Soil Improvement

Safe and Natural Organic Tick Prevention for Your Yard

The mild weather this past winter is expected to lead to one of the worst tick population explosions in years. These tiny, blood-sucking pests can cause untold misery, and carry all kinds of diseases, the most common being Lyme disease. While they usually feed on rodents, a inadequate rodent population will cause them to turn to larger prey: most notably humans, outdoor pets, horses and livestock.

In the past, your only choice for tick protection was chemical pesticides, which we know can create their own problems. Today, we can offer you a safe and natural way to prevent tick invasion – our Yard Guard cedar spray.

To apply Yard Guard, use our Ready to Use quart spray bottle, or any adjustable hose-end sprayer set to 1 or 1 ½ oz/gallon of water. A quart will cover about 3-5,000 square feet. Ticks often like to sit on low branches of trees and bushes so they can jump on passing people or animals. So make sure you spray branches and tree trunks up to at least 4 feet high.

For more product and application information visit our Yard Guard page on this site.

Protect yourself and your family from ticks! Try Yard Guard today.

Working with wet, clay soil

It has been a cool, wet spring in our neck of the woods, and we are eager to get the plants in the garden. But after digging around a bit, some of the beds were not ready for planting–they were too wet and sticky. You can’t just go by the calendar when it comes to planting flowers or veggies, especially where soils tend to be compacted or clay-like. You need to see if the soil is ready to be worked, or you can end up with a mess.

Here is a link to one of our favorite articles, which tells you how to avoid “premature cultivation .”

Easy, Natural Weed Reduction

Finally, one of the ways to reduce weeds is to crowd them out, or prevent sprouting with a thicker, taller lawn. Heavier fertilizing in the mid-spring and early summer with All In One for LAWNS or most other fertilizers, will encourage grass growth. Of course, this means you’ll also have to mow more, too. But regular, high mowing is the best way to keep your grass thick, healthy, and unfriendly to weeds!

Don’t forget: coupon code MAYDAY17 expires at the end of the month! Use it today to save 10% off your next purchase.

Have a great weekend!

All About Moss

Moss is a plant that can grow in conditions that other plants, including grasses, can’t endure. It is not a very aggressive or competitive plant, especially when compared to grass. Nature seems to use it more as a filler, for thin or bare soils. So, when you ask the question “Why is there moss in my lawn?“, the simple and correct answer is “ because you have conditions that are making it too hard for your lawn to survive.”

A few facts about moss
Moss spores are in the air and only need moisture to germinate and mature. Once established, moss can be very drought tolerant. Some mosses can survive in full sun, though most prefer shade. Moss can grow on any type of soil because their shallow roots simply hold the moss there without drawing nutrients from the soil. They get some nutrients from water, but mostly they make their own food through photosynthesis.

The biggest myth about moss
Ask most gardeners what can be done about moss and they will tell you that that the soil is too acidic (low pH) and it needs to be sweetened with lime (calcium). This is false! As we said above, moss grows in any type of soil – acidic, alkaline, and sometimes on pure rock. The only reason that lime sometimes helps lawns squeeze out moss is when the soil actually is too acidic for the grass to grow properly and it is thinning out. Adding lime in this case, would raise the pH and improve the health of the grass. So, as you can see, the real cause of the moss here is the poor health of the grass.

Weak Grass/Moss Causing Conditions
Here are the major reasons for moss on lawns:

