Commercial chemical fertilizers are great for producing fast, short-term growth in your lawn. However, the underlying health of your lawn is at risk from these chemicals. More and more Americans are realizing that natural organic lawn fertilizers and practices are a better, healthier, and long-term solution to lawn care.
What many gardeners may not realize is that the health of their lawn and garden is directly related to the health of the soil in which they are planting. Healthy lawns get most of their nutrients from microbes in the soil that feed on organic matter. When you fertilize with strong synthetic chemicals, the microbes get a burst of nutrients, causing a population bloom that quickly consumes all the organic matter that is stored in the soil. This is not a healthy balance and germs disappear as your food supply is depleted. The typical solution? More chemical fertilizers to compensate for the damaged soil and the cycle lawn fertilizer Collegeville pa.
There are other side effects of using synthetic chemical fertilizers. In addition to the immediate risk of using chemicals around people and pets, 1/3 to 1/2 of the water-soluble fertilizers are disposed of in groundwater where they reach drinking water and waterways. In just one example, there is a 7,000-square-mile “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, where fertilizers washed up on the Mississippi River have caused a nutrient imbalance between algae that has stripped the water of oxygen available to fish and other animals. organisms. . In 2007, there were 150 of these dead zones around the world.
The alternative is the natural organic approach. A natural organic lawn fertilizer slowly releases nutrients to nurture soil microbes. As the soil becomes healthier, your lawn’s roots grow deeper and capture more stored water, requiring less watering. Adding 1/2 “compost annually to your lawn will help feed microbes and your lawn, and the organic matter will also help retain moisture in the soil. Up to 50% of municipal water use can be for landscapes, for What is able to reduce the water required for your lawn is a significant savings.
Natural organic lawn fertilizers have other benefits as well. As your lawn becomes healthier and requires less watering, lawn moss becomes less of a problem. Keeping your lawn between 2 and 3 inches and cutting the branches that shade your lawn will also help prevent moss. Lawn fungi can be a problem when there is too much decaying carbon matter in the soil. A natural organic lawn fertilizer will help restore the carbon-nitrogen balance in the soil to help prevent fungi from finding excess food. Since natural organic lawn fertilizers release nutrients more slowly, they don’t need to be applied as often as synthetic fertilizers. 20 pounds per 1000 square feet of lawn, twice a year in spring and fall, is generally all that is recommended.
While it is clear that synthetic chemical fertilizers generally do more harm than good to the long-term health of your lawn, even an organic lawn needs some type of fertilizer to stay green. Leaving grass clippings on your lawn after mowing can provide up to 25% of your lawn’s fertilization needs, however it is still necessary to find a good natural organic lawn fertilizer to supplement your lawn and soil needs. And while some people argue that natural organic lawn fertilizers sometimes cost more than synthetic fertilizers, the total cost of an organic lawn care program will be less expensive since you won’t need expensive herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides.