Hi,
Have always used the Scotts brand of basic lawn fertilizers.
Was wondering, though:
ACE Hardware has their own labeled brands of. Quite a bit cheaper.
Any thoughts on Ace fertilizer ?
"Good" as Scotts, etc. ?
Any burning type of problems with, if inadvertently used ?
Thanks, Bob
Good day Bob. Fertilizer is fertilizer. All fertilizer contain nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in various ammounts and all fertilizer can 'burn' is over applied. I personally hate Scotts due to their over fertilization recommendations.
Lawn fertilization is very simple and basic unless you let the fertilizer companies explain it to you. Check out my fertilization page to figure out the correct types and amounts.
I agree. Vigoro works nicely.
Ace has coated fertilizer to prevent lawn burning, just like Scotts. Chemical ratio is printed on the front of the bag on both. Used the Ace brand on my lawn in late February (S. Texas). The St. Augustine and Bermuda is not showing any signs of burning, and reacting well to it.
Part of the answer depends upon where you live. The first way to compare the two is to read the two labels, with special note of the percentage of soluble nitrogen compared to the amount of slow release nitrogen. Slow release is better, and soluble nitrogen is much more likely to get into the ground water and water supply. This may be a much more important consideration in places like Florida or Louisiana than in Iowa or Colorado.
IMHO Scott's probably does a better job of having fertilizers that are suited to climatic regions than Ace Hardware, but Scott's is still too much of a national/regional seller to make a good fertilizer specifically for Florida. In Florida, LESCO is the preferred brand, made specifically for Florida's unique situation. In other regions there are probably also local manufacturers with properly tailored fertilizers.
As someone else has already said, the fertilizer makeup is more important than the brand name, and you should look at the type of nitrogen and the presence of minor elements when making a decision. Your local extension service can give you a recommended formulation. The traditional 6-6-6 or
10-10-10 is probably not right for most lawns. For my area, the preferred fertilizer is something close to 2X - 0 - X, such as 16-0-8. Regards --HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.