Too much moisture. Soggy soils, often clay types, drown grass roots but shallow rooted moss can tolerate and thrive in wet soils.
Too much shade. Grass plants needs a fair amount of sunlight for enough photosynthesis to keep them healthy. Shade tolerant varieties can withstand a little less light, but some moss varieties survive in total shade.
Clay soil/compaction. Grasses are tough plants that can grow in fairly heavy clay top soils, especially if the soil is moist. But extreme compaction or denser clays are almost impregnable. Moss has no problem growing on this dense clay.
Drought/ Dry soil. This might sound counter-intuitive, since moss likes moisture, but here is what can happen. When high clay content soils dry out during a drought or normal summer conditions, the loss of moisture causes the soil to actually shrink, which turns it tighter and denser. This can tear and damage grass roots and make it impossible for them to get to the nutrients and water. When the lawn finally begins to receive rain or water, opportunistic moss spores germinate easily, since the grass is not healthy enough to compete. Last summer we experienced a major drought in the North East, and this spring we are finding more moss than ever before.
Tree Roots. Tree roots can cause moss in a couple of ways. 1. The larger roots that grow close to the soil surface do not give the grass enough soil to dig into. Hence, moss develops and grows on top of these roots. 2. When lawns are not watered deeply, the finer and even microscopic feeder roots of the tree can move upwards into the topsoil and compete with the grass for both water and space. This weakens the grass and permits moss to come in. This also can happen around shrubs that border the lawn, especially evergreens.
Poor Mowing/Trimming. Poor mowing, mostly too short, can cause your lawn to change from one grass type to a less desirable type. In cases of very short mowing, or even scalping, no grass can survive. Usually you end up with low growing weeds or moss. The same holds true for those who use their “weed whackers” to trim the edges of the grass close to the ground. The short grass does not allow food production (photosynthesis) and has no chance for survival.
Very Acidic or Very Alkaline Soil. As mentioned above, this is not the major cause of moss on most lawns. In extreme acid or alkaline conditions nutrients will lock up and become unavailable to the grass. This causes unhealthy grass and allows moss to fill in.

If you have any questions about moss, please feel free to drop us a line at info@natureslawn.com!

Winter is coming…protect your lawn!

Preparing Your Lawn for Winter

Every winter, lawns across the North take a beating. With snow piling up, months of freezing and thawing, and salt damage, it’s a miracle some lawns grow back at all in the spring. And when they do come back, many lawns have to contend with dead spots from where the dog goes.

Winterizing the lawn is a great way to improve grass health and recovery time. At this time of year, grass is slowing its growth as all of the energy goes to the roots, digging deeper into the soil and gathering as much nutrients as possible to help it survive the winter. Our All-In-One for Lawns (regular or phosphorous-free) is an excellent fertilizer to put down at this time of year for the beneficial root fungus it contains called mycorrhizae. This helps the roots draw more nutrients from the soil than they could on their own, preparing the grass for the long cold months ahead.

Protect Your Lawn Against Salt and Pet Damage

Something else you can do to protect your lawn this winter is apply our Spotless Lawn product before the snow falls. Spotless Lawn Dog Spot Aid is a unique organic formula that is designed to control and prevent dog urine burns on your lawn. Applying this product heavily in the late fall results in a healthier, deeper-rooted lawn that is protected against not only dog urine burns, but salt and weather damage as well.

Strengthen your lawn this fall with a heavy application of Spotless Lawn and watch it come back stronger and greener than ever in the spring!

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Easy Tree and Shrub Fertilizing

A Safe and Easy Way to Fertilize Shrubs, Trees and Perennials

In the fall, plants stop sending water and minerals up to the leaves. Instead, they will use these nutrients to increase root mass, and to store up food for the winter as well. The changing of the color and dropping of leaves accompanies this phase of the growth cycle.

By fertilizing at this time of the year, you allow the shrubs and trees to store up food as it sees fit for next year’s growth. We call this a dormant feeding, since above ground growth has stopped. But underground these plants are not dormant at all. The roots are very active (until the ground freezes) and will grab the fertilizer quickly. You can apply fertilizer much heavier at this stage without fear of leaf burn or flower drop.

How to Fertilize

We suggest a liquid soil drench for dormant feeding. Soaking the soil this way gets nutrients into the soil fast. You can apply with just a watering can, or use a hose-end sprayer for larger areas. Let the rain or even snow move the nutrients down deeper into the roots as the fall turns to winter. You can apply the fertilizer right over the plant and the surrounding soil where the roots will spread to. For older trees, you don’t need to fertilize too close to the trunk. (See below)

What to Use

One of our favorite All-Purpose fertilizers for shrubs and trees is our 10-8-8 Bio-Enhanced Liquid Fertilizer. This contains all the basic nutrients and is good for flowering and non-flowering plants and trees alike. If you are fertilizing mostly evergreens or non-flowering trees or plants you could also use our 16-4-8 Fertilizer instead, or even the All-In-One for LAWNS (a 14-3-7 fertilizer) if you have some extra to spare. The beneficial root fungus (mycorrhizae) in All-In-One is especially great for shrubs and trees this time of year.

