Choosing organic lawn care can benefit your lawn, the environment, and your family in various ways. Learn why maintaining a lawn naturally is the way to go and discover the best organic lawn care practices and tips to ensure success.
What Is The Difference Between Organic and Regular Lawn Care?
Using synthetic products is the norm in lawn care. That’s probably because it’s less expensive upfront and generates faster results. Chemical sprays are potent against bugs and weeds, so you’ll see results quickly. However, using chemicals to maintain lawns brings about environmental and health issues. It can harm wildlife, pollute the water system, and pose health risks to your family and pets.
Organic lawn care is the more environment-friendly way of keeping lawns healthy and lush. This approach to lawn care involves the use of organic products and natural methods rather than relying on synthetic chemicals. This method slowly builds up your lawn to be more sustainably healthy and easier to maintain in the long run.
The Benefits of Organic Lawn Care
The most notable benefit of organic lawn care is its positive impact on the environment. Because of the minimized use of toxic chemicals, organic lawn care doesn’t harm the soil, vegetation, animals, or water. Even if you are not an environmentalist, organic lawn care has its benefits.
Here are some of them:
It’s Safer
Organically-maintained lawns are significantly less contaminated with synthetic pollutants that can stay active for a long time and harm those who come in contact with them. With organic lawn care, your family and pets can stay, roam, or play around your lawn without the risk of being exposed to toxins.
It Makes Lawns Healthier.
Many lawns are used to frequent watering and massive infusions of fertilizers. These traditional lawn care practices often leave lawns vulnerable to diseases, drought, and other issues. Well-planned organic lawn care allows the lawn to develop deep, robust roots that can withstand most local conditions, shrug off occasional pests, and crowd out weeds.
It’s More Sustainable.
Organic lawn care can be relatively time-consuming and expensive upfront. But this won’t always be the case. Soil quality will gradually improve as you apply organic fertilizers. Unlike chemical fertilizers that release all nutrients at once, organic fertilizers break down slowly over time. It provides the lawn with nutrients it needs to thrive in the long run. Additionally, natural weed and pest controls are geared toward prevention rather than extermination.
Over-Application Isn’t a Concern.
There might be times when you miscalculate the amount of fertilizer required by your lawn and end up applying more products than necessary. It can easily lead to the destruction of your lawn. With organic lawn care, you don’t have to worry about over-application because natural products pose no danger to your grass.
So, is organic lawn care better than conventional lawn care? In terms of safety, sustainability, and environmental impact, organic lawn care is undoubtedly a better approach.
Best Organic Lawn Care Practices
Organic lawn care is an effective and sustainable way of getting a healthy lawn. These best practices will help you along the way.
Focus on Enhancing Soil Quality
The mainstay of organic lawn care is improving soil quality. Quality soil promotes the development of robust plants that can resist diseases and pest infestation. Using natural fertilizers, aerating the soil, and adding compost are examples of organic ways to improve soil health. Testing your soil should be your first step, though. This will help you identify the nutrients your soil needs and the adjustments necessary to make it healthier.
Choose Grass Suitable to Your Location
Grasses come in various types but generally fall into two categories: cool-season and warm-season grasses. Choosing the right kind of grass will make it easier to keep turf healthy. Select a turfgrass mixture appropriate for your climate. Local garden stores and lawn care professionals can help you choose a suitable grass based on your area.
Learn Proper Mowing and Watering Techniques
Mowing and watering are often not included in lawn care services, so you’ll have to do these tasks yourself. Mowing your lawn when it is seven to eight inches is a good practice. Remember the one-third rule, which means never chop off over a third of a grass blade at a time. Gradually cutting the grass to the ideal height can promote healthy root growth and reduce weed growth.
When watering your lawn, remember that it’s best to do it before dawn during warmer months so the grass has enough time to absorb moisture before it evaporates. In terms of watering frequency, it will depend on your location and weather conditions.
Use Organic Fertilizers
Fertilizer that uses natural ingredients like bone meal, blood meal, seaweed, cotton meal, and manure feeds your lawn long-term by improving overall soil quality through microbial activity. You can get organic fertilizers from local stores or look around your place for grass clippings, food remains, and composted animal manure.
Implement Natural Weed and Pest Control Strategies
Your organic lawn will eventually become well-established enough to prevent weeds from taking over. Before that, however, you will have to deal with weeds through manual weeding or applying organic solutions like vinegar or corn gluten meal.
Pest infestation is another concern in lawns. Some natural ways of controlling their population are removing their habitats or whatever attracts them to your lawn. You can also introduce beneficial insects to your lawn, like ladybugs, lacewings, and ground beetles. If you need to use pesticides, neem oil and diatomaceous earth are also good alternatives.
DIY Tips for Organic Lawn Care
If you want to dabble in DIY organic lawn care, here are some pointers to get you started.
- Create your compost. You can make your compost bin from abundant and naturally available resources from your house. You can add pretty much any organic material to your compost, like grass and food scraps. Mix brown wastes (carbon-rich like leaves and cardboard) with green waste (nitrogen-rich like weeds and manure) with around 2-4 browns: 1 green ratio.
- Learn the proper way of applying natural pesticides. Applying natural pesticides like neem oil and sulfur is easy enough. There shouldn’t be an issue as long as you carefully read and follow the instructions along with the precautions.
- Sharpen your mowing blade. Grasses cut down by dull mower blades are more prone to drought and disease.
- Leave the grass clippings. Not only will you save some time and effort by keeping your grass clippings after you mow, but you will provide your lawn with a source of nutrients. Grass clippings can also serve as a temporary layer of thatch to inhibit the growth of weeds.
Why Seek Professional Organic Lawn Care Services
Switching from the conventional method to organic lawn care might be challenging, especially at the beginning. You need to do a soil test and apply the right amount of treatment. You might even have to restart your chemically laden lawn. Some situations simply call for hiring professional organic lawn care near you.
By hiring organic lawn care experts, you can be sure your lawn is maintained properly, even without using chemicals. Organic lawn care pros know effective strategies and products for keeping lawns in tip-top shape all year round.
Let Experts Help You Switch to Organic Lawn Care Today
LawnMart emphasizes environmental responsibility and sustainability in its organic approach to lawn care. To encourage healthy soil and grass growth, our company employs natural methods rather than synthetic chemicals.
Please contact us today for more information about our lawn care services.