Give Your Lawn a Banana – Potassium

I don’t literally mean give your lawn a banana, but in the sense of what potassium (K) provides, the analogy could not be more accurate.  What is potassium?  Why put it on your lawn?  These are very good questions.  Potassium is a mineral which helps grass, second only to Nitrogen in quantity and importance.  Most people know of N-P-K, well the last letter stands for Potassium.  K has a special roll in stress tolerance, heat tolerance, disease resistance, and root development.  Most soils in NH and VT are low in potassium, in part because it is so soluble and does not hang around very long.  Applying a rich K application in the fall will allow the turf to store up the energy necessary to become hardy for winter.  Although most balanced fertilizers will contain potassium during the year, that level is only a fraction of what is put down in the fall in a full scale, 100% K application.  A great time to apply K is September and October.  Do yourself a favor, give your lawn a banana before winter so it can prosper not only next spring, but survive the winter cold.
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