What is it?
Fertilizing supplements your lawn with the nutrients it needs to grow: primarily Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. Organic fertilizers use products form things that used to be alive (plants and animals) rather thana chemicals to provide those nutrients. Weed control involves measures which reduce (never totally eliminate) the number of weeds in the lawn. Organic weed control products such as corn gluten can prevent weeds from germinating. Organic pesticides can be sprayed directly on weeds to spot treat
or kill them.
Why do we do it?
We only use organic products because we believe that they work, that they are safer for people and pets and that they are a better long term solution environmentally. Organic fertilizers feed the lawn at a slow even pace and unlike chemical fertilizers, they improve the soil structure as they break down. Because your lawn’s health ultimately depends on healthy soil structure, organic fertilizers have multiple benefits in the long run. Chemical products kill microorganisms (some of which are helpful to a lawn) and tend to lead to dependence on more chemicals to supplement some of the things which nature provides. The organic approach to lawn care is slower and more gradual than the chemical approach. It will not take a lawn completely overrun with weeds and turn it instantly into a lawn which looks like a golf course. The strategy is to develop strong healthy grass which will prevail over weeds and crowd them out.
How does the program work?
Our fertilizing and weed control program includes an application of corn gluten early in the spring, an application of organic fertilizer in the spring and in the fall, and organic spot treatment of weeds each time we mow. With the regular spot treatments, we are working on the lawn 25 or 30 times over the course of the growing season rather than three or four times as is typical with fertilizing companies. Pricing for this service varies depending on the size of the lawn and starts at around $400 per year. Please contact us for specific pricing.
