With more and more jurisdictions banning pesticides, many people are looking for organic lawn and garden care programs and some are thinking that, since dangerous chemicals aren't involved, they can do it themselves.

Now I don't have a lawn any more, but I'm often asked to give advice on lawn care. Resisting the urge to say "get over it", I've been trying to make an organic DIY lawn care program "translate" to the versions given by the spray companies.

Makers of organic products have an annoying lack of precision (like mixing imperial and metric units in the instructions -- "mix 25 ml per gallon" or "1 quart makes 100 litres") but I can deal with that.

What is REALLY annoying is the lack of information about how often and how much to use, assuming you figured out how to mix it.

For example, one maker of a liquid fish product says to mix 25 ml with 1 gallon of water (!), and in the next sentences states that the usage rate is 1 gallon per acre. Now I have enough experience to know that they mean one gallon of UNDILUTED liquid will cover one acre. But many people will surely be confused by this lack of precision.

And for the home gardener, acres are a ridiculous unit of measurement.

For the technically inclined (I'm one) this lack of precision causes me so much work. First I need to figure out the amount of N (and sometimes P & K) per unit (in the case of liquids, after dilution). Then I need to translate this to some kind of meaningful advice about how much to apply, and when. Using reputable web-based resources I can come up with charts that keep it simple, but what a lot of work!

I wish the producers would have the sense to tell us these things, and ensure the instructions are clear and consistent.

In a way I'm glad that companies making organic alternatives aren't falling into the NPK paradigm that the chem-heads fixate on. In the chemical world, using "too much" can wreak destruction. In the organic world, there are very few instances where "too much" will do any lasting damage.

So, despite the fact that the organics' lack of precision will probably not ruin your garden, it can still cause extra expense and headaches. We need more than guesswork-- especially for people who are new to organic growing and need the re-assurance of clear, precise instructions.

End of rant... Whew, I feel better now.

- Bev