If you are looking for a certified organic fertilizer then go with either of our Fish Fertilizers. The Aqua Power 5-1-1 is especially good for evergreens, hedges and plants that flower very little. The Neptune’s Harvest 2-4-1 fertilizer is better for flowering or fruiting plants since it has a higher concentration of Phosphorus.

Where to Fertilize Trees

Here is a good illustration of where to water, which is the same as where you would want to fertilize a tree.

Make sure to fertilize both inside as well as slightly beyond the drip line, or canopy line, of dense shrubs or trees. There are a lot of feeder roots there. But do not soak the area right near the trunk of a tree. It can cause rot, and there are no feeder roots in that area anyway.

Amounts to Use

Note: do not fertilize at the rates below if the soil is dry. Either wait for a rain, water beforehand, or cut the amount per gallon in half to dilute the fertilizer concentration.

For Shrubs: Drench the soil around the root area with 4-5 oz liquid fertilizer per average size shrub (approximately a 2½ foot diameter plant). Increase amount proportionately for larger plants and decrease for smaller plants. We recommend using a hose-end sprayer set at 4-6 oz per gallon of water or use a watering can at the same rate.If fertilizing beds of plants close together where roots are going to be mingled, apply 2- 3 quarts per 1000 sf of bed.

For Trees: Use 4 oz liquid fertilizer for every inch of diameter of trunk at chest height. If some of the roots are under driveways or walks, or trees are close to buildings then apply heavier to the areas that can be treated, perhaps 6 oz per inch of diameter. Water in for a few minutes if fertilizing over a lawn area.

Hint: Add some Aerify PLUS or Nature’s Magic to your liquid fertilizer to help improve the soil while fertilizing. If you have any questions at all, just email us, and we would be happy to help!

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Spot Seeding and Overseeding with Do It Yourself Grass Patch

Make Your Own Grass Patch

Before stores and infomercials started selling grass repair, or patching products in a bag, groundskeepers at golf courses made up their own mixture and used it to fill in divots and bare spots. I do the same thing for my own yard and so do many landscapers. It is very quick and easy to make and use, and it allows you to put in exactly the type of seed that you want to use. Plus, it is way less expensive than the products sold in stores or on infomercials.

Here is all you need to do. Put in a bushel or two of garden soil into a wheel barrow. Thoroughly mix in an equal amount of compost. If you don’t have compost you can use vermiculite, perlite, or sphagnum peat moss (the brown peat that comes in bales). You want to end up with a spongy, crumbly, water-holding mixture, much like a potting soil. In fact, you could use bagged potting soil instead of this mixture if you don’t have the other ingredients at hand.

Next, mix enough grass seed so you see plenty of seed in every handful. When spread on the lawn you want to see 15-20 seeds per sq. inch. Use a grass seed that matches what you already have in your lawn. If you don’t know, bring a sample to a local nursery. If you have some starter fertilizer around put a cup or two in the batch. This is not critical if your soil is fairly healthy and regular fertilized. You can always fertilize after the grass up. We recommend All-In-One for Lawns if you like using liquid fertilizers.

Over Seeding With Your Grass Patch.

If you are using this mixture to over seed a thin area of the lawn that does not have dead or bare spots, simply toss the mixture over the lawn wherever it is thin. If necessary, rake the lawn lightly afterwards to get the mixture to drop down off the grass blades. That’s it. You are done.

To get the grass seed to actually grow it is critical to keep the seed damp until the grass is established. Give it a good watering to get things started. If the soil below the seed was dry, really soak it deeply. The grass patch mixture will be nice and dark when damp so it will be easy to see if and when it dries out. Depending on the time of year, and the amount of rain you get, you may need to water once or twice a day, or maybe once or twice a week. The soil should not be soggy, it just needs to be damp. Once the grass sprouts and starts to root deeper and toughen up you can gradually phase out the watering to once or twice a week, enough to keep the soil from getting too dry. Again, it depends on your local weather conditions as regards to temperature, precipitation and even wind, which dries out soils too.

