I have always taught you guys that the way to have a healthy organic lawn is to first start with healthy lawn soil. If you can get your hard-packed and basically sterile clay soil to be alive with bio-organisms, you can have a nice lawn that will stand up to the test of time.

How To Soften Clay Soil

There are a couple ways to soften up and improve the clay soil that is the foundation of your turf. The first one and best one (because it requires no chemical or anything resembling a chemical) is to have the lawn aerated. Aerating your lawn  is a process whereby cores of soil are removed from the lawn. The result is the clay soil is literally “aired out” and water and nutrients are able to penetrate into areas that were previously hard and compacted.

I recommend you aerate your lawn every single year, however, if you can do it in the spring and the fall, all the better. Of course, after you aerate, you should also throw down some fresh grass seed.

The next thing you can do is use liquid gypsum. It’s a very easy to apply product that does a lot of the same things that an aeration will do. The natural ingredients in the liquid lawn aeration will literally penetrate into hard clay soil and help bring in fresh air and nutrients. It’s best to use the two of these strategies in conjunction with one another.

But I realize that a lot of you are not able or willing to go and rent and aeration machine and then spend labor hours using it… I get it. So using the liquid lawn aeration in the form of liquid gypsum is a great alternative that works. Get It Here.

Going Organic – It’s A Great Choice

If you want to know how to have an organic lawn that is thick, lush, green and beautiful, then you have stumbled onto the right blog. What you will find as you “thumb” through the pages here is that I am NOT an extremist who preaches organics as a way to save the world. Of course, I do believe that going organic in your lawn care is better for our environment, but on the flip side, I don’t believe that synthetic lawn products are BAD either. Let’s explore shall we?

Synthetic or Man-Made Lawn Chemicals – Pros and Cons

The number one reason why synthetic lawn chemicals get a bad rap when it comes to the environment is because homeowners don’t follow label directions! Sorry guys, I’m not trying to make you feel bad, but the majority of you have this whole “more is better” philosophy that means you just dump and dump and dump thinking your lawn will become beautiful because of it. And in the short term, you are right! If you put lots of synthetic fert on your lawn, it will be VERY green… but not for long.

In addition, there are synthetic products out there that make things easier for you that aren’t really good for the environment or your lawn either. As an example, let’s look at the typcial granular “weed-n-feed” product you can buy at big box stores.

A weed-n-feed bag contains a couple things: Fertilizer and weed killer – both mixed in the bag together.

So you head out to your lawn in April to spread this stuff, and a

s you throw it out on the lawn using your broadcast lawn spreader you are laying fertilizer evenly on the lawn (good assuming you set the spreader properly) but you are also throwing weed killer all over the lawn too – but what if there are sections of the lawn that don’t have weeds? Does it make sense to throw weed killer in an area where there are no weeds? Of course not! But you can’t control it…

Finally, synthetic lawn products don’t do anything to build the natural soil organisms that a lawn needs to stay healthy for the long haul. In fact, using synthetic fertilizers creates a dependance… like drugs in humans (dramatic I know LOL)

However, you can use a combination of synthetics and organics as a way to boost a crappy lawn with a goal of going to 100% organic, and my book here tells you all about it. The idea is to use synthetics in a controlled and smart way to get your lawn growing and thick and mostly weed-free, then move to 100% organic treatments.

Growing An Organic Lawn

Once you have a good foundation, you can go 100% natural and organic and have a beautiful lawn that is easy to maintain and looks better too. An organic lawn will look 100% more vigorous during the year, even during the most stressful times (like drought and heat) and can stand up to insect and disease pressure better as well.

Organic treatments will built your soil and good soil is the key to a good lawn. Here is a quick list of some posts that will help you understand this concept:

Ringer Fertilizer review

Making Organic Lawn Applications work better

Core aeration benefits

Ok guys, so depending where you live, your time is limited here for the season! I live in Indiana and we have about 2 more weeks where we can do some fall lawn care and actually make a difference. In fact, if you will perform these three actions NOW, you will be thanking me come spring next year because your lawn will be off to a great start.

Stop Crab Grass Now

You guys ask a ton of questions about corn gluten meal and using it as an effective preventor of crabgrass. I always tell you that you will get minimal results but this will improve over time. That is because the corn gluten needs to essentially build up in the soil and that takes several applications. So I say “put down corn gluten NOW just before winter” and start up the process early. I also recommend you apply corn gluten again in the spring as early as possible, as well as again in mid-spring.

