What Are Micronutrients And Why Does Your Lawn Need Them?

A healthy lawn has a good balance between micronutrients and macronutrients. These nutrients combined help your lawn grow strongly. You might have heard of the main macronutrients; Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium, that your lawn requires. But what are the micronutrients and why are they important?

The difference between macro and micro nutrients is the amount needed by your lawn. Micronutrients should only be present in trace amounts as most of them can be toxic if there is too much.

If a pH test comes back in the right range, you can be sure that the right amount of micronutrients are there.

Important micronutrients include:

• Boron helps grass absorb nutrients and grow new tissue. Too much, however, is toxic.
• Copper helps with metabolism and reproduction. Too much can cause iron deficiencies.
• Iron helps with photosynthesis and creating chlorophyll. This will improve colour and helps to carry out cellular
• Chloride helps with gas exchange, photosynthesis and disease resistance. Too much can be toxic and leave burns.
• Manganese is necessary for chlorophyll production. Too much will lead to brown spots, whereas too little will leave grey or tan spots.
• Molybdenum is essential for producing necessary proteins. Without it, grass will become twisted and scorching can occur.
• Zinc helps to regulate metabolic activity. Along with the other elements, zinc will assist in chlorophyll production.

Turf growers pay particular attention to micronutrients as the grass grows. You can keep your lawn healthy by balancing out any deficiencies. Most micronutrients can be found in fertiliser but to be sure you can check the label.

Another way to recycle the micronutrients back into your lawn is to leave the grass clippings on the lawn. But be careful there aren’t too many clippings left behind as this can suffocate the grass.