When over seeding you will probably also find a few areas that are either just bare soil or spots of completely dead grass. You will need to do things a little differently and follow the Spot Seeding steps below.

Spot Seeding With Your Grass Patch

STEP 1. If there is thickly matted dead grass or Thatch covering the spot you want to seed, you would need to remove that as your first step. If you try to seed on top of that, the seed would sprout but the roots would not be able to get into the soil and the new grass would die within a couple of weeks.

If you find that by removing the matted grass you have created a low spot in the lawn, fill that with topsoil to even things out. Tamp the soil down lightly with your foot

STEP 2. (Skip this step if you have added topsoil to fill in a low spot.) Scratch up the area you are spot seeding with a dirt rake, garden weasel or some other tool that would loosen up the soil at least 1/2 inch down. This will help the new seed dig into the soil quickly. Smooth out the area so it is level.

STEP 3. Top these areas with your homemade grass patch mixture. Put it on about 1/2″ thick and make sure it covers all the scratched up soil areas.

STEP 4. Water. As per above, you need to keep the grass patch moist until the new seed is well established.

For better results, before the seed sprouts make sure you hit it with either our Aerify PLUS (especially if you have Clay soil) or Nature’s Magic. They both contain trace nutrients that will stimulate faster rooting and will generate beneficial root fungi called mycorrhizae (my-core-rhy’-zee)

Note: If you are filling in deeper ruts or holes, don’t fill them with your home-made grass patch and waste it that way. Grass seeds deeper than 1/2 to 3/4 inches will have a hard time sprouting. Use regular soil to fill the holes or ruts, tamp it down lightly and only put your home-made grass patch on the very top.

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Lawn Care Season Begins in Fall

While many homeowners think of fall as the end of the gardening year and begin to neglect their yards, lawn pros and organic gardeners see the fall as the beginning of lawn season, and do what they can to improve the lawn and soil quality at this time.

In the fall, especially in the North, lawns have the opportunity to re-build, repair and thicken up after going through the stresses of summer. The lawn attempts to expand its root system at this time, digging in and getting to more of the soil nutrients. It also increases blade growth, making more carbohydrates (food), and some of this food is stored for use in the spring.

What are some ways to take advantage of this natural cycle?

Early Fall Fertilizing
In our lawn service business, we save our heaviest fertilizing of the year for the early fall. This stimulates growth and helps the grass send out tillers and runners to fill in thin spots. It also helps the grass produce the food that it stores to help it through the winter and which gets off to a good start in the spring. Our All-In-One For Lawns fertilizer (which also aerates and dethatches) contains mycorrhizae–beneficial root fungus–which will help the grass roots draw even more nutrients from the soil as it thickens the root network.

Seeding
The early fall is the absolute best possible time to seed your lawn if you live in the north. The weather will be cooler and moister, and there will be less weed and disease pressure to contend with. Get new grass seed established in the early fall and it will thicken further in the spring. Seed any bare or thin areas now and up till early October.

There are many reasons to over-seed your lawn. Aside from thickening it up, you can introduce newer, more heat- insect- and disease-tolerant grass types. A simple overseed, if your lawn does not have a thatch barrier, can be done this way: Spread seed over the existing grass, water heavily to work the seed down to the soil. Then keep the soil damp for a few weeks.

If you do have a thatch layer in your lawn, try our Biological Dethatcher to break it down before the colder weather sets in.

Proper Mowing
Keep the grass fairly high into the early fall (unless your lawn is mostly bentgrass-which needs to be cut shorter). This will help the grass root deeper, thicken up and build up food reserves. Don’t start mowing short just because the weather turns cooler. Lawn season is not over yet!

When the lawn’s growth begins to slow down, that is your signal to begin mowing shorter. Gradually lower the mowing height so it is 1 ½ “ high or less before winter. Bentgrass lawns can be cut even shorter. Also, be sure to keep the leaves from matting up on the lawn.

Stay tuned for more fall lawn care tips next week!

