The Grass Doctor

Is it OK to fertilize my lawn even if still may snow?

I live in Northen Ohio and want to put down some early spring fertilizer with weed stop and crabgrass preventer. Will it matter that it will still possibly snow and frost frequently?

Public Comments

1. Sure.
2. Hey Plinn, It will not matter, except that if the ground is still frozen, much of it will wash off. You could put down compost - on top of the snow, trap Nitrogen from the melting snow into ground - poor mans fertilizer (my Father called it that).
3. I can't see that it would hurt, might even benefit after the snow melts making the fertilizer dissolve quicker
4. If you've already missed what we call the "January thaw", I'd wait a while. I fertilize my lawn and shrubs when we get that little late Jan. early Feb. spring teaser. Subsequent snows tend to push the fertilizers deeper into the soil and I've had great luck. It was a landscape architect that taught me this trick. He said my neighbors may think me nuts, but that the results would be worth it.
5. I have seeded grass and fertilized on top of snow. One good thing about it is you can see what coverage you have which you can not do if there is no snow. The melting should give the seed a little pre start and also with fertilizer. For part of the lawn I mixed the two and had great results.
6. Fertilizing plants that are not actively growing is a waste of time and money. The fertilizer isn't going to do a thing for grass that is still dormant. Wait just a little while longer to apply your fertilizer. The grass should be starting to green up before fertilizer is applied.
7. I would wait until the last frost is over. No sense wasting the money to let it wash away.