Organic Lawn Care Info

12 years ago

Upon going to Home Depot to pick up some bags for our gardening video blog, I discovered that this store didn�t carry a single organic lawn fertilizer. Curiosity piqued, I searched online for organic fertilizer on the Home Depot website. A couple random garden fertilizers came up but were only two that were labeled organic. Ellen suspects, since all the Home Depots in Ontario carry organic fertilizers, that the fertilizer and pesticide industry might be putting pressure on Home Depots in the US. She might be onto something because the web results for Lowe�s were surprisingly similar. Anyway if you would like greater variety in your organic lawn care needs (or if you even wanted to hire someone) I�ve compiled a list of stores and products which a wider range of selections than the promising choice between Scott�s Organics or Converted Organics.

-Cameron

The LEAH Advocacy Group

www.leahcollective.org

Organic Soil Amendments (Fertilizers, Compost, etc)

Coast of Maine Organic Products

Sells organic compost made up of ingredients that you would typically find on a dinner plate. Example: Blueberry, Mussel, and Salmon Compost with Sphagnum Peat.

Phone: 1-800-345-9315

sales@coastofmaine.com

www.coastofmaine.com

McEnroe Organic Farms

A Hudson Valley, New York based company that sells everything from organic meats to soil and composting. They also provide educational tours of their farm

518-789-4191

market@mcenroefarm.com

soil@mcenroefarm.com

www.mcenroeorganicfarm.com/Education

Fire Belly Organic Lawn Care

A leading provider for the organic lawn care industry that also sells products directly to the consumer. Their six-step lawn care process provides everything from natural growth supplements to organic weed killers.

1-603-587-0384

info@naturaltechinc.com

www.firebellylawncare.com

Purely Organic Lawn Care

A York Harbor, Maine based company that offers both organic lawn care and organic wholesale products

(877) 94-ORGANIC

goorganic@purelyorganiclawncare.com

www.purelyorganiclawncare.com

North Country Organics

Manufactures natural fertilizers, soil amendments and environmentally compatible pest controls

(802) 222-4277

info@norganics.com

www.norganics.com

Lawn Care and Turf Management

(Boston Metro Area)

Pure Lawns

A Newton, Massachusetts based company that specializes in organic lawn care, serving the Boston metro area.

(617) 276-7877

info@purelawns.com

www.purelawns.com

Organic Soil Solutions

An organic lawn care service based in Massachusetts that serves over 70 towns and cities. Based right in Needham. See their site for details

781.937.9992

mikem@organicsoilsolutions.com

www.organicsoilsolutions.com

(Western Massachusetts and Connecticut)

Harrington Lawn Care

An organic landscaping company that not only provides turf management, but also maintains their very own soil lab.

(860) 243-8733

todd@harringtonsorganic.com

http://www.harringtonsorganic.com/

Tree Frog Landscapes

A Northampton, MA based company that works with professors, engineers and architects and approaches landscaping through a more holistic lens. Expertise in Permaculture and Medicinal herbs. Builds patios, stone walkways, roof gardens, ponds etc.

(413) 586-8735

info@treefroglandscapes.com

http://www.treefroglandscapes.com/

(Southern New Hampshire and Northern Massachusetts)

Javier Organic Landscaper

Javier Gil has been a landscaper for seven years having switched to organics around 2006/2007. He is an expert with compost tea.

978-430-1865

organiclandscaper@gmail.com

http://j-gil.com

New Hampshire�s Organic Land Care and Landscape Construction professionals. Britt Phillips is like a ray of sunshine. She has recently expanded her fine gardening business to include great lawn care in the Bow area.

603-361-8492

http://stoneblossom.net

(Greater New England Area)

The Green Smile

An organic landscaper that services all of NH, MA and southern Vermont. They offer a zero emission service where they will come to your house on a bike with a custom trailer.

603-762-8197

www.thegreensmile.com

Chip Osborne, one of the original organic lawn care pioneers also known as the guru of turf management, has one of the oldest organic lawn care businesses in New England. Chip has trained hundreds of lawn care professionals.