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Safe, Natural Mosquito Protection (Plus Labor Day Sale!)

Insect Protection the Safe, Natural Way

With the Zika virus making headlines these past few months, we’ve been getting a lot of questions about whether or not our Yard Guard product is effective against mosquitoes or other disease-carrying insects. The answer is YES. With regular applications of Yard Guard, you can not only keep pests away from your lawn and garden and eliminate existing infestations, you can also repel flying insects like mosquitoes, too. Yard Guard turns your whole yard into a no-fly zone for mosquitoes, flying ants, moths, stink bugs, and more. That way, you can enjoy the rest of the summer in your own back yard, without worrying about bug bites!

In addition, you can spray this non-staining product directly onto patios, decks, and all around the foundation of your house to prevent ants and spiders from entering your home.

Annual Labor Day Sale

Many of you will be out in your yards this holiday weekend, and you may notice areas where your lawn or garden could use some improvement. Just in time as we creep towards Fall, we’re offering 15% off this weekend only! Just enter coupon code LBRDAY16 at checkout on your next order before September 6th, and save!

As always, feel free to email us at info@natureslawn.com any time at all with questions you may have about using our products on your lawns and gardens. We welcome questions about soils, vegetable gardens, and farm crop, too

The Best Way To Eliminate Thatch

Here you can see the matted thatch layer blocking the grass roots from getting into the soil

Recently, a local resident asked us to check out their lawn because it was turning brown despite watering for 15-20 minutes daily. (We have been in a drought for a few months and temperatures are in the mid-80s regularly.) When we looked at the lawn, we found that the soil was actually completely dry. Why? Because there was a 1 inch layer of moist thatch that was soaking up all the water before it got down to the soil. Most of the actual grass roots were tied up in the thatch layer instead of the ground. To make matters worse, the weakened grass was now overrun by disease, and a lot of the grass was completely dead already.

Thatch is a disaster waiting to happen. It is more prevalent on sodded lawns than seeded, but it can form on any grass type when the lawn is not cared for properly. If your lawn has a thatch layer it is critical that you handle it as soon as possible. Thatch is a haven for insects and disease, and it causes shallow roots and winter kill.

Despite what you may have heard, you cannot eliminate true thatch by raking or other mechanical means. You simply end up tearing out the lawn. You need to get it to decompose at ground-level by applying the enzymes and microbes contained in our liquid Biological Dethatcher. Each application should reduce it by up to 3/8 inch, and in summer, when soils are warm, decomposition of thatch with this product will occur even faster. If you are already using our All-In-One for LAWNS you are putting on a small amount of dethatching microbes with each application, and while this is enough to prevent thatch and will slowly get existing thatch to decompose, it is not enough to handle a BAD thatch situation quickly.

If you are unsure about whether you have thatch, just click on the link to our Biological Dethatcher page and you will find all the information you need to see if thatch is an issue on your lawn.

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The Secret Ingredient To an Amazing Lawn

Many of our customers use our All-In-One for LAWNS because it not only fertilizes, but also aerates, dethatches, and bioactivates the soil with humates and seaweed. But there is another ingredient in this product that many customers are not really aware of, and that is the beneficial root fungi. These are commonly known as mycorrhizae ( my core Rye’ zay ). The mycorrhizae are capable of expanding the root capacity of the grass by 10 to 100 times, or more.

image courtesy of halfhillfarm.com

Here is how it works: Mycorrhizae, which are naturally occurring soil fungi, form a mutually beneficial relationship with the roots of plants. Plant roots exude sugars, which the mycorrhizae like to eat. The mycorrhizae attach themselves to the roots of the grass and then stretch out, sending very fine filaments throughout the soil. These filaments bring water and minerals back to the grass root so the grass can be healthier and produce more sugars as well. Essentially, the mycorrhizae extend the roots of the grass and go into small places that roots can’t get to.

Another fantastic benefit is that mycorrhizae also break through the bonds of clay particles and help restructure the ground into a more porous soil. The liquid aerating and bio-activating aspects of the All-In-One for LAWNS help make it easier for the mycorrhizae to do their job.

Is YOUR lawn currently benefiting from mycorrhizare?

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