The Quest For Natural Lawn Treatments - Eco Friendly Home and Building Designs / Green Building Directory - Eco Friendly Home and Building Designs / Green Building Directory

by JackGriggsby

More and more these days, homeowners are looking to reduce their impact on the environment and move to more responsible lawn care alternatives. This is a very respectable goal, but it is also a misunderstood one. Here are just a few tips for you to follow if you truly want to become organic in your lawn care program.

However, we first must lay down some groundwork before we can go totally organic in our lawn treatment schedule.

1) First off, there is no such thing as "organic weed control." I don't care what is being sold out there on the internet, there is not such thing as an all natural weed killer. You can buy those products all day long but all you will do is waste your money because they do not work. With that in mind, we need to find a viable alternative to blanketing our lawns with harsh chemical sprays.

2) Now that you believe me when I tell you that there is no organic weed killer, you still need a way to get those weeds gone so you CAN move to an organic lawn treatment program. That's why I recommend you spot spray weeds in the lawn instead of buying blanket applications of weed and feed bags. You see, by spot spraying weeds, we can completely control where the chemical goes and where it doesn't. This means less being used! That's a good thing. Remember guys, spot spray until you get them under control, then move to the next step.

3) Our next step in the line is to get the actual turf thickened up. Remember, the best defense against later weed invasion is a super thick and dense lawn! The way we get the lawn thicker is by feeding it nutrients that will help support photosynthesis. The nutrients I recommend for healthy lawns are nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. In a blend of fertilizer, you will want a 20-20-10 for the best thickening results. You will need to use synthetic fertilizer for a while and then switch to organics. (there are really no organic fertilizers with this composition)

4) Finally, you must be ready to roll up your sleeves get dirty and the dirtiest and most time consuming part of the organic equation is the lawn aeration. Aerating the lawn is a mechanical process whereby a machine is taken across the lawn that pulls plugs of soil. These plugs help to relieve compaction in the lawn as well as break down heavy thatch layers that hamper nutrient and moisture penetration. Aerating is very organic because it requires no chemicals and it works every single time. You should aerate your organically treated lawn every single spring and fall.

So far, you may be thinking that we will never get to a completely organic lawn, but that is not the case. Once the turf is thick and green using the above tips, then we can switch to the organic fertilizers and pick the weeds by hand! Now that is natural!

About the Author:

If you are looking for an easy to follow lawn fertilizer schedule when you should visit the lawn care blog.