A lot of people might use organic methods but live right on top of large farms that use lots of chemicals so these chemicals are within an 1/8 mile or less. I believe as this is just my opinion that this negates any claims that their stuff is chemical free. Runoff is water from rain and melted snow which is not absorbed and captured by the soil, but runs over the ground and in and out of loose soil. Farm runoff is water leaving farm fields because of rain - melted snow - or possibly irrigation methods. As runoff moves, it picks up and carries pollution, which it can deposit into rivers,small ponds, lakes, coastal waters, and underground sources of drinking water. Agricultural runoff include,s pollution from soil erosion, livestock feeding systems, grazing, plowing, animal waste, and herbicides-pesticides, irrigation water, and fertilizer. Pollutants from farming include soil particles, pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, salts, and nutrients such as excessive nitrogen - phosphorus. Large levels of nitrates from fertilizers in the runoff can infiltrate drinking water I wonder if these so-called organic method gardeners that say they are chemical-free explain this to their customers. All certified organic growers are the proper distance away from farm fields that use lots of different chemicals to prevent cross contamination or at least they should be. When I choose to grow produce for sale I do not mention anything even close to the word organic because I am NOT certified and tested and inspected and licensed ORGANIC If people ask me what chemicals I use for my operation they get all of my information. If they don,t ask I do not say anything because the weed/bug sprays that I use are available over the counter and are legal to use without special fed, or county-govt. permits. Nick

For the lower 48, we go by these rules. Basics of Lawn Care After reading numerous books and magazines on lawn care, caring for lawns at seven houses in my life, and reading numerous forums where real people write in to discuss their successes and failures, I have decided to side with the real people and dispense with the book and magazine authors. I don't know what star their planet rotates around but it's not mine. With that in mind, here is the collected wisdom of the Internet savvy homeowners and lawn care professionals summarized in a few words. If you follow the advice here you will have conquered at least 50% of all lawn problems. Once you have these three elements mastered, then you can worry about weeds (if you have any), dog spots, and striping your lawn. But if you are not doing these three things, they will be the first three things suggested for you to correct. Watering Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an inch in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. Do not spread this out and water for 10 minutes every day. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. If that does not work, then you might have to water more than once per week during the summer's hottest period. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds. You will have to learn to judge when to water your own lawn. If you live in El Paso your watering will be different than if you live in Vermont. Adjust your watering to your type of grass, temperature, humidity, wind, and soil type. It is worth noting that this technique is used successfully by professionals in Phoenix, so...just sayin.' The other factors make a difference. If you normally water 1 inch per week and you get 1/2 inch of rain, then adjust and water only 1/2 inch that week. Mowing Every week mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. However, bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses will become the most dense when they are mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. In fact there are special mowers that can mow these grasses down to 1/16 inch. Dense grass shades out weeds, keeps the soil cooler, and uses less water than thin grass. Tall grass can feed the deep roots you developed in #1 above. Tall grass does not grow faster than short grass nor does it look shaggy sooner. Once all your grass is at the same height, tall grass just looks plush. Fertilizing Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 5 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above. Follow the directions on the bag and do not overdo it. Too much is better than too little*. At this point you do not have to worry about weed and feed products - remember at this point you are just trying to grow grass, not perfect it. Besides once you are doing these three things correctly, your weed problems should go away without herbicide. * This used to read, "Too little is better than too much." Recent test results show that you cannot get too much organic fertilizer unless you bury the grass in it. Deep and infrequent watering is still the rule. Times and durations will be different for you as it is for every location. Find the Organic Lawn Care FAQ either on the Internet or in the GW Organic Gardening forum FAQs. That will get you oriented to using grains as a fertilizer. Use whatever you can find cheap locally. It might be reindeer chow.

