We moved into this neighborhood a little over a year ago. One neighbor takes great pride in her yard, but is an avid chemical user. She also waters nearly every day, mows her grass nearly to the ground, etc. Though she had a "let me show you the right way" attitude with us at first, we have merely led by example. I'm sure she wonders why our grass remains so green and healthy when we never water it. She has asked me what we do about the hoards of Japanese Beetles, and I had to tell her that we don't have any.....that they all go to her house for her roses, purple leaf plums, etc. She now comes over to pick our brains! I haven't seen the Chemlawn truck over there for months! Next, I'll give her some pruning lessons, lol!

Absolutely the most important thing to do is get your soil in shape. Plan on adding compost to it every year. Many people love composted horse manure, but composted community yard waste is good, too. Scatter your fertilizer (I use alfalfa), then cover with roughly three or four inches of compost. It doesn't have to be exact. Then on top of the compost put a layer of mulch to protect the compost from being burned up by the sun. Use what ever is cheap or free in your area. I use wood chips from tree trimming services as my mulch, delivered free to my door because they don't want to pay to put them in the landfill. In some places pine straw is very cheap. You can buy fancy bark nuggets but they are not only expensive, they aren't as good because they take too long to decompose. You want decomposition and renewal to be taking place constantly. For heaven's sake don't get that dreadful mulch made up of chopped up tires, an environmental nightmare. IMO it should be illegal. I also don't like the chopped up wood pallets dyed peculiar colors, but it is at least wood, not a chemical soup. I also get my compost at a very low cost from a local stable. If I load it myself it is free. Too much work. I gladly pay the modest fee to have it loaded. My own soil is a sandy clay, about 65% sand. Once at spring is the only time I fertilize. If your soil is even sandier you may need to do a second fertilizing because it washes out of sand. However as you keep adding compost each year the texture should improve so that eventually you may not need to. I also do only a single fungicidal spray at pruning time, either copper or sulfur. In your more humid climate that may not be adequate. You'll have to check with gardeners more familiar with your conditions. Rosefolly

Great topic! There are a few issues here. First, the Soil forum has some extremely knowledgeable participants and contributors. It is possible to get some very specific information... too much so in some cases... but the potential for understanding a soil test recommendation, Brix testing, cation exchange, and mycorrhizae function is of great value to some, if over the heads of others (I include myself in the latter at times... I sucked at organic chemistry... it is an enormously valuable resource for those with some technical background, but it can be daunting, and off-putting, for those who are new to the craft and want workable knowledge without the benefit of experience - they are here to learn, and haven't even the background to know what questions to ask yet, or the information needed to receive a valid response. The question needs to be answered in an accessible way for the questioner, and that isn't always easy to assess. There are also people who have practical or theoretical knowledge, as opposed to technical (scientific) knowledge. This is no less useful - for new gardeners it is sometimes MORE useful, because they are often more interested in "how" and "when" than the "why" that more advanced growers are seeking. These are still specific questions and answers, but the result is often a particular action, rather than a deeper understanding, and that is what many new gardeners are looking for. A second issue that arises is applicability. The questioner may have a set of parameters that are unmentioned in the original post - they may be handicapped, or in zone 9, or 3, or be strictly organic - so sometimes the responses are at the same time valid, but inappropriate. It's nobody's fault; the poster may not know that a particular circumstance is limiting, someone writing a reply may not have the data at hand to take into account. The result (which I think is good) is that there are a variety of responses that may suggest a range of possible answers. For an experienced gardener, this creates a more valuable resource - a wider data-set from which to choose the most appropriate reply - but for a new gardener it can quickly become informational overload. New gardeners don't always understand the importance of hardiness zones, soil types, or light intensity, for instance, so they bring questions that can't elicit an accurate response because the pertinent information is lacking from the start. Often that information can eventually be pried out, but there may be a series of less-than-helpful responses before that happens. Finally (at least for this post) some gardeners don't have the luxury of experimentation. If this is a first-time experience, the discouragement that accompanies initial failures can overcome the impetus to continue. A new garden is an investment of time and money and labor, and new gardeners need as much success as possible to overcome the effects of the inevitable disappointments that even seasoned growers experience. Specific answers become important, and experienced growers should feel a certain obligation to be both accurate and tolerant. Many new gardeners don't grasp the complexity of what they are attempting to do. Those of us with a few years of growing behind us can try new things with some expectation of success, or at least of gaining some knowledge, for the "newbys", it may feel like an unacceptable risk.

WindMountain, you can use basically the same schedule for Zone 5 KBG. The CGM application would occur in early April (52F-58F average soil temp). Also, the last soybean meal application would be moved to mid October. Many people can reduce the amount of grains used after the first year of an organic program. It depends on the amount of organic material in your soil, the depth of your topsoil, and your microbe activity level. You can try reducing the amount of SBM by a few pounds per 1,000 sq ft each year of your organic program but don't apply less than 10 lbs per 1,000 sq ft. If your lawn begins to loose its color between applications, you'll know that you need more grain than you applied. Simply adjust your next application. Regarding IBDU, other forum members had great success with urea 46-0-0 so I experimented with it instead of IBDU. I applied the urea in early November (after top growth stopped but before dormancy) and my lawn stayed dark green all winter. At this point, I'm planning to continue the late application of urea for at least two more years. Good Luck! -Deerslayer