Natural organic lawn care practices will give you peace of mind about the safety of your children and pets, your impact on the environment, and the beauty of your lawn.

Assess Your Lawn

Assess Your Soil

Key Points

Assess Your Lawn

Once you have made the decision to care for your lawn with natural organic methods, the first step is assessing your lawn.  If your lawn has relatively few weeds and significant coverage, you can keep the existing turf and begin using natural organic methods at any time. 

If your lawn has significant damage or extensive weed cover, you may decide to kill the existing turf and re-establish it.  The existing lawn can be killed by using a non-selective herbicide that does not leave a residue in the soil.  Another method that does not involve chemicals is covering the lawn in plastic tarp until the grass dies.  Advantages to re-establishing a new lawn include: the ability to select native grasses that use less water and are resistant to pests and weeds; the ability to amend the soil and create a healthy base for the new turf; and the ability to correct any nutrient deficiencies in the soil prior to seeding.  (back to top)

Assess Your Soil

After assessing your lawn and deciding whether to keep the existing turf or start over, it is ideal to have the quality of the soil assessed by a soil testing lab.  Do-it-yourself soil testing kits can also be conveniently purchased.  The primary factor in growing and maintaining a healthy lawn is having quality soil with sufficient organic matter.  Sufficient organic matter improves soil structure, which creates greater pore spaces and allows better soil drainage, water-holding capacity, aeration, and root growth.  (back to top)

Key Points

It is important to remember that natural organic lawn care is different than conventional lawn care.  It often takes longer to produce visible results because natural organic methods start at the source by improving soil and creating a healthy foundation for your lawn to grow.  Conventional chemical methods often provide quick fixes and ultimately require more investment of your time and money.  Natural organic methods also give you peace of mind with the knowledge that your lawn is safe for children and pets, and having a reduced negative impact on the environment. 

When switching to natural lawn care methods, liquid fertilizer products should be seriously considered.  In comparison to granular products, liquid lawn fertilizers are more easily absorbed into the soil, have less impact on the environment, are easier to apply, and require less product. (back to top)

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