Organic Lawn Care For A Healthier Planet

Homeowners today are concerned more and more about the impact of chemical fertilizers on the environment. It's important for landscape companies to rise to meet the challenge with organic lawn care services for their environmentally-conscious clients.

All lawns start with a good foundation. Residential lawns in new construction areas are often cheated on the depth of quality loam. This can create a lot of weed problems, especially if the lot is sandy. The first step to improving any lawn is to provide a full four inches of compost-loam.

The key to a thick lawn. Many lawn care professionals use a special blend of decomposed plant material and screened topsoil in their lawn installations. The compost provides living bacteria that helps the new grass absorb nutrients faster and establish quicker. A thick lawn is the best deterrent for weeds. Depending upon your own lawn's condition, your landscape
may recommend removing the top layer and re-grading, or simply top dressing over the existing lawn with composted topsoil.

A different approach to "green." Nitrogen is the component of lawn fertilizer that makes the lawn green. Synthetic (non-organic) nitrogen affects the atmosphere when used in large quantities, impacting the global nitrogen exchange cycle. Organic lawn care programs reduce the amount of synthetic nitrogen applied to lawns to make them green.

Most screened loam is "dead soil." Screened loam used on most lawns today is a blend of sub soils, sand and mineral rich components with very little organic matter in them. These top soils are essentially "dead," in that they lack the living bacteria that naturally processes organic matter and converts it to a useful form of nitrogen for the lawn. This is why the typical lawn requires synthetic fertilizers to boost them with nitrogen artificially.

Soil structure is the key. Organic nitrogen is slow releasing, so it's important to have active microbial bacteria in the lawn to break it down. Landscaping companies that offer organic lawn care programs, use a unique process. Before applying any organic fertilizers or organic lawn care products, you must first condition the soil with a special blend of compost.

You should assume that the soil in your lawn is "dead" and lacking the beneficial bacteria to process organic fertilizers-so it's important to add a small amount incrementally over a three-year period. Aside from the beneficial bacteria, custom blended compost must be pH balanced for lawns. This holds moisture better than screened topsoil, helping your grass to develop deep roots to reduce stress during hot summers.

If the landscape company you hire prepares your soil right from the start, and then provides the other organic lawn controls, the end result is a healthier lawn for you, and a healthier planet for the rest of us!