The key with corn gluten is to apply it at a rate that is heavy enough to work. Keep in mind that with organics you oftentimes need to apply ALOT to get the desired result. Follow the labeling on your product you buy so you can be assured you are getting the biggest bang for your lawn care dollars.

Mulch Your Leaves Into The Soil

I highly recommend you keep mowing your lawn every single week until the leaves are done falling. Use that mulching blade to mish and mash those leaves up into bits and send them back into the soil. Now this may require you mow over the lawn a couple times each week, but guys, remember, we are ORGANIC here and the commitment to “go green” sometimes requires a bit of extra work.

Now, this won’t work if you have 10 large oaks in your back yard, but within reason, I highly recommend you recycle leaves back into the soil. In some cases I’ve had people become concerned about soil pH in regards to oak leaves, but if you follow my other lawn care tips here, you will be just fine.

The idea is that leaves represent free organic fertilizer as well as general conditioning for the soil… so why rake them all up and get rid of them? Use them when possible!

Apply Organic Lawn Fertilizer

I am a big fan of Milorganite as you guys know. It’s the best all around organic fertilizer I have ever used. With that in mind, just before winter is a great time to apply a solid application to your lawn. I recommend your fall treatment be at 7 lbs of milorganite per 1,000 square feet of turf area. This is enough to sit in the thatch layer and be worked slowly into the soil over the winter. Keep in mind that organics need heat and friction to break down. We want the Milorganite to be “imbedded” in the soil so that when temps warm up next spring, it begins to immediately release nutrients.

I also recommend you apply a small amount of sharp sand on top of the Milorganite to help it penetrate faster.

So to recap our little fall-winter lawn care schedule here.. we want to first apply corn gluten, then immediately apply milorganite and sand.. all the wile mulching in some of the fall leaves. Simple, effective! (and, no, you won’t “burn” the lawn with any of this, I promise)

It’s time to consider a lawn treatment plan for the fall. I say this because I know a good number of you either did nothing all year for your turf or whatever you did do just didn’t work. Either way, you need to get that lawn looking good prior to winter and I can tell you that FALL IS A GREAT TIME to get started! In fact, you can get better results FASTER IN FALL than you can in the spring… and you can do it organic and natural!

Let me help you… just follow these steps and your lawn will be looking good in 6 weeks flat, no kidding.

Aerate The Lawn

Lawn aeration is a big time fundamental here guys – especially when you are going organic with your lawn care. Aeration does a lot of good, like loosening soil, breaking down thatch, helping the grass roots to spread and thicken. It is a mechanical process so it works every time and requires no chemicals. But it is also going to help in our little fall lawn treatment cycle here.

You see, when you aerate, you are basically poking a bunch of holes in the lawn that allow the grass roots to fill in fast. The good news is that turfgrass naturally thickens in the root system in the fall anyway, and the more roots, the thicker the top. But there is more… read the next tip–

Fall Organic Lawn Fertilizer

I want you to fertilizer your lawn RIGHT AFTER you aerate the lawn. This is important because our fertilizer will fall directly into those holes (or wash into them) and directly into the root system. This is important because of the fact that organic lawn fertilizers don’t break down from water/moisture like traditional fertilizers do. In fact, organics need heat to break down. So we want the fert to get in teh holes where it can stay nice and warm and break down fast, then be readily available for the grass roots to take in. Here are a couple of my favorite organic lawn fertilizers. Just make sure you apply the correct “pounds on the ground” as the label specifies.

Grass Seed – Over Seed

Finally, it is a good time to go ahead and throw down some grass seed now as well. Yep, right after the fertilizer is spread, throw in some fresh grass seed. Here is a quick video I did that will help you understand how to grow fresh seed in your lawn.

Ok guys, no technical organic lawn care advice today. Instead I need to encourage you to stay the course. You see, going green and organic with your lawn care is not so simple. (but trust me, it IS THE BEST WAY to go!!!)

For some reason, I have recently been getting emails from a bunch of you who are frustrated that your lawns just are not responding very quickly. So let’s get a few things straight so you have an idea of what to expect. I am writing this because I don’t want you to give up!!!

