The Basics of Organic Lawn Care

Posted on June 3, 2015 by Melissa - General Lawn Turf Blogs

Organic lawn care is based on the principles of naturally reducing fertiliser, chemical and water usage and to reduce the infestation of diseases, pests and weeds. Overall it is the practice of reducing lawn maintenance, using natural lawn care products and to naturally prevent and cure problems in the lawn. Organic lawn care is things we do every day to ensure the lawn is in the best possible condition in order to prevent lawn problems will minimal human intervention. So you have a healthier, stronger, more resilient lawn as well as lower maintenance time, effort and money.

Getting organic lawn care right:

Select the right type of lawn

Starting from the very beginning – choose a lawn that is naturally strong and resistant to lawn problems. For example – the Sir Walter soft-leaf Buffalo lawn is drought, shade, flood, salt tolerant, is self-repairing, fairly low maintenance and resists pests, diseases and weeds well.

Know your soil

Conduct regularly soil pH tests (easily done with an at-home kit) so that any issues within the soil – too acidic, too alkaline – are addressed and adjusted as soon as possible to ensure that the lawn stays healthy and strong with minimum input from you. It’s a matter of correcting a small issue before it becomes a major problem.

Keep the lawn a little longer

Lawns which are kept very short, while requiring a high level of maintenance, are often weak and kept in an unnatural condition, leaving them prone to disease, pest invasion and weeds. If you mow your lawn a little higher is will reduce infestations, reduce water usage and encourage the development of a deeper root system, therefore making the lawn more drought tolerant.

Invite the birds

By planting bird friendly trees and shrubs in your garden and ensuring a fresh water supply you are also inviting a totally chemical free pest control system into your yard. The birds will often and happily eat many of the lawn pests before they become a real problem.

Treat weeds ASAP

Obviously, treating individual weeds is always much better for the health of the lawn than apply a weed control to the entire lawn. So if the weeds can’t be pulled out by hand (the best, organic lawn care option), then spot treat as required – you’ll spend less, it will better for the overall health of the lawn and it’s better for the environment too.

Do a little every day

Spend 10 minutes in the yard every day and attend to issues as they present themselves rather than waiting until the weekend when the problem has become such that either a lot of time is required to fix it, or a chemical solution is the only option. Relax, enjoy the time out and stroll around – watering only as required, pulling out any weeds, removing debris that can rot if left on the lawn, trimming back a branch or two to let the sunlight reach the lawn. It doesn’t take a lot of time, effort or money but you will end up with a healthier, a more naturally organic lawn and your weekends back.