A beautiful, well-cared for and vigorously growing lawn needs regular fertilization in addition to regular mowing. But not every fertilizer is well suited for a lawn. Horn shavings and horn meal, also known as horn fertilizers, are good choices. The following article explains when the fertilizer should be used, what differences there are and what the correct instructions for fertilizing the lawn look like.
Table of Contents
The right moment
There are several convenient times to fertilize a lawn. The first is right after winter, here a nitrogenous fertilizer , such as horn fertilizer , should definitely be used so that the lawn quickly regains its vitality after the cold and wet season. The following times are ideal for fertilizing the lawn with horn meal:
- right after winter
- take advantage of a rainy day
- Flour is washed into the earth
- frost-free day
- frozen soil cannot absorb fertilizer
- second fertilization about three months later
- June or July
Horn meal or horn shavings
Horn fertilizer can be purchased in the form of flour or shavings. This is an animal waste product from the slaughter of ungulates and so the organic fertilizer is a completely natural product. Horn fertilizer consists mainly of nitrogen, but also offers other, other nutrients. The differences between the two products are as follows:
- Hornspäne
- rough processing
- Nutrients are later released into soil
- therefore slow release fertilizer
- Hornmehl
- fine workmanship
- Nutrients are immediately released into the soil
- Immediate fertilizer
Horn fertilizer is better suited as fine flour for an existing lawn if it is sprinkled on the ground, as the powder can seep into the ground more quickly with rain or irrigation water. The coarse shavings, on the other hand, remain on the lawn for a long time. However, these are well suited as long-term fertilizers when a new lawn is sown. Then the shavings are simply pulled underground with compost before the lawn seeds are scattered.
Instructions for correct fertilization
On a lawn, unlike other plants, horn fertilizer should be scattered over the surface. Only when the lawn is re-sown is it advisable to dig horn shavings under the ground, which can then be used as long-term fertilizer to help the new lawn grow for the first three months. In the case of an existing lawn, however, you should proceed as follows when fertilizing:
- Use horn meal
- can penetrate the earth better
- 60 to 80 grams per square meter
- Pay attention to regularity when spreading
- Use a spreader for large areas
The fertilizer can best penetrate when it receives water from above. Therefore, you should use a water sprinkler immediately after fertilization or use a rainy day straight away. Nitrogen evaporates quickly in the air and is no longer useful as a nutrient, so the flour should get underground as quickly as possible.
benefits
The organic horn fertilizer offers many advantages for the lawn, but also for the garden owner. In addition to other nutrients, it primarily contains nitrogen, which is important for the stalks to grow vigorously. In addition, nitrogen can also fight weeds and clover. There are also the other advantages that horn fertilizer offers:
- no burns to the lawn
- pH-neutral
- from animal recycling
- usable all year round
- there can be no over-fertilization
Conclusion
If a lawn is fertilized with horn meal, then this offers many advantages. The organic fertilizer does not harm the environment, is washed into the soil of the lawn with the rainwater and from here it gets through the roots into the blades of grass when water is absorbed. This makes the lawn nice and dense and robust. Horn shavings, on the other hand, are not so well suited to fertilizing an existing lawn due to their thicker substance, as they remain on the surface as small pieces for a long time, which can also make mowing difficult, for example. Horn shavings have the same nutrients as horn meal and therefore they can be mixed with the soil before sowing when creating a new lawn.
