Organic Lawn Care

[Steve]

Steve has a great topic to talk to all of us about, organic lawn care. He would like to discuss a bunch of issues and maybe more if you have more questions for him. Some of the topics he would like to cover include. 1. Safety and liability of the synthetic fertilizers and pesticides 2. Equipment needed 3. Time and labor savings 4. Environmental concerns 5. Lawn health. A plush healthy lawn is weed and Insect free. 6. How to build humus. Conventional methods don't - they even destroy it 7. Higher profits. 8. An edge over the compitition 9. Present and future regulations. Organic methods are all that is allowed now in Canada. Soon it will be the same here. 10. Be at the forefront of change. Set the standards 11. Methods homeowners don't want to get into. Equipment, time, learning curve, etc. Steve can you jump in here and share with us some of your thoughts on these topics?

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[swstout]

Lawn care business tips

Originally Posted by Steve Steve has a great topic to talk to all of us about, organic lawn care. Originally Posted by Steve He would like to discuss a bunch of issues and maybe more if you have more questions for him. Some of the topics he would like to cover include. Steve can you jump in here and share with us some of your thoughts on these topics? Organic lawn care is easy, profitable, and the tools, equipment and supplies are readily available. No licenses or permits are required. The products are safe to people, pets and the environment. I use Nature's Lawn products and swear by them. Easy to store, to use, and have behind them years of testing. These products actually build the soil (synthetic and chemical fertilizers just feed the grass and actually harm the soil). They can be applied simultaneously saving time and money. With the exception of their Insect Guard, all can even be applied in the rain. Most homeowners will mow their own lawn, but shy away from aerating and dethatching giving you a ready made service market. Originally, we talked about presenting this as video conferences. But decided to use the Forum instead. I developed organic lawn care primer to answer and generate questions. Read the primer and ask you questions. We'll do our best to answer them. Organic Lawn Care Primer What to expect when switching to organic lawn care

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[mark123]

Originally Posted by swstout

... No licenses or permits are required. ...

That's a bit disheartening actually. Is that in all states?

[mark123]

I have a question concerning a problem I deal with quite often. Many of the lawns in the area have been stripped of any proper top soil and then seeded with cheap garbage grass (mostly annual rye) that comes up fast and dies off to leave mostly weeds and pest grass.

One lawn in particular I figured out how much top soil they would need to make an appropriate base for a good lawn. I told them 42 tons of top soil. The contractor they hired put 4 tons (not even 10% of the necessary amount). The results are, let's just say, less than acceptable. So now this lawn with not enough top soil is effectively the same as the stripped lawns with none.

Is there anything that can assist in converting the clay and rocky soil into an even slightly more appropriate lawn base?

[mark123]

I'm reading some of your site and it seems that you do have some items that will break down the clay (this is great news for me).

I also read that it says that on the first year lawns can go through "withdrawl" from the synthetic, high nitrogen fertilizers. What about lawns that are new and have never become accustomed to fertilizing? I'd be starting them out on organics. Would I still need to apply an extra dose to get it in shape?

[ccmark]

Can you give us a general idea of what type of schedule these should be on as far as what time in the year is optimum for each application.

[mark123]

Originally Posted by ccmark

Can you give us a general idea of what type of schedule these should be on as far as what time in the year is optimum for each application.

This will most likely differ from north to south as the lawn types and timing of applications will differ due to the climate zone differences. Steve is in the Carolinas and we are in the cold, cold north.



Steve, if you have any advice on separating the truth from the hype I'd appreciate hearing that as well.

[picframer]

In your customers situation, although it's tough without seeing the lawn in question here is what I would do, spray Aerify Plus and water heavy, spread about an inch of screened organic top dressing soil, seed, roll, apply a high Nitrogen slow release turf starter, roll again then go back in three to four weeks and spray Natures Magic and organic Fertilizer.

The Organic products do not perform as well as the high Nitrogen slow release granular products on new seed or sod based on my experience which is about 80 new lawns this season.

[swstout]

Originally Posted by mark123

That's a bit disheartening actually. Is that in all states?

All the products are considered food sources. The are 100% biodegradable leaving no dangers to people pets or the environment.

I don't know of any state that requires one.

Steve

[swstout]

Originally Posted by mark123

I'm reading some of your site and it seems that you do have some items that will break down the clay (this is great news for me).

I also read that it says that on the first year lawns can go through "withdrawl" from the synthetic, high nitrogen fertilizers. What about lawns that are new and have never become accustomed to fertilizing? I'd be starting them out on organics. Would I still need to apply an extra dose to get it in shape?

Aerify is the product you are talking about. It breaks down the clay allowing water and air to penetrate. It also has bio-enhancements that revitalize soil bacteria, enzymes, and fungi that make more nutrients redily available to the plant roots requiring less external nitrogen.

For new lawns not damaged by chemical and synthetic fertilizers, I would use Aerify first, seed or sod, apply Matures Magic to start. Mulch the grass and leaves into the lawn and add the bio-enhanced dethatcher. the mulch will start building humus in weeks.

Steve