Liquid Lawn Fertilizer Reviews: Keeping Your Grass Fabulously Green

Fertilizing your lawn is a good practice to help keep it looking healthy and green, plus it may be a necessity to keep it alive, depending on where you live and what type of soil you have. But with so many products to choose from, it can be difficult to decide which one is the best fertilizer for your lawn.

Liquid fertilizers are one option, and they can yield some pretty immediate results. They’re best for specific long-term and systematic care and are often sold as a concentrate for cost-effectiveness. The best liquid lawn fertilizer is the one that provides the best nutrients for your lawn, and we’ve reviewed five of the top sellers to provide you with an idea of what’s available for your needs.

Backyard Boss Top 5 Best Liquid Lawn Fertilizers for Summer 2021

Why You Can Trust Us

Drawing on years of our own experience with some of the best liquid lawn fertilizers, and reading through many of the most up-to-date liquid lawn fertilizer product descriptions and customer reviews, we were able to put together a list of top choices for you to consider for your yard.

That said, I will be the first to admit that I have only personally tried one of these products. However, the range of products we chose includes some of the very best-selling products on the market. Further, they come with some of the best ratings currently existing in the industry.

Best for Rapid Growth

What We Like: This fertilizer is made by one of the most well-known brands in the industry, and it doesn’t just feed your lawn but actually helps get rid of unwanted weeds at the same time.

Scotts Liquid Turf Builder Weed and Feed comes in an easy-to-use and original 32-fluid ounces spray bottle design. Simply unscrew one end of the bottle, attach your hose, and turn the water on. The fertilizer starts working super fast and begins killing weeds simultaneously. You can expect to see results within 24 hours.

Unlike some liquid lawn fertilizers though, you need to spray this one onto actively growing grass and weeds for it to have a full effect. The Scotts brand is known to kill more weeds and promote healthier and greener grass than most brands. Some of the main unwanted plants it gets rid of as it feeds your lawn include dandelions, poison ivy, ragweed, plantain, and many more.

Who Should Buy It: If you have an average to small size yard that needs to be fertilized in general, or simply want to treat a certain area within your lawn that is either brown or overrun with weeds, there are few turf builders or liquid fertilizers that are so handy.

Best for Large Coverage

What We Like: This gallon jug of soil liquid concentrate fertilizer goes much further than the average product. If mixed properly, it can cover as much as 20,000 square feet.

FoxFarm Grow Big Soil Liquid Concentrate Fertilizer is an organic-based concentrated comprehensive blend of major, minor, and micronutrients. But, what does that mean, actually? It means that this product works on much more than just your lawn; you can also apply it to your roses, flower beds, herbs, gardens, and more. It is rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

The downside is that the jug is best used within a few seasons of purchasing it. If it is allowed to age for too long, it may crystalize, and then it won’t be able to break down completely and work at an optimal level when applied to your lawn.

Who Should Buy It: For those with average to large yards, particularly with gardens, flower beds, or other landscaping with plants, FoxFarm Grow Big Soil Liquid Concentrate Fertilizer could be your new best friend and helper around the yard.

Best Safe for Pets and Children

What We Like: Another ready to spray option, Revive Soil Builder helps increase soil health in general as well as to stimulate microbial and root growth; lending your lawn a major hand in becoming thicker and greener.

This product is the most similar to our number one pick, the Scotts Liquid Turf Builder, minus the killing of so many types of weeds part. It does, however, come in a convenient ready-to-spray bottle, and is twice the size as the Scotts bottle. It is also refillable, so you can use it for several seasons.

The fertilizer is slow release and relies on Lignosulfates for creating better soil microbes for your lawn. If your grass is yellow in certain areas, or you have compacted dirt, few products will repair it with so little effort.

Who Should Buy It: If you have small areas or passageways that need to be recovered, such as compacted paths, like your dog may create while running back and forth across the yard, this refillable lawn fertilizer could be the one for you.

Best for New Grass

What We Like: HastaGro Lawn fertilizer from Medina is another product that covers an enormous amount of lawn with a single bottle. It also works extremely quickly.

This particular liquid fertilizer has been created to specifically feed new, emerging seedlings, and supports both foliage and root growth for the first three weeks. Formulated not to burn vegetation and to be safe for tender, young shoots, results may yield a 70% thicker lawn 35% faster than comparable fertilizers.

Since you apply through a garden hose hookup, you are also able to water your lawn at the same time you are applying the feed. This is important to help mix the concentrate, but also get the nutrients to the roots of the plants – where it is needed for maximum new growth. You can also use this as a maintenance spray throughout the year to help with established growth.

Who Should Buy It: For those who want a product that will cover their entire yard or one that they can use multiple times throughout the year without needing to purchase more, Medina HastaGro Lawn fertilizer is an excellent choice.

Best for Root Growth

What We Like: Lawnlift is a super concentrated lawn fertilizer that can be turned into as much as 11 gallons when mixed properly. It’s also an all-original and natural formula.

Ultra-concentrated, this all-natural and original formula is safe and easy to use. It is both non-toxic and pet/child safe. Once applied, it works on the health of your lawn for up to three months. Even more, when it rains, there is no need to worry about runoff because there is none. Another great benefit of this product is that it breaks down into 11 full gallons once mixed. That means even more fertilizer with fewer purchases to make. A downside is that it costs a bit more than the average liquid lawn fertilizer.

Who Should Buy It: If your primary concern is to give your grass a boost and make it thicker and greener, the Lawnlift Grass and Mulch Paints Ultra Concentrated Grass Paint could be just the product you need to get the job done.

