Simple Organic Lawn Care
Maintaining a green lawn can be a daunting task and the first thing you face is the dilemma of using synthetic fertilizer or going organic. Going organic is not that difficult, all you need is a little bit of patience and elbow grease. Organic lawn care can be done in easy and manageable steps.
The first thing you must do is to mow differently. The most common mistake is cutting your grass too short. Simply raise the deck height of your mower all the way up to the top. This will be 3 to 4 inches, depending on the mower you’re using. Taller grass means lesser weeds because lack of sunlight to the soil inhibits germination of weeds. By this, you have natural weed control. There is another thing about your lawn mower. It is advisable to get a mulching mower because the fine grass clippings that are thrown back to the lawn will act as a natural fertilizer.
Next to tackle is the thatch which is the brown grass stems and runners that settles on the lawn which are technically grass clippings. Thatch is caused by too much synthetic fertilizer and poor watering of the plants. You can get rid of the thatch by simply raking them. The green grass won’t be harmed because they are firmly rooted to the ground. Thatch can be used as mulch for your garden beds.
Fertilizing the grass in your lawn is next. All organic fertilizers are materials that would otherwise end up in the trash, so using them is a great way to recycle plus it has great nutritional value. Organic fertilizer can be alfalfa meal or a mixture of alfalfa meal, bone meal or blood meal. Using organic fertilizers takes a little bit longer for the results to show than using synthetic ones. However, using organic fertilizers will mean fertilizing less often and you don’t have to be concerned if you have used less or a lot of it because it won’t be harmful to the grass and won’t burn the plants either.
Pests and diseases can also be controlled using organic solutions. They are simple, won’t cost a lot and non-toxic. For soft-bodied insects such as aphids and red spider mites, you can use insecticidal soap. Hard-bodied insects such as beetles can be dealt with using Pyrethrum which is made from South American chrysanthemums. Use this as a last resort because it also kills beneficial insects. Neem which is oil-based is very effective on difficult-to-control hard and soft-bodied insects. Again use this as a last resort because it also kills beneficial insects. For fungal diseases and soft-bodies insects, horticultural oil can be used. Bacillus thuringiensis can be used to control mosquito larvae.
As always, a compost pile is a great, natural way to provide nutrients for your plants and amend the soil. With its disease-fighting properties, compost is the greatest thing you can do to promote overall health in your landscape the natural way.
