« For Interior Gardening Ordinary Hydroponics Can’t Be Equaled | Home | The Best Tips on Gardening »
The Real Truth About Organic Lawn Treatments
By Flower | April 3, 2009
I talk to people every single day who have decided to take a stand and “go green.” With that commitment, they have made the pledge to go organic in their lawn care regimen. But most don’t understand what that really means. Here are some step-by-step tips to help you in your organic lawn care endeavors.
However, we first must lay down some groundwork before we can go totally organic in our lawn treatment schedule.
1) I first must help you understand that there is no such thing as natural or organic weed killer or broadleaf weed control. I wish there way, but there just isn’t. I have seen all kinds of things sold as “organic” weed control, including beat juice, but they just do not work. Instead, we do need to use some traditional weed pesticides on our lawns just until we can get the problem under control or nearly eliminated.
2) Now that you believe me when I tell you that there is no organic weed killer, you still need a way to get those weeds gone so you CAN move to an organic lawn treatment program. That’s why I recommend you spot spray weeds in the lawn instead of buying blanket applications of weed and feed bags. You see, by spot spraying weeds, we can completely control where the chemical goes and where it doesn’t. This means less being used! That’s a good thing. Remember guys, spot spray until you get them under control, then move to the next step.
3) Our next step in the line is to get the actual turf thickened up. Remember, the best defense against later weed invasion is a super thick and dense lawn! The way we get the lawn thicker is by feeding it nutrients that will help support photosynthesis. The nutrients I recommend for healthy lawns are nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. In a blend of fertilizer, you will want a 20-20-10 for the best thickening results. You will need to use synthetic fertilizer for a while and then switch to organics. (there are really no organic fertilizers with this composition)
4) The final step, and maybe the most important is a completely non-chemical step called lawn “aeration.” Aerating a lawn is a process whereby cores of soil are pulled from the lawn. This breaks down the thatch layer and also relieves soil compaction allowing the grass roots to spread out and get thicker, faster! You must aerate your lawn every spring and every fall without fail.
So far, you may be thinking that we will never get to a completely organic lawn, but that is not the case. Once the turf is thick and green using the above tips, then we can switch to the organic fertilizers and pick the weeds by hand! Now that is natural!
Topics: Gardening Tips | No Comments »