Focusing On The Spring And Fall In Organic Lawn Care Programs

Many people today are changing over from traditional lawn care programs to organic lawn care programs, being frightened by the use of harmful chemicals that are in traditional fertilizing and pesticide systems. Organic lawn care tips show how to provide organic lawn care programs either by their own efforts, or by hiring an organic lawn care company to take care of their lawns for them. Either way, these organic lawn care programs do not require much change from traditional methods, are healthier for the environment and the long term health of the lawn and soil, and produce lovely results.

Blades and Soil

Organic lawn care programs focus on two times of year that are most important for creating a healthy lawn. In the spring and early fall the lawn must be cut to a lower level than during the rest of the summer when it is kept at between three to three and a half inches long to help reduce weed growth and produce stronger roots. In the spring and early fall, the lawn should be cut to two inches high so that, in the winter, fungus is less likely to grow on the shorter blades, and in the spring, the tops of the blades are removed to cut off any fungus that might have grown over the winter.

In addition, organic lawn care programs emphasize checking the health of the soil through the use of soil testing kits bought from garden supply stores in the spring or early fall. These kits tell what nutrients are missing from the soil so that the individual can buy the appropriate, non-synthetic, slow-releasing fertilizer to add those nutrients back into the soil. Doing this in the spring sets the lawn up with the nutrients it needs to grow all summer long. Doing it in the early fall allows the roots to be nourished and grow stronger during the winter months so that the growth is even thicker in the spring.

Organic lawn care programs also recommend that a mulching lawn mower be used which chops up the lawn clippings into finer pieces before throwing them out onto the lawn. This allows the grass clippings to be more effectively used as mulch, which provides a constant supply of nutrients to the soil, ensuring a lush lawn. In addition, the blades on the mower should be kept sharp and the lawn should never be mowed when wet so that the grass always has a clean cut rather than ragged. Ragged cuts allow fungus and disease to more easily grow in the blades which can damage the lawn.