When people talk of organic lawns, they often mention something about tolerating a few imperfections.  Well, this is the season for a few imperfections.  Our cool season grasses love the cool nights of the spring and fall.  That’s when they grow vigorously and develop deep roots. They tend to go dormant in the summer.  A lawn with decent soil and a good root system should bounce back by Labor Day. 

One customer, who doesn’t water, told me, “I tell my neighbors, I’m out of the lawn competition in August.  Hell, they’re all on the Cape anyway.  The grass always bounces back.”

	An organic lawn through the seasons… Spring, Summer and Fall.

This summer seems extraordinarily hot and dry.  I see all sorts of lawns browning up due to summer stress.  Last year it seemed cool and moist until August.  Every year is different. 

A few tips…

1. If your lawn is brown, it’s not a good idea to water constantly to green it up while the weather is still hot. An inch every couple of weeks should keep it going. 
2. Keep traffic to a minimum. 
3. Mow high and only when needed. 

Lawns with problem thatch layers will experience drought stress sooner.  Soil conditions such as compaction will become evident.  You may see brown lines caused by the tire tracks of the lawnmower.

Our lawns may not look their best in the heat of summer, but they’ll be back when the yellow school buses roll around.

Contact us today for more information or to schedule your FREE organic lawn care consultation.

One of the first things we like to do when we get a new customer is to take a soil sample and send it to the lab.  A lot of homeowners signing up for our program have pretty acidic soil.  With a low pH the grass plant can’t access the nutrients it needs and acid loving weeds have a field day. 

The soil test lets us know of other factors influencing the health of the soil like the amount of organic matter and the relationship of important nutrients.  Soil tests are more important to Organic Soil Solutions because we rely so much on the soil to make our seeding successful.  The soil test measures the chemical nature of the soil but good physical and biological components are essential as well. 

Turf magazine featured us in an article called "Passing the Soil Test" last month.  It’s great that the turf care industry is concerned about the health of the soil and we hope the trend continues.

It’s hard to over state the importance of good cultural practices for a successful organic lawn.  That doesn’t mean you have to invite a string quartet over for tea.  It means you have to leave the grass high, recycle the clippings and water correctly.

I visited a lawn recently in Newton that was loaded with weeds.  It was cut short and scalped around the edges.  “How often do you water?” I asked the home owner.  “Every day.” she replied.  I wasn’t surprised.  The lawn had a thick layer of thatch, which when kept moist, is a perfect breeding ground for fungal disease and weed seed germination.  Meanwhile, the grass is not developing the deep roots it needs to thrive. 

Each time its cut short, the plant is stressed and has to grow back the blade.  The roots don’t have to go deep to get water because there’s plenty at the surface.  Too much water fills the spaces between the soil particles where air should be and creates a condition similar to compaction.  As they say, the roots don’t grow in the soil, but in the spaces between the soil particles. It starts with good soil structure.

A happy lawn waves in the breeze and basks in the sun.  It has plenty of leaf surface for photosynthesis and making food, activities the grass plant loves to do.  Most of those starches and sugars go to the roots for growth and keeping the soil biology well fed and productive.  You don’t want those bacteria and fungi sitting on the couch collecting unemployment and playing X-Box all day!

Grass clippings add nitrogen and organic matter while keeping weeds at bay.  The soil has stayed fairly moist on its own this year.  If you wonder if your lawn needs water, stick a shovel or a spade in the ground and see if the soil is dry.  If the grass doesn’t bounce back when you walk on it, it needs water.

Someone told me that the lawn at Tanglewood is organic.  If it is, it thrives because of good cultural practices.

For more information, read Ten Tips for a Great Organic Lawn or contact us today for a free consultation.

I’ve become more convinced lately that the organic fertilizer has a lot to do with our success.  Feeding the soil and stimulating the biology really seems to set the table for good seed germination and deep, healthy roots.  An active soil, with plenty of space for air and water, makes for grass that doesn’t just grow, it thrives.  At one big place we do, the grass is overflowing along the driveway where crab grass used to dominate.  A lot of the small lawns in city settings have become pools of green.

I’ve been stunned this spring by the turn around in some of the lawns we care for.  Places where I’ve seeded for years were covered with thick, lush grass.  One lady said, “Remember when this was all brown.  Now we never have crab grass and we don’t even water anymore”. 

Another guy, who’s been on the program a couple of years said, “You know, this stuff really works.  My wife heard crickets the other night for the first time in years.  And we have robins on the front yard again”.  Mowing high, improving the soil and seeding certainly help as well.   Before some readers choke, however, yes, we still have plenty of challenging lawns and we thank you for the opportunity to succeed.

If you use irrigation, watering deeply and less often is best for the grass.  Apply water based on the weather, your soil, shade and the depth of your roots.  The best practice is one inch (approximately one hour), once a week.  If it gets hot, do it twice.  We want to get the water deep down to the roots and not maintain a moist surface that is ideal for weed seed germination.  You can use a spade to check the soil moisture once in a while.  Mow at 3” or more.

Get more answers to your questions about organic lawn care or contact us today for a free estimate.

We’ve been doing organic lawn care in the Boston area since 1999.  Over that time things have changed considerably.  I used to be a little embarrassed to wear my Organic Soil Solutions name tag when I went to trade shows.  Now, every one wants to be "green". 

One way we keep up to date is by attending seminars and workshops on turf management and soil health.  This year we will be going to the Organic Turf Trade Show on Long Island, have a booth at the Ecological Landscaping Association in Springfield and going back to Cornell for a workshop on the Soil Health Assessment.  I enjoy listening to the experts on the latest research on turf grass varieties, but we can’t wait to get back to work by March.

I recently attended a trade show in Boston called ‘New England Grows’ and took in a few interesting talks by scientists and experts.

Cornell researchers have shown that mulching leaves on to the lawn in the fall results in faster green up in the spring.  They also measured better weed control in lawns where leaves were mulched.  Of course, not raking the leaves in the fall will smother the grass, but mulching them with the lawnmower until there are too many is a great idea.  It adds organic matter to the soil and probably keeps annual weed seeds from getting a chance to germinate.  You can also pile them in the fall and mulch them in the spring.

Applying the right amount of fertilizer, by itself, to a lawn keeps down weeds, including dandelions, significantly.

When the lawn grows quickly under warm, moist conditions, it’s not the water that is stimulating growth.  It is the increased biological activity under these conditions.  Bacteria multiply and are eaten by protozoa and nematodes to make nutrients, especially nitrogen available to the plants.  Carbon is broken down by fungi.

Crabgrass continuously germinates through the summer.  25% of crabgrass plants germinate in April and 75% of them have germinated by mid June.  All have germinated by mid August.

It is particularly important to mow grass high in the shade where sunlight is at a premium and leaf surface to capture it is more important.  Deeper roots are needed to store the extra food manufactured as the result of photosynthesis.  Mowing high also helps the plant survive wear and tear.  The crowns of the plant aren’t broken by foot traffic.  A walkway is a good option to prevent damage to the lawn, especially in shade where the grass is more fragile.  Fine fescues, which grow well in the shade, are the least wear tolerant of the grasses.

Researchers from Rutgers scour Europe and North Africa each year looking for new cultivars of grass that are resistant to fungal diseases.  They are trying to find grass types that do well with little maintenance.

And finally, the reason we keep attending seminars on turf grass and soil health is best summed by Will Rogers, “Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”