An organic lawn? - For the kids, dogs and other pets

“What’s the difference? Organic, shamanic!”

Organic lawn care is unique and safe but not difficult. You can have a beautiful green, weed-free lawn all year long. A more organic approach to landscape and lawns is in order. It is no longer a fad.

Private residences hold a great potential for restoring quality, and an effective and responsible alternative to the use of chemicals, all of which may pose a threat to human and environmental wellbeing. You can have a vibrant green lawn that can be very effective against weeds and pests. Do you want to have a “chemicalized golf course” lawn or a living, healthy and safe yard on which you and your pets, kids and the world around you can safely play, lay or walk?

Keeping a lawn green requires a strong organic fertilizer with a good amount of nitrogen. Really good compost that is finely sifted can be distributed on the lawn very lightly two to four times a year to keep it shining. A good broad spectrum organic blend of fertilizer that breaks down relatively quickly and does not have an odor is preferred. If it is broadcast on the lawn (by hand or with a machine) three times a year and immediately watered in deeply, not much will be tracked into the house.

The old days of putting cow manure on a lawn is sloppy, smelly and a bad idea. Go to a farm store and get a good quality organic high-nitrogen blend that has lots of trace minerals in it.

Apply a liquid seaweed and humic acid blend in liquid form to the lawn just at dusk. Water the next day and you won’t even know that you did it, except the lush green color of the lawn and the absence of pests.

Weed control is another challenge to the organic gardener. First, a shovel will remove a few weeds if that is all there are. If their numbers get too high for mechanical control, buy four-percent vinegar and spot-spray it on the weeds with a hand-held squirt bottle. This will kill the weed on contact. Also, farm supply companies sell clove oil concentrate that, if handled the same way, will kill the weeds but not affect the lawn. (Do not let it come into contact with the lawn.)

I like to water right after I mow, since the plants are in shock; this keeps them stronger and they re-grow healthier. I water one time very deep and then maybe one-half to one hour a couple of times a week. This replaces the surface water and keeps the sod happy.

Mow no less than two to three inches and no higher. Too tight sets the lawn back; too high creates a bad environment. If you have a mulch mower, use it, though if you fertilize regularly, this is not vital. It also allows grass to be tracked into the house.

If you have a bird feeder near the lawn, this will keep the pests down. A good garden soap product will suffocate a lot of insects and reduce pest problems. Add grass seed to bare spots, rake in lightly and water the patch up. This will keep the entire lawn looking good.

In future articles I will be getting into liquid compost and herb-based teas to spray on soils and plants. This also keeps a lawn green. A richly planted yard absorbs carbon dioxide and gives off oxygen, thus renewing our air supply. The environment around our houses could be the most healthful place for us to ever be.

Hope summer is good to you.