Organic Lawn Care
By Hans Dekker, Fri Dec 9th
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Organic lawn care doesn’t mean you sit back and watch as weedsinfiltrate your lawn until dandelion lint covers your sidewalk.Nor does it mean that you need to be out on hands and knees fromsunrise until sunset, hand-pulling crabgrass and invasive weedsin order to have the lush green carpet of your neighbors’chemically treated lawns. What organic lawn care does mean isthat with a good lawn care plan and a minimum of work, you canhave an attractive addition to your landscape that is safe forboth your family and the environment.
In organic lawn care, as in all organic gardening, thefoundation for building a great lawn is your soil. The firststep in planning a lawn is to find out what kind of dirt isunder your grass. A soil test, from your county extension agentor other lawn care professional, tells you whether it’s sand orclay based, nutrient rich or nitrogen poor, acid or alkaline.From there, you can decide how to improve (amend) it and choosethe seed that will give you more green for your colorful USdollar.
A basic rule of thumb in organic lawn care is that it’s moreimportant to feed the soil than to fertilize the grass. Nutrientrich soil holds moisture, entices beneficial insects, andmaintains a healthy environment for microorganisms that fightdisease, deters pests and parasites, and generally help keepyour lawn growing and green. Six to ten inches of good top soilis worth its weight in green for your lawn!
A mulching mower solves two problems in organic lawn care withjust a few swipes of its blades. First of all, when mowing,always keep a high clip (2 ½ to 3 inches) unless it’s your finalmowing in the fall. Short grass clippings
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