Hello Kime. First of all, welcome to the Lawncare forum. Although I rarely post here anymore, your enthusiasm and desire for a nice eco-friendly lawn cries out for answers to your thoughtful questions. It appears that you have done some research, gained knowledge and experience, and probably have a pretty descent lawn right now. I will proceed from that assumption giving opinion based on my experience with a similar lawn in similar soil and climate. No doubt, you will receive conflicting opinions and will have to decide for yourself what may work best for you. To begin with, your plan for 2009 is good but needs a little tweaking to optimize it for the first year. Lets start from todays date. You will want to start preparing you lawn for Winter dormancy. On your lawn spread 50 # of soybean meal. Start with your spreader ¾ wide open. You may have to open it up all the way. If you spell any, then clean it up. You donÂt want any piles of it on your lawn as it may leave a dead spot. This is a light application but you should see results in 3 or 4 weeks as the soil temperatures are good for microbial decomposition of grains. Repeat this process again October 15th. Always leave lawn clippings on your lawn with your side discharge mower. Mow all your Autumn leaves into your lawn even if you have to rake them into rows in remote areas of you lawn. A good soil requires lots of organic material. Do not throw your leaves away. Thanksgiving  forget alfalfa meal or pellets, itÂs too cold for quick breakdown of organic material. Instead use urea (the only deviation from a purely organic fertilizer program) 45-0-0 at the rate of 2 # per 1000 sq ft. This will encourage root growth and nutrient storage and provide a great green-up and initial Spring feeding without excessive top growth. Urea, as you probably know naturally occurs in urine and nothing could be more "natural" than that. That 8 or 10 lbs of urea could be diluted with 20 lbs of SBM as a filler to enable an even distribution. At this point, your lawncare is done for the year. April 1  Corn meal or cracked corn  low in protein (nitrogen) but encourages beneficial fungus to aid in lawn disease. CGM is good, but do not expect any pre-emergent herbicide qualities from one dose as it takes time and more quantity to build up in your soil to be effective as a pre-M. May 15  Soy bean meal- the first real feeding of the season, takes 3 to 4 weeks to become effective. July 1 Alfalfa pellets  low nitrogen but high in micronutrients. August 1  corn meal. September 1  SBM - October 15 SBM and youÂre done for the year. This post is getting long so IÂll move it along and just say that compost is really really good but optional. You can spread your grains everywhere including gardens, beds and shrubs. Grub control? You probably donÂt need it unless you have a severe infestation. A healthy lawn can support a large and diverse insect population which will become balanced between predators and prey. Up to 10 grubs per sq. ft. is acceptable. Bill Hill

OK. Last Wednesday I added topsoil with a bit of compost mixed in to the area around the concrete slab in the last photo, graded, lightly tamped/walked on it, seeded with 50/50 Blue/Rye mix from Lesco, lightly raked it in, sprinkled a thin layer of compost on top (1/4" or so), and have been keeping it watered (morning and evening with the hose the first few days, and then mother nature has been watering for me since then). I also applied 18-24-6 starter fertilizer yesterday. No sign of germination yet, hopefully something soon. The seed was leftover from a 10lb bag I bought last fall, hopefully it's still good? It was kept dry in the garage over the winter. I also discovered that the township recycling center sells compost for $20/yard, so I got 5 yards to topdress with. I've got about 1,500 sq ft done so far. I've just been filling a wheelbarrow, dumping it in a few piles spaced apart (the easy part), then spreading them around with the back side of a bow rake. Once it's spread into a nice thin layer that is mostly on top of the grass I just run the backside of the rake back and forth at a very shallow angle to work it down between the blades, until you can barely tell it's there. Seems to work OK, although the compost does have some small bits of sticks/mulch in it that tend to not want to fall down between the blades very easily, and it can be somewhat clumpy so I spend a good bit of time breaking up clumps larger than 3/4" or so. Although, I suppose that if core aeration plugs disintegrate on their own after a few weeks, no reason clumps of compost shouldn't do the same, yes? Anyway, I'll be keeping at it as time/weather permits -- wife says the pile in the driveway has to be gone before Memorial Day :-) As I mentioned before, the back yard has quite a bit of moss in it, which I presume I should remove before topdressing back there. What's the best solution for that; just remove it manually with a rake (plastic shrub rake, metal tine leaf rake?) or by hand? Better to do it when the lawn is wet or dry? Oh, dchall -- your question re: the dirt below the window in the last photo. There's a fairly steep hill along that side of the house (right side of the photo) from front to back since the yard is level with the first floor in front and with the basement in back because of the walk-out, and there's a planting bed along the entire side of the house down that hill, which is what you're seeing below the window. Halfway down the hill in the bed there's a concrete slab where the AC compressor used to be (before the PO moved the furnace to the other side of the basement and moved the AC outdoor unit with it); you can see that empty slab in the photo as well. Anyway, I don't think there's any drainage issue here; it would be impossible to not have dirt up against the wall, and it is all sloped gently away from the house perpendicular to the wall, as well as very steeply down the hill towards the back yard. Unless I'm completely missing something...