Organic Lawn Care
According to the National Wildlife Federation, “Approximately 50-70 percent of our residential water is used for landscaping, most of it to water lawns, which total approximately 20-30 million acres in the United States. And the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that nearly 70 million pounds of active pesticide ingredients are applied to suburban lawns each year, helping to make polluted runoff the single largest source of water pollution nationwide, affecting ground water, lakes and streams, wildlife, and human health.” This doesn’t even take into consideration the problems in their manufacturing, shipping, and disposal as well.
Are you thinking that you need to not use those chemicals on your lawn, but you have no idea how to wean yourself from them? Your lawn is addicted just as much as you are but the process of ‘going organic’ is easy and something to be proud of. Also, not buying all those chemicals saves you money!
As with all gardening, organic lawn care can be easily accomplished by working with nature. It all starts with healthy soil and choosing the right plant (or grass seed) for the spot. In the case of turf, proper watering and mowing are the next steps.
A healthy lawn naturally resists drought, weeds, insects and diseases. If you are like most people in our area, your main concerns are about the weeds. Interestingly, weeds used to be considered a natural part of everyone’s lawns, and selective herbicides were not generally used on suburban lawns until post WWII. Because of that biodiversity, the lawns were actually healthier than they are now, having fewer diseases and pest problems. (Seed mixes with white or pink clover are still available, though hard to find in our area). Excess weeds though, can be a symptom of poor soil or improper ph levels, as different weeds thrive in different conditions than grass. You can test your soil to diagnose any imbalance or problem by getting ph or soil testers at your local garden center, or contacting the Rutgers Cooperative Extension (Passaic County) at 973-305-5742, and getting a test kit, which will allow you to see exactly the levels of nutrients and amount of organic matter in your soil.
Ahhh…Organic matter. Life. What makes organic gardeners smile. Have you seen the beautiful black crumbly stuff filled with earth worms? That is the source of happiness for plants. This is compost. When establishing a new lawn, give your grass a bed of topsoil mixed with compost at least 8 inches deep so the root system can get deep and healthy. Then go to your local garden center and find the seed that is right for the amount of sun or shade you have. If you want to jumpstart your organic lawn care on an existing lawn, a yearly application of compost to your lawn is a great start. Sprinkle about ¼’ over the whole yard, preferably in the fall, and water it in. (Give it time, it’ll absorb)! Compost also encourages soil microorganisms which are part of healthy soils and which chemicals and pesticides and even fertilizers kill. Composting is easy, but you can buy it by the bag if you need to.
Now, for the maintenance part. When watering an established lawn, do it deeply and infrequently, making sure an inch of water penetrates to the roots each time. Use a rain gauge or measuring cup if you use a sprinkler, and time it until you reach an inch. Then let the grass look dull and curling a bit before you water again. If it rains a little bit, go out and finish the job by watering more. The little bits of watering that stay in the top few inches of soil encourages thatch, weak roots, and strong weeds! You want the deep soil damp and the top dry for ideal conditions.
When mowing, remember longer grass is healthier grass, so set the blades of your mower higher to take less grass off each time. You should mow more frequently, but your grass will actually grow slower, the longer it is! Also, the long blades shade the surface of the soil, therefore blocking sunlight from the new weed seeds and reducing the number of weeds in your lawn. Each time you do mow, leaving the clippings on the grass provides half of the nitrogen, (a necessary nutrient), your lawn needs. Try not mowing off more than 1/3rd of the blade length each time so too much doesn’t sit on the grass and suffocate it. A lawn full of healthy microorganisms breaks down these clippings quickly.
If you would like to fertilize, please use a natural fertilizer like hen manure, by brands like Coast of Maine, or Cockadoodle Doo, both of which go into a regular spreader. These fertilizers have lower NPK, (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium), than what the big brands tell you you need, but really, with healthy soil and the common sense care mentioned above, it’s all your grass needs. If you live near a lake, this is the way to go. It’s up to you if you’d like to fertilize in both the spring and fall, or just in the fall. It depends on how bad your lawn is or how ambitious you are!
In the long run, following organic practices will reward you with a healthier lawn, a healthier family and neighborhood, and a feeling of pride for doing the right thing for our children’s planet.
Jodie MacKenn Bross
Glenwild Garden Center
104 Glenwild Avenue
Bloomingdale, NJ 07403
973-838-0174