781-631-2468

info@osborneorganics.com

www.osborneorganics.com

Gardening Stores

(MA and NH)

Mahoney�s

A family run gardening center with 8 locations in the Massachusetts, the offer organic as well as non-organic gardening products. But please, don�t buy Scott�s.

www.mahoneysgarden.com

Extremely Green

A NH based Green Gardening Store that also retails online and also provides landscaping and pest control using both organic and IPM techniques.

781-878-5397

info@extremelygreen.com

www.extremelygreen.com

Bonafide Green Goods

Sells a variety of eco-friendly everyday household aids as well as clothing, jewelry and energy conservation tools. Also sells gardening supplies. Store in Concord, New Hampshire as well as online

877-744-9744

info@bonafidegreengoods.com

http://www.bonafidegreengoods.com

Yard Spice Organics

Our friend Chester Mandrik will tell you anything you need to know about organics. He also has a lawn care service that focuses on Southern New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Store: 603-595-8813

Lawn Service: 603-595-8813

http://www.yardspice.com/

New England Natural

A Vermont based online green gardening store that offers everything from green beauty products to ecological firewood (who knows if it really does burn low carbon?) as well as a large collection of organic gardening products.

http://www.newenglandnatural.com/

Education

Grassroots Environmental Education

A New York based organization aimed at educating the public on organic lawn care and the dangers of pesticides.

516.883.0887

gee@grassrootsinfo.org

http://www.grassrootsinfo.org

Gaiga College

A British Columbia based College focused on organic gardening, horticulture, landscape management. Have locations all over Canada as well as courses online.

http://www.gaiacollege.ca/

Real Food Campaign

RFC aims to teach farmers and growers principles and techniques that improve soil health and crop nutrition.

(978) 410-3210

http://realfoodcampaign.org

Organizations

Safelawns

An non-profit organization dedicated to promoting natural lawn care and ground maintenance. Lots of helpful tips for do-it-yourselfers.

(207) 252-0869

www.safelawns.org

Northeast Organic Farming Association

A nonprofit organic farming organization based in the northeast and involved in education and pesticide awerness.

web@nofa.org

http://www.nofa.org/

NOFA OLC

A division of the Northeast Organic Farming Association. You can use their search box to find an organic landscaper near you!

www.organiclandcare.net

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Comments (2)

Kimmsr
12 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
There is not nearly as much profit in organic lawn care products as in the synthetics, and you really need to know what you are talking about to sell them. So these big box stores are not going to expend the time and energy in selling products that do not support the botton line, and may require having staff spend more time learning about what they are selling.
pnbrown
12 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
The very best way to reduce impact on the environment is to not buy "bags" of OM of any kind, and instead make use of what ever is nearby and free. Including, quite obviously and logically, one's own effluent. How does packaging and shipping heavy stuff around make sense, when OM grows all around in most climates in NA?

What can be missing is certain minerals, and those are much more effectively moved in concentrated form rather than in compost. Compost should be made on-site.
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There are organic lawn "fertilizers" available, Ringers, Milorganite and other sewage based materials, and some can get quite expensive. Then there are those that will suggest spreading Alfalfa meal or grains which may help if the soil that turf grass is trying to grow in is somewhat healthy. Few soil tests do not have something about organic matter although the reference may be kind of hidden. Sometimes that will be reported as Humic Matter, HM, or something else. If the soil test was done by your state universities Cooperative Extension Service ask your county horticultural agent about it. You might also use these simple soil tests to find out more about the soil that lawn is trying to grow in. 1) Soil test for organic matter. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drainsÃ¢ÂÂ too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy.
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The information you get from the "mud" or "jar" test is about the amount of organic matter in the soil, the stuff that floats on top of everything else since very few that do make the effort will have the idea soil, loam. Pouring "fertilizers" on a lawn simple creates more problems because that stimulates lush green, and sick, plant growth that then needs other poisons to control. "Conventional" lawn care is a vicious cycle of spending lots of money to have a sick lawn. Work at getting the necessary organic matter into the soil and have a good reliable soil test done. Here is a link that might be useful: OSU CES
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Organic Lawn Care Info

Comments (2)

Kimmsr

pnbrown

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