A common complaint we get around this time of year is from homeowners who feel their lawn doesn’t grow nicely. Perhaps they inherited their lawn from a previous homeowner and don’t like it because it’s patchy, yellow, or prickly to walk on. Or perhaps they laid down new sod several years ago but find it’s not coming in as nicely as it used to.
An organic lawn care solution can solve both these problems.
If you’ve never put deliberate care into your grass, it’s likely your lawn is not really lawn grass but a mix of wild grasses. Wild grass consists of seeds that blow in from the area around you. They are not necessarily selected for your soil, light, and water types, and chances are they dry up and die really easily.
Even if you did lay down new sod at one point, if it was left untended wild grasses and weeds will fill in.
Many homeowners opt to treat their sparse lawn with chemicals such as Miracle Gro. Despite its advertising, this is not a true fertilizer, as it does not actually feed the plant. Instead, it acts as a steroid that boosts the green colour and forces growth, actually leaving the plant itself weaker and nutritionally deprived over time.
Relying on chemical fertilizers also does not solve the actual problem of wild grasses filling in, because it just boosts their growth further and does not give well-selected grass seeds a chance to grow.
You can get better results by cultivating your lawn with organic methods.
Cultