There is nothing more vague than when people talk about organic lawn care like this…
“Organic lawn care is more about the holistic organic management of the lawn and garden, which in turn results in fewer weeds. For the organic gardener, there is no quick fix, magic spray weed killer for lawns or gardens.”
Sounds like someone that really doesn’t have many real answers. This verbiage drives us crazy too!
Mowing a lawn is so simple, but for many homeowners mowing a lawn is the easiest thing – to mess up!
For instance, there are a few ways to prevent crabgrass from growing in a lawn. One approach, and a bad one, is to spray chemicals everywhere at t
he exactly right time of year… Or you can prevent crabgrass from growing in your lawn by mowing tall. Weeds like crabgrass love to grow in lawns that are mowed at 2 inches or shorter. Broad-leaf weeds also dislike growing in lawns that are mowed at 3 inches or taller.
Did you know that mowing a lawn tall will not only control weeds, but it will also bring out the dark green color of the grass, decrease lawn watering
Raising the lawn mower deck to three inches or taller is the easiest aspect of organic lawn care.We promise it will make a dramatic improvement to the overall health of your grass., improve soil health, take less time, increase the depth of the grass roots, and prevent lawn fungus problems…? Yet 50% of homeowners mow their lawns too short!
A Quick History of Organo-Lawn and Organic Weed Controls that Actually Work
When we opened our doors for business in 1997 we didn’t have any effective natural weed control options.Instead of offering organic weed controls all that we could offer to our customers was an organic fertilizer, core aeration, and a weed popper.So, we preached the “holistic management” approach for lawn care. Fast forward 20+ years and wow, have things dramatically changed for the better!Our First Organic Weed Control – Corn Gluten Meal
The first organic weed control that we added to our tool chest was a product called Synergy with corn gluten meal. We still use this organic weed control today and it is truly an amazing pre-emergent weed control that will prevent weed seeds from germinating properly. In 1999 this was a huge advancement in organic weed control, but when only using corn gluten meal, it takes a long time to turn a weed infested lawn around.Since corn gluten meal only prevents the weed seeds from germinating properly and it won’t kill existing weeds, it takes about 3-5 years to turn a bad lawn into a weed-free lawn. So, is corn gluten meal the end all be all to organic lawn care?No, but it is a very important tool for organic lawn care enthusiasts. Synergy is still one the best organic weed controls and even today we apply over 200 tons of corn gluten meal on lawns in Boulder and Fort Collins every year.Synergy is an incredible organic fertilizer that is the foundation for a successful lawn and we recommend both spring and fall applications even if a lawn is completely weed-free.
The Discovery of the “Smoking Gun” of Organic Weed Control
The discovery of One Earth Weed Control changed how we talk about weed problems in lawns.The words “there is no quick fix with organic products” has officially been removed from our vocabulary and replaced with… “it is amazing how effective this organic weed control is on dandelions!” Everything changed in 2011 when Organo-Lawn discovered a very special natural ingredient that would kill weeds, but would not damage the grass.We spent about 6 years adapting, tweaking, and changing the formula so it would be more effective at killing different species of weeds and making it kill the weeds faster. On May 1st, 2018 Organo-Lawn was awarded a patent for inventing an organic weed killer that can be applied to a lawn without killing the grass, called One Earth Weed Control. One Earth Weed Control is called the “smoking gun” of organic weed control and it changed lawn care forever. This product is so effective on dandelions that it works faster than even the strongest chemical weed killers, yet it contains no dangerous chemicals.After one application, dandelions will turn black and die, and under ideal conditions this will happen in as little as 12 hours. Now, even the most weed-infested lawns can be turned into a beautiful lawn in about one growing season. This might seem like a long time, but it is actually just as fast, if not faster, then chemical weed control programs. We no longer have to say it will take 3-5 years to fix your lawn, instead with One Earth Weed Control now say things like “we have the magic spray that will kill your weeds fast and will do it without chemicals.” Organo-Lawn is by far the best organic lawn care company in the United States. Yes, we do have the “smoking gun” of organic lawn care and yes, we can kill weeds without chemicals, but there is more to killing weeds than applying “magic sprays.
Killing Weeds by Watering the Lawn Properly
Watering is extremely important, not only to the health of the grass, but also the health of the microbes that live in the soil. Organo-Lawn’s fertilizers and weed controls are designed to create a living soil, but these microbes will only be able to thrive if they have adequate moisture, without being drowned with water. Since setting up an irrigation system is something that most homeowners manage to butcher, we developed an easy-to-follow lawn watering system called the 1-2-3-2-1 lawn watering technique. Believe it or not, proper lawn watering will not only make your grass green, but it will create an environment where weeds won’t grow. There are many types of weeds that grow in lawns that can be eliminated by watering according to our lawn watering technique. Here are a few examples of weeds that can be eradicated from a lawn via proper lawn watering.- Plantain will only grow in compacted soils and soil compaction is made worse by over watering a lawn.Allowing the lawn to dry out between irrigation will prevent soil compaction.
- Clover is a symptom of nutrient deficiency in the soil. Frequent lawn watering will flush nutrients from the soil and cause soil infertility. Proper lawn watering will stop the flushing of nutrients from soils. It also stimulates microbial activity in soils and these tiny creatures stabilize soil nutrition.
- Bindweed is a weed that prefers drought stressed soils.Adequate moisture will create an unfavorable environment for bindweed to flourish.
The Lawn Mowing Trick That Will Kill Weeds
The Three Pillars of Organic Lawn Care
By now you should know that having an organic lawn doesn’t mean you have to say things like “holistic organic management.” It also isn’t as simple as “one magic spray.” Organo-Lawn has simplified organic lawn into three easy to follow steps. If all of these are being done properly; the lawn will look incredible. If one of them is out of balance then the lawn will look like an organic lawn did 20 years ago… brown, spotty, and full of weeds!- Step 1: Quality Organic Weed Controls and Fertilizer – The first aspect is a proper lawn care program using only the best organic weed controls and natural fertilizers.There are a lot of “cheap” organic products on the market so it can be confusing.Fortunately, Organo-Lawn has mastered this aspect of lawn care.We carry only the very best organic weed control products like Synergy with Corn Gluten Meal and One Earth Weed Control.
- Step 2: Proper Lawn Watering – The second and equally important aspect of organic lawn care, is to always follow the principals of the 1-2-3-2-1 lawn watering technique. So, stop following the advice of your neighbor and read about the 1-2-3-2-1 lawn watering technique.
- Step 3: Mowing the Lawn Tall – The third aspect of organic lawn care is so simple yet about 50% of homeowners find a way to mow their lawns way too short.We will give you a hint, put your lawn mower deck on the highest setting. Hint, hint!
