Easy Organic Lawn Care
Organic yard care is simple once you go through the steps of disconnecting your lawn from its chemical life-support system. "The organic lawn is not a ton of work—it really isn't—but it requires more understanding."
Curing this chemical dependency has its environmental benefits. One 40-pound bag of synthetic fertilizer contains the fossil-fuel equivalent of approximately 2.5 gallons of gasoline, and mowing for one hour with a gasoline-powered mower generates the same amount of pollution as driving a car for 20 miles, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). To keep lawns green, we apply about 10,000 gallons of water, which leads to fungal diseases and weeds that attract pests, so we douse our coveted green patches with approximately 67 million pounds a year of synthetic pesticides.
Start with the Soil
"Everything is as healthy as the soil it grows in," says Harmen Vos, president of the Organicdutchman lawn service in New Jersey. Healthy soil contains naturally occurring potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus as well as billions of beneficial microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and protozoa and larger creatures like earthworms that build soil structure. Chemically treated grass, in contrast, has very little life because, over time, the fertilizers and pesticides kill or slow down these helpful bugs.
"Everything is as healthy as the soil it grows in," says Harmen Vos, president of the Organicdutchman lawn service in New Jersey. Healthy soil contains naturally occurring potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus as well as billions of beneficial microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and protozoa and larger creatures like earthworms that build soil structure. Chemically treated grass, in contrast, has very little life because, over time, the fertilizers and pesticides kill or slow down these helpful bugs.
To aid your organic conversion, many university cooperative extension offices will test your existing soil for organic matter, nutrients and pH for a small fee. Once you know what's in your soil, you can begin to bring it back to life. Lawns prefer slightly acidic soils with a pH range of 6.5 to 7, but flowers, shrubs and trees vary in their pH preferences. Lime helps balance acidic soil, while sulfur helps with alkaline. Other soil improvers such as worm castings, kelp, fish wastes and decomposed organic matter called humates add nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium Compost or "compost tea"—liquid compost that more readily penetrates soil—can help restore beneficial microbial life. You can have it applied by an expert in organic lawn care, or purchase organic compost.
Water, Water—But Not Everywhere
Water in the morning so that evaporation is minimal and because leaving grass wet at night encourages fungal diseases. Water should soak six inches or more into the soil to reach the roots. Set a cake pan near your sprinkler, and when it's roughly full, you'll have watered sufficiently.
Water in the morning so that evaporation is minimal and because leaving grass wet at night encourages fungal diseases. Water should soak six inches or more into the soil to reach the roots. Set a cake pan near your sprinkler, and when it's roughly full, you'll have watered sufficiently.
Also, match your plants with your locale, says Douglas F. Welsh, Ph.D., professor and extension horticulturist at Texas A&M University. "It is as inappropriate to have a cactus in Newark, New Jersey, as it is to have azaleas in El Paso, Texas." He prefers Xeriscaping, landscaping practices that reduce water waste through an equal mix of adaptable plants, decks, walkways and smaller lawns. "People have a mental image of drought-tolerant landscapes as wagon wheels, animal skulls and a few cacti," says Welsh, but "we can have high-quality landscapes that are in harmony with the environment we live in."
Edited from article by Catherine Zandonella June 12, 2007 for the Green Guide, National Geographic www.thegreenguide.com
