For the laid-back homeowner, fertilizing your lawn may seem like an unnecessary chore. Grass is a plant. Plants should take care of themselves, right? The fact is that our lawns are strange, artificial habitats where we expect only one species to grow. To maintain the status quo, it will need a helping hand. Here is how fertilizers can help.

1. More Green
The most obvious benefit of fertilizers is having a thicker, fuller and greener lawn. Fertilizers enrich the soil around your grass roots, giving them big, hearty meals to thrive on. The result is denser, more robust growth for that classic all-American lawn.

2. Sustainable Green
The biggest benefit of fertilizers is giving you a low-maintenance lawn. With good roots, you will notice fewer issues with brown patches, wilting and other hiccups that plague the average American lawn.

3. Faster Green
Applied at the right time, fertilizers will help perk your grass up faster after hot summers and long winters. It can also give a boost to fresh seed. Remember to use a light touch. Your primary concern should be growing robust plants, and overzealous growth makes for weak, spindly specimens.

4. Less Watering, More Drought Tolerance
When you use slow-release fertilizers, grass roots will their time winding their way down into the soil rather than waiting right up top for their next nutrient quick fix. Deeper roots improve drought tolerance and let you go longer between waterings. One inch of water, once a week should be plenty.

5. Rough, Tough and Tumble Turf
Well-nourished grass is like a well-nourished person. If it eats well, it is better equipped to take on what life throws at it. Carefully fertilized lawns should be more disease- and pest-resistant than their unfertilized neighbors. Be mindful not to over-fertilize. Chemical burns will make your grass more susceptible to problems instead.

6. Fewer Weeds
When your grass can grow up strong and fast, weeds just cannot compete. Maintaining a proper balance of nutrients in the soil also discourages many types of weeds, like the nefarious dandelions. Just be careful. Too much of a good thing can backfire, and weeds that thrive on overabundance will move in where your grass cannot gobble up the excess fast enough.

With the right products and a good schedule, fertilizing is an easy task with a big payoff. Your grass will reward your efforts season after season.