Organic Lawn Care Is Long Term

Going organic/natural with lawn treatments is a long term strategy guys. That means we need to think in terms of how the lawn will look and respond over the next 3-5 years rather than just this season alone. You must realize that our main goal is to get the lawn thicker. Thick turf will resits almost any attack that comes upon it: disease, insect, drought, mechanical injury… whatever!

But a thick lawn will not just appear in one year.

Now, I often recommend the use of synthetic fertilizers and responsible use of pesiticides (weed killers mostly) for the first 1-2 years as a way to speed up the process. Get my book to totally understand where I am coming from on this.

But even if you do go the route that I recommend, results are still not coming overnight.

Organic Lawns Are Sustainable

Once your lawn does get thick and healthy, treating it organically using quality fertilizers like Ringer will help maintain vigorous soil activity. Your lawn’s soil is the foundation. If you have healthy soil, you have a healthy top turf. Healthy soil comes from using healthy green fertilizers and top dressing when necessary.

Lawn Care Basic Practices Still Matter

Even once your lawn is thick and healthy (or during the transformation) you need to stick with the basic cultural practices that matter. You gotta mow tall (at least 3″ or 4″ if you dare) and water the turf in summer as needed. Maintain a sharp mower blade and mulch the clippings.

Watering is really the one that screws most of you up. In the beginning, you need to water at least twice per week and water deep when you do using a quality impact sprinkler. But once the lawn is healthy, you can cut it back to once per week and be all good.

The key is to watch the grass, and when it begins turning gray, water then and put down a solid 1/2 inch.

Do It Right, Be Responsible And Consistent

Finally, you need to make sure you follow the labeling instructions on the products you buy. Just because it’s organic doesn’t give you the right to be foolish about it. Know how much you are putting down and ensure you are right.

In addition, make sure you don’t try to skimp! You cannot afford to miss a mowing or get lazy and cut low one week. If you truly want a lawn that looks as good as mine does (100% organic) you MUST stay the course! I know you can do it! I believe in you!

One of the great “hot button terms” you often hear when it comes to lawn fertilization is the phrase “slow release fertilizer.” What does this mean to you and your lawn? Well, let’s talk…

Slow Feed – It’s A Good Idea

We want the lawn to receive nutrients slowly over time rather than in a big rush. If you are using organic lawn treatments, then you are automatically feeding your lawn in a slow release fashion. Good! .. but why?

When looking at slow release fertilizers vs “quick release” synthetic fertilizers (man-made stuff) we can use the analogy of feeding your kids too much candy.

What happens when the little crumb snatchers get a sugar rush from too much candy? You know – they buzz all around crazily for a few minutes followed by a fast crash and sleep.

That is the same thing that happens with your lawn when you give it a fast releasing overdose of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. It will grow super fast and mighty, but thin out over time as it crashes. After a while, you have to keep dosing the turf with more and more nitrogen like a drug almost.,.. and if you stop, the lawn goes thru withdrawal! … literally! It’s just not a healthy/natural way to grow a lawn.

However, when we use slow release fertilizer (which in our case here we are organic) we are adding nutrients to the lawn slowly over time… naturally. In fact, organics specifically improve the soil (instead of direct feeding the root system) which indirectly makes more natural nutrients available for the lawn’s root system to utilize – slowly over time.

Why Are Organics Slow Release?

Organic lawn fertilizers are slow release naturally because their nutrients incorporate into the soil when heat breaks they down. The hotter the organic material gets, the more it decomposes and becomes incorporated into soil where plant roots can either grab the nutrients for use, or soil bacteria and organisms (like earthworms) can intake them and turn them into usable nutrients.

This is naturally slow and healthy.

You can also get synthetic fertilizers that are coated (usually with urea) that will also break down slowly as they are exposed to moisture. I’m ok with these types of fertilizers when they are used responsibly. In fact, I often recommend the use of synthetic fertilizers to a small degree when you are first getting your lawn in shape. This is because synthetic slow release fertilizers feed the lawn very evenly and can deliver very targeted nutrient levels with fewer “pounds on the ground” – which means you apply a lot less product overall. But remember, this is NOT a long term strategy… rather just a way to get started and set a foundation while introducing soil improving fertilizers at the same time.

The key isn’t to rely on synthetics for the long term, rather, use them at the start of your effort to “go organic” as a transitional product.

But for purposes of what we are talking about here… I want you to focus on using organics like Milorganite and Ringer, and know that they will release slowly naturally. It’s just good lawn practice!