What Is Liquid Fertilizer

Liquid lawn fertilizer is a concentrated liquid nutrient medium that provides instantaneous feed to your plants both through the soil, as well as the foliage. This helps correct any deficiencies immediately with results often visible within a few days. This type of application also provides a more consistent pattern, making nutrients more readily available to the roots with very little waste product.

Because of the liquid base, the nutrients are not available for long periods of time, and for long-term treatments, you’ll generally need multiple applications. Depending on the type of feed, and what your lawn care goals are, each feeding may last anywhere from four weeks to three months.

Liquid applications are also very easy to customize to meet the specific needs of your lawn. Usually, commercial businesses are able to provide you with an assessment of your nutrient deficiencies within your soils and suggest a method of treatment. You can also test your soil yourself to better choose what you need to apply.

How to Apply Liquid Lawn Fertilizer

Commercial liquid applications are typically mixed within large tanks and then sprayed via backpack systems, or even from the back of a four-wheeler for larger areas. Recently, more “backyard enthusiast” options have become available, allowing you to mix your own in gallon spray tanks, or even have specialized hookups for your hose for wider coverage.

Lawn services often make application affordable if you choose to be put on a lawn care schedule, but you may not always get the liquid mix your lawn needs. If you plan on treating large acreage on your own, you may find you need to invest in the proper large-scale equipment. More affordable are the choices that come with a built-in sprayer that mixes the fertilizer with water via your hose hookup, or those that you can mix by hand. You just need to be very careful not to mix too much into your fertilizer versus water ratio, or you risk burning your lawn.

Fertilizers With Weed and Insect Control

Some liquid fertilizers come with an insect or weed control if you find yourself struggling with either of these problems. But it is important to note that healthy grasses with extensive root systems will eventually choke out the majority of the weeds you may have. By feeding your plants and soil, many weed control problems can be taken care of naturally with the increased health of your lawn, rather than through chemical treatments.

Lawns that have insect problems, especially those types of insects that like to hitch a ride into your house via pets and children, can often be treated with simple insect control. Other types of insects that make a meal out of your grass and grassroots and cause extensive damage or even death, may need to be treated multiple times to ensure all the life cycle stages have been interrupted.

How to Choose the Best Liquid Lawn Fertilizer for Your Lawn

As with any lawn care product, there are many choices available for you to choose from. Liquid fertilizers are generally quick-release feed that can have many benefits for your lawn. But there are also stipulations to how you apply it, and you also need to take into consideration what your lawn may need.

Do You Need Instant Results?

As mentioned, liquid fertilizers provide a quick release of nutrients to your plants and can be used to treat specific nutrient deficiencies fast to get your lawn back to looking its healthy self. But if you are looking for long-term maintenance or supplements to an otherwise already healthy lawn, you may want to consider a slower release, granular choice.

What Is the Size of Your Lawn?

Liquid applications can be a great choice for super-sized lawns. The spreading process can be accomplished much quicker than other techniques, especially if you are using any sort of motorized vehicle to help spray, or a commercial care system that has put you on a rotation of care.

Do You Have the Necessary Equipment for Liquid Application?

Depending on the size of your lawn, the use of liquid fertilizer can become quite costly. The equipment used to effectively spread over a large area is specialized for proper ratio application. This consideration should be included as part of your overall lawn maintenance budget.

Do You Have an Insect or Weed Problem?

Insect and weed additions are both available in certain fertilizer mixes. If you know you have an issue with either, you may want to consider killing two birds with one stone and treating both at the same time.

When Should You Fertilize Your Lawn?

If you are new to the world of lawn care or have been blessed to have never had issues with dead grass or compacted earth, one of the first things you need to know is when to fertilize your lawn. According to most gardeners and lawn care specialists, early spring, between the months of February and April, is the best time. That is because it is the time of the year when your grass starts to grow on its own. Basically, whenever you notice the first growth of the year is a perfect time to feed the lawn.

That said, if done properly, there should be no need to feed it more than once or twice per year. Over-fertilization can be far worse than no fertilization at all due to the runoff and burn it may cause. With that in mind, make sure to pay attention to the specific product you purchase and refer to its recommended usage. Also, be sure to avoid fertilizing directly before or after heavy rain as it will pretty much cancel out your hard work.

How We Picked

We looked at some of the most popular liquid lawn fertilizers used by gardeners, landscapers, and everyday ordinary folks like you and me to come up with our list of top picks. What we found was, despite that there are countless versions of liquid fertilizer for lawns out there, only a small handful of them truly stand out from the rest of the pack. If you’re interested in granular fertilizer, you may want to check out our liquid lawn fertilizer vs granular debate before going any further.

Some of the main factors we took into consideration when comparing products and rounding up our favorites picks included ingredients, type of grass/plants that the product is intended for, eco-friendliness, NPK, volume, ease-of-use, and coverage area. We also looked at factors like how long the product lasts once applied and whether or not it causes burning or runoff.

Choosing the Right Liquid Lawn Fertilizer

Although there are many different types of fertilizers available for you to choose from, liquid fertilizers provide a simple, concentrated packaging, and many times an easy application for smaller yards. These fast-acting choices get you results quickly but often may require regular follow-up feedings for better lawn establishment.

Whether you are looking for feed specific to a new lawn, or to help give a boost to a tired, worn-out yard, there is something for you. Our favorite is Scotts Liquid Turf Builder Weed and Feed since it is a simple maintenance system and can be used on everything from new growth to existing lawns and shows quick results when used correctly.