Fertilizer Basics

Fertilizers contain the nutrients Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium. These three nutrients are vital to plant growth. A lot of companies might sell soil testing to find out what the lawn is missing and adjust as needed, but this is only needed when you are dealing with a chemically treated lawn. When you have an organic lawn, as long as you have a living soil with a healthy microbe population, the microbes in the soil will break down these nutrients as they see fit. The microbes keep everything in balance. In order to have a living soil you need to feed the lawn organic matter. It is important to use organic fertilizers, either plant or animal based, to keep the soil healthy. Chemical fertilizers will kill healthy, beneficial microbes.

Organic Fertilizer Options

Plant-based fertilizers include ingredients like molasses, corn gluten meal, soybean meal, cottonseed meal, and several others. Animal-based fertilizers include things like bone meal, feather meal, blood meal, or fish meal. Animal waste-based fertilizer, otherwise known as manure, can be from cows, chickens, or various other combinations.

Which is better?

Animal waste-based fertilizers can contain too much nitrogen if applied directly, and are high in salts, which can kill microbes (think of how salts are used to cure meats). You also need to be careful with manure, especially fresh manure; it can burn plant roots if not mixed in with compost.

What does Organo-Lawn use?

In the spring and fall we use our product called Synergy. That is comprised of corn gluten meal, bone meal, and sulphate of potash. This product works as a pre-emergent weed control and fertilizer and is 100% organic and also considered edible. Over the spring and summer, we use our product called One Earth. This product is a post-emergent weed control and fertilizer. This liquid application is made from a special form of iron, liquefied plant materials, calcium lignin sulfate, and humate. This product is also 100% organic and considered edible. Both of these products will help the lawn develop a deep, rich green over the season unlike synthetic fertilizers that have an instant green up. Synthetic fertilizers are damaging to the microbiome of the soil, and are not recommended. For more information about how the microbiome interacts with fertilizer click here.