disease with its turf hardening qualities. Iron content of almost 20%. Can also be used as turf hardener thereby making lawn less susceptible to diseases.
- ✓ HIGH QUALITY GRADE IRON SULPHATE: There Are Different Grades of Iron Sulphate Available. This is a Fine Powdered Grade. It is Superior quality and Has Twice The Coverage of the Damp, Industrial, or Crystal Grade.
Sportsmaster Autumn/Winter Professional Lawn Grass Feed
This product is a “pure” lawn feed. In other words, it doesn’t do anything about moss or other weeds (nor does it claim to). What it does do is improve growth and help to harden the turf and, in particular, strengthen the roots against wear and tear either from use in sports or, as is more likely in the average garden, from bad weather and, in particular, frosts, which can do serious damage to your lawn. This is why this product is billed as being for use in autumn and winter, there is another product for spring and summer.
To clear up any confusion, the Sportsmaster brand was originally owned by Scotts but due to corporate changes, it is now owned by Everris (although it’s essentially the same people behind it). This means that at the present time, you may see the exact same product in two different kinds of packaging. Just ignore this and focus on the fact that this is one of the best lawn feeds around and is also one of the most economical.
25KG SCOTTS SPORTSMASTER AUTUMN/WINTER PROFESSIONAL LAWN GRASS FEED FERTILISER
- Perfect for pre-stress conditioning or at the end of the summer
- Helps to deliver correct root growth prior to winter
- Hardens the turf for winter’s wear and tear
- The Scotts Miracle Gro Company sold its Professional Division to the ICL Group/Everris in 2011. (Packaging Change, Please Read Description)
- Perfect for pre-stress conditioning or at the end of the summer
- Helps to deliver correct root growth prior to winter
- Hardens the turf for winter’s wear and tear
- The Scotts Miracle Gro Company sold its Professional Division to the ICL Group/Everris in 2011. (Packaging Change, Please Read Description)
- FIRST IMAGE FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY!
Vitax 1L Green Up Liquid Lawn Feed and Weed
Vitax also have a pure lawn feed, but given that most people are probably going to have some weed issues with their lawn, we’ve gone for the “Feed and Weed” product as being the time-saving option. For the sake of completeness, by “weed” they really mean the likes of buttercups, clovers, daisies, dandelions and plantains. It can reduce moss, but it’s not really intended for the treatment of moss, so if moss is your main problem, then you’d be much better using another lawn feed.
Vitax 1L Green Up Liquid Lawn Feed and Weed
- For green and healthy lawns
- Rapidly greens-up the lawn
- Kills common lawn weeds and encourages growth to cover bare areas left by dead weeds
- Apply from April to September
- Pack size 1litre
- For green and healthy lawns
- Rapidly greens-up the lawn
- Kills common lawn weeds and encourages growth to cover bare areas left by dead weeds
- Apply from April to September
- Pack size 1litre
Westland SafeLawn Child and Pet Friendly Natural Lawn Feed
This is a nice, budget, child- and pet-friendly lawn feed, which, as its name says, is a “pure” lawn feed. In other words, it doesn’t treat weeds at all (or claim to). Having said that, the boost it can give your lawn can make it much easier for your grass to overpower any weeds and/or moss. It also contains seeds to help replant any bare patches. In short, this is a nice simple lawn feed and if that’s all you need then it’s an excellent choice.
Westland SafeLawn Child and Pet Friendly Natural Lawn Feed 80 m2, 2.8...
- With SafeLawn children and pets need not be excluded from treated areas
- The grass seed will germinate to fill gaps and help create a lusher, thicker lawn; as the grass becomes stronger it will start to outcompete weed and moss
- With SafeLawn children and pets need not be excluded from treated areas
- The grass seed will germinate to fill gaps and help create a lusher, thicker lawn; as the grass becomes stronger it will start to outcompete weed and moss
- Westland SafeLawn is an organic fertiliser with added lawn seed, made with only natural ingredients
- This pack will cover 80 m2 (the equivalent of 8 car parking spaces)
- Note Please use a brush or rake for application of the product.
Lawn Feed Review – Conclusions
As you’ll have seen from the above selection, we couldn’t find a single lawn feed we could say was the best lawn feed for all situations, but here are our thoughts on the best lawn feed for some common situations.
Best lawn feed and moss killer
If moss is your main problem, then we’d say the Guard-En-Force was the best lawn feed for you, but the EverGreen comes a close second, although it generally comes in at a higher price point.
Best lawn feed and weed killer
Objectively we’d give this one to the EverGreen, but if you only have minor weed issues, the Vitax might be a more cost-effective option.
Best lawn feed for autumn
The Sportsmaster takes this, but if you only have a small lawn then you might want to look at the Westland. It’s not specifically designed for autumn use the way the Sportsmaster lawn feed is, but it will encourage strong growth, which includes strong roots, so it’s a reasonable option for small areas.
Best lawn feed for new turf
Again we’d say the Sportsmaster for larger lawns and potentially the Westland for smaller lawns. If the turf is new you really shouldn’t have weed issues, you just want to encourage strong, healthy growth and robust roots.
If it builds, screws or fixes, Jeff knows all about it. Former Joiner and handyman with over 25 years in the business, Jeff is our ‘hands-on’ tools, garden and hardware expert. Our in-house heavy lifter, you certainly know when he’s around. BIG guy with a big heart, a super warm and friendly guy. Always eating and always active, Jeff literally never stops and always has a smile on his face but more importantly for our readers, is an expert reviewer
