The basis of organic lawn care
is soil health – building organic matter and building mineral content. The goal
is to achieve vibrant, healthy soil such as you would find on the forest floor.
As you progressively use organic amendments in your yard, and the health of your
soil improves, you will need fewer and fewer amendments. After 2-3 years
following an organic approach you will likely not need to apply anything else to
your lawn.
Conventional, chemical-based
fertilizers target the grass, feeding the needs of the plant. They effectively
render the soil lifeless, resulting in a continuous need to reapply the
chemicals every few months – forever.
When you feed the life in the
soil, rather than the grass, those growing populations of microorganisms begin
to accomplish many jobs that now consume great amounts of our time, money and
energy.
For example, microorganisms
serve to help:
a) Fertilize –
by fixing nitrogen from the air, mineralizing soil organic nutrient, generating
carbon dioxide, and dissolving mineral nutrient from rock.
b) De-thatch –
by decomposing thatch and other organic matter into valuable nutrients and humus
which, in turn, increase water and nutrient holding capacity of the soil
c) Aerate the
soil
d) Control many
lawn pests and disease problems by competition & predation.
In addition, you are not
putting anything on your lawn which could have damaging effects on ground water,
run-off water, children or pets.
Thick grass crowds out weeds;
thin grass sits there, inviting invasion. Weeds are incredibly opportunistic and
will move into any bare spot they can find, but even weeds need at least
minimally attractive conditions including space and light. Thick grass deprives
them of both. Beating back weeds therefore requires cultivating competitors, in
this case grass. Indeed, the first line of defense against weeds is a thick,
healthy lawn.
Here is the basic
recommended schedule for complete organic care of your lawn: 
1) Aerate your
lawn once a year – opens small holes in the soil to allow penetration of
nutrients, water and oxygen to the roots of plants. Cost – same as mowing
2) Apply
compost to entire lawn area, ½” thick, at least once every 2 years.
3) Apply corn
gluten meal – prior to beginning of spring. This acts as a pre-emergent,
preventing germination of weed seed. This ONLY inhibits growth of weeds that
have not yet germinated. Existing weeds have to be dealt with in another
manner. Cost – same as mowing plus actual cost of product (approx. $13.00 per
1000 sq. ft.)
4) Spot control
weeds with vinegar 30%
5) Apply
granular fertilizer & dry molasses - 2 weeks after corn gluten meal. Both help
improve soil health, aiding microbial growth. Molasses are an excellent food
source for microbial life in the soil. Also keeps away fire ants! Cost – 1.5
times the cost of mowing plus actual cost of product (approx. $18.00 per 1000
sq. ft.)
6) May – apply
foliar (liquid) fertilizer. Faster acting than earlier applied granular. Has
better effect on growing grass. Cost – same as mowing plus actual cost of
product. (Approx. $5 per 1000 sq. ft.)
7) July – apply
corn gluten meal. Prevents fall weeds. Cost – same as mowing plus actual cost
of product (approx. $13.00 per 1000 sq. ft.)
8) Apply
granular fertilizer & foliar fertilizer – 2 weeks after corn gluten meal. Cost –
same as mowing plus cost of actual product (approx. $13.00 per 1000 sq. ft.)
9) Sept – apply
foliar fertilizer. Cost – same as mowing plus actual cost of product (approx.
$5.00 per 1000 sq. ft.)
10) Sept. 15th
– Nov. 15th – apply corn gluten meal to inhibit growth of winter and
spring weeds. Cost – same as mowing plus actual cost of product (approx. $13.00
per 1000 sq. ft.)
11) Apply granular
fertilizer & dry molasses – 2 weeks after corn gluten meal. Cost – same as
mowing plus actual cost of product (approx. $13.00 per 1000 sq. ft.)
In addition –
1) Water
infrequently but deeply – approx. 1” per week. This encourages the roots to go
deep as well, seeking water & nutrients they need.
2) Leave grass
clippings on lawn – the simplest way to provide needed nutrients and Organic
matter to the soil
3) Mow often but
never lower than 3 inches. Longer grass helps retain moisture and shades the
soil, protecting the roots & discouraging weeds.
