Saturday, February 9, 2008

Organic Lawn Care: Part 1


One of the big things we wanted to do was transition our lawn to an all organic care lawn. Why? Because there is just something wrong with using chemicals that go directly into your soil and indirectly into our water. Why use a chemical that is bad enough that you are not supposed to walk on the grass for a day or two? Luckily enough, there are a lot of options now to keep an organic lawn looking great.

First we bought this excellent book, The Organic Lawn Care Manual. It explains a lot about specific programs depending on your grass and area of the country. It's first recommendation is that you get a soil sample analysis. All you need is something to dig into your soil, and a plastic bag for each area of your lawn. For $20 per sample, Texas A&M Soil Laboratory will analyze your soil chemicals and give information on organic matter in your lawn. If you don't want the organic composition, it's only $10. Take a trowel and get some dirt about 4-6 inches deep, take about 5 samples in each area and combine the soil in a baggie. Send it off and await the results. When we get them back, we'll explain what we will do with the results.