You cannot get a quick spring green up unless there is heat, sunlight, and plenty of reserve nutrition in the plant roots. You cannot affect the heat and sunlight but you can recharge the plant's roots by fertilizing in the late fall. Specifically once the grass stops growing but before it goes dormant, hit it with a fast release, high N fertilizer. This is called 'winterizing' the lawn.

If you wait until early spring to apply fertilizer, the roots have not awakened yet and the fertilizer washes away. At this point all you can do is wait until the grass awakens. Once it does, sit on your hands until May or late May. The grass should come in fast and fairly furious for several weeks all by itself. If you fertilize early as it's greening, you'll stress the grass with too much nutrition. That's why we wait.

The organic fertilizer is very good at making your soil microbes healthy. When they are healthy the soil does what it is supposed to do with both plants and chemicals you apply. You can apply organic fertilizer any day of the year, even on the same day as you apply chemical fertilizers. I don't use chemical fertilizers anymore. Here's a picture of what happens when you apply alfalfa pellets (an ingredient in many organic fertilizers).

Does that help? Yes the organic will help. Now is a great time to apply organic.

Where do you live?

What kind of grass do you have?

What is your watering schedule? How often and for how long do you water?

Thanks Dchall for that great explanation. I live in Western NY. I have Kentucky bluegrass. I have no set schedule for watering. We get a lot of rain, but if it's dry then I water. Maybe 10-15 minutes at a time. I bought Milorganite. Do you think that alfalfa would be better? I have heard that corn gluten meal is good too. What do you use?

I guess Rochester was the clue as to your location. I didn't see that...until now.

I use alfalfa pellets and ordinary corn meal, because I don't have a local source for Milorganite. I have not had time to check the feed stores in my new area.

Watering: Deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering. This is for all turf grass all over the place. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. Put some cat food or tuna cans around the yard, and time how long it takes your sprinkler(s) to fill all the cans. Memorize that time. That will be the time you water from now on. My hose, sprinkler and water pressure takes 8 full hours to fill the cans. Your time will likely be less. I like gentle watering. As for watering frequency, that depends on the temperature. With temps in the 90s, deep water once per week. With temps in the 80s, deep water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s, deep water once every 3 weeks. With temps below 70, deep water once a month. Note that you have to keep up with quickly changing temps in the spring and fall. This deep and infrequent schedule works in Phoenix and in Vermont, so it should work for you. The reason for deep and infrequent is to grow deeper, more drought resistant roots and to allow the soil to dry completely at the surface for several days before watering again. If it rains, reset your calendar to account for the rainfall.

Wow, that kind of watering sounds like a spiritual discipline. 8 hours! I think my yard would float away if I did that. I have clay soil and at some point the water will puddle, although it doesn't happen anymore since I installed a small pond. But we really get a lot of rain so I don't need to water too often. But when I do, I will be sure it's good and deep.

Do you apply the corn and the alfalfa at the same time, or do both products do about the same thing and can be interchangeable?