Even when side-by-side, lawns and gardens have different fertilization needs.
Lawns and gardens serve different landscape purposes and have different care requirements. Crucial elements such as water, light and warm temperatures are vital to success but nutritive needs vary by crop. A lawn fertilizer can damage a vegetable garden while a vegetable garden fertilizer mix may be ineffective when applied to a lawn.
Nutrients
All plants, whether grass or flowering vegetables, require healthy nutritious soil full of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorous and other nutrients. The amounts of needed nutrients depend on the crop and the grower's preference. For dark green and lush lawns, add nitrogen rich fertilizers, but avoid adding this fertilizer to your tomatoes. Tomatoes grown in nitrogen rich soils are high in foliage and limited in fruit.
Lawn Fertilizers
Lawn fertilizers are complete fertilizers, meaning they contain all three essential plant foods: nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. Fertilizers are sold by grade and their grade indicates the amount of each nutrient per pound of fertilizer. Nitrogen is listed first followed by phosphorous and potassium. The most common complete fertilizers used on lawns are 16-4-8,12-4-8, 10-10-10 and 6-6-6, according to horticulturists from Clemson University.
Apply lawn fertilizer with spreaders. Spreaders are calibrated to ensure that the proper amounts of fertilizer are evenly distributed across a lawn. Fertilizer your lawn in accordance with your climate and your turf. These variables determine the type of complete fertilizer to use and fertilization timing. Depending on these variables, you may have to fertilize in spring or in fall.
Garden Fertilizers
Garden fertilizers must be adapted to a variety of different crops as well as different soil conditions. Submit samples of your garden soil to a university extension service for customized fertilizer recommendations. Commonly recommended vegetable garden fertilizer grades are high nitrogen fertilizers such as 12-12-12 and 15-15-15 for leafy vegetables, while potassium and phosphorous rich fertilizer grades such as 6-24-24 and 6-12-18 are suited for flowering and fruiting vegetable crops.
Garden fertilizers are worked into the soil prior to planting. Apply nitrogen rich sidedressings throughout the growing season. Garden vegetables require potassium and phosphorous early in their growing season for fruiting and rooting but benefit from steady nitrogen application throughout their growing season.
Considerations
Even when a lawn fertilizer label indicates the fertilizer grade recommended for your garden, take caution before application. Recommended fertilizer dosages are just as important as recommended grades. Consult with local master gardeners to determine the correct dosage for your crop. Some lawn fertilizers often contain herbicides that should not be used on vegetable gardens, so read labels carefully.
Orchids, roses and other specialty flowers benefit from crop specific fertilizer mixes that release nutrients and also amend soil pH balances. Ornamental flower fertilizers are applied during different stages of a plant's life cycle. Follow package directions and seek advice from rose societies or other plant specific gardening groups.
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