Grass gets greener
Many people are interested in switching from chemical to organic lawns for environmental reasons. But for Paul Tukey, the change was all about health.
A former lawn care company owner, Tukey began using organic techniques on doctor's orders after he started experiencing nosebleeds and shortness of breath. Now he's the publisher of Maine-based "People, Places and Plants" magazine and spokesman for SafeLawns.org, a new organization promoting organic lawn care.
Tukey's new book, "The Organic Lawn Care Manual; A Natural, Low-Maintenance System for a Beautiful, Safe Lawn," gives detailed instructions on how, as he puts it, to "get your lawn off drugs."
Because healthy soil is the key to healthy grass, Tukey advises raking a half inch of compost into your established lawn once a year. That works out to about a yard and a half of compost for 1,000 square feet, according to Santo Anza , who works for Apple D'Or (508-229-2440 ), which makes and delivers compost to the Boston area from their Mattapan yard. Mass Natural Fertilizer in Westminster (978-874-0744 ) is a good compost source for Central Massachusetts.
The easiest way to have an organic lawn is to regularly mow everything green and accept that not all of it is going to be grass. After all, traditional lawns used to be a mix of plants. Mine still is. The purple petals of violets, creeping Charlie, and prunella weave through the grass like threads in a green tapestry, and that's fine with me.
But the higher your standards of perfection, the more effort you'll have to make.
"You have to be patient," said Michael Hanlon of Hanlon Landscaping in Cambridge. "It takes a few years for the soil processes to become self-sustaining. People don't like the results the first year (without chemical nitrogen applications). The second year is better. The third year is really good."
Here are suggestions for transitioning to an organic lawn, month by month.
May: Start with a soil test. (Baystaters can visit umass.edu/plsoils/ soiltest.soilbrochb/htm or e - mail soiltest@psis.umass .edu to learn how to send soil samples to the extension service lab for a $9 test that will recommend nutrient and pH adjustments.) If test results show you need to apply lime to raise soil pH range, seek out high calcium or calcitic lime instead of the commonly sold dolomite lime, which has too much magnesium for most New England soils. Raising calcium levels will also reduce many common weeds such as dandelions.
June: Raising mower blades throughout the summer to 3 inches tall will help shade out weeds and retain soil moisture. If your lawn is small, consider replacing your gas mower with a push reel or electric mower. Don't cut off more than one - third of blade height at one time. Leave cut grass on the lawn. It's a natural fertilizer.
July: Instead of frequent light waterings, irrigate deeply one morning a week to encourage deeper grass roots. Or don't water at all and let your lawn go dormant for the summer.
Late August: Over seed with grass-seed mixes, including turf-type tall fescue for sun. "I like the Jonathan Green Black Beauty Mix," said Tukey. "Blue grass was originally imported as cattle feed because it's so fast growing. So if you want to mow your lawn every four days, go ahead and plant blue grass and knock yourself out." Instead, he recommends adding white clover seeds to the mix to improve soil fertility. For shade , use a grass seed mix with chewings red fescue . Instead of renting a seed splicer before seeding, Hanlon recommends buying a Garden Weasel. After seeding, rake a half - inch of compost over the entire lawn and keep the soil continually moist for 10 days until grass sprouts.
September: Begin to lower mower blades to 2 inches once the autumn rainy season commences. Mow new grass when it reaches 2.5 inches in height. Taper off irrigation.
October: Begin fall clean up. Use a rented core aerator to improve drainage.
November: Remove all leaves and debris and add it to the garden compost pile. Make the last mowing of the year 2 inches high.
December-February: Get your mower serviced off-season. Empty gas tank. Sharpen blades to help prevent lawn diseases.
March: Rake up debris when soil has dried out.
April: Apply an organic fertilizer so the grass will crowd out germinating annual crabgrass seeds. Hanlon recommends Cockadoodle Doo , but not corn gluten. Begin pulling weeds by hand or spot spraying with an organic herbicide.
More on line information for managing lawns without pesticides is available at gardening.cornell.edu/lawn . For a list of natural or organic lawn care services, visit beyondpesticides.org/lawn . Carol Stocker is available to answer gardening questions at boston.com Thursdays from 1-2 p.m.
