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Organic Lawn Care

Off to my first organic season!

16 years ago

Woohoo!

Im totally excited to be practicing organic lawncare this year.

Last year my home was built, and I seeded with a decent KBG cultiver blend (Not Mag 3, but still nice). Last year i did nothing but water and hit it with two doses of starter fertilizer. its came in nice, and i re-seeded in the fall. Prior to winter, i laid down the scotts winterizer fertilizer.

During the snow season, i read quite a bit about the benefits of organic practices, and I'm hooked! This weekend i laid down Corn Gluten Meal (CGM) at around 10lbs per 1000 sqft. I hope this does as its been rumored to do and act as a pre-m for the crabgrass, However, I'm a firm believer that the proper practices of infrequent watering, and cutting the grass high will help eliminate most if not all of my weeds. Im sure this year, I'll be doing some hand pulling and spot spraying when necessary, but its a work in progress.

my question is:

If i follow the "National Holiday" schedule, alternating between Alfalfa Pellets and Soybean Meal (SBM) will i provide my lawn/soil with the nutrients it needs, or do I need to add more (Perhaps coffee grinds?)

Secondly, how quickly can i follow up my CGM with its next application?

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Comments (2)

skoot_cat
16 years ago
Congrats, Welcome aboard. Now get ready to have the greenest/healthiest lawn on the block.

Since it sounds like your main goal with the CGM is weed control I would apply another 10lbs/1000 today. CGM must be applied at minimum 20lbs/1000sqft to have any hopes of weed suppression. Water it in 2x in one week then switch to deep and infrequent water.(this is a must) The longer you can go between waterings after applying CGM the better your success rate will be. Im talking more than a week in between waterings if possible for the next month or 2. Let your lawn tell you when it needs water. When 30-50% of your lawn is wilted, water the next morning with 3/4-1" water.

With an organic approach you are going to have some weeds, But if you maintain your yard properly you wont have very many.

Your holiday schedule sounds good to me, but I have warm season grass. You might need to adjust it slightly for cool season varieties. You might also consider adding Regular Corn Meal into your schedule to help ward off most fungus problems. Used Coffee Grounds can be added with regular feedings or in between, your choice. With alfalfa I've found that it must be applied heavily (25lbs-35lbs/1000) if used alone to have noticeable effects. I like applying alfalfa along with SBM. Both at about 13lbs/1000.

All in all it sounds like your off to a great start.
grayentropy
16 years ago
Tim_in_NY congrats on your new plan.

I live in MA and had KBG, I assume in NY you have the same.

I have never tried CGM at an insane application rate (40 lbs/1000 ft^2) and suggest that some patience be paid towards weed control. I have cheated with spot spraying of weed be gone as needed in the fall when the weed is really growing but after three years the weed control should be very noticable.

Cool turfgrasses prefer to be feed heavily in the fall only.

If I want to fertilize in the spring I do so with cracked corn @10-15lbs/1000 ft^2 per applcation.

Late summer it is rabbit food at 10-15 lbs/1000 ft^2.

In early and late fall I switch to Soybean meal and milorgarinite every three weeks as cool season grasses like Fall fertilization.

Thats my plan, good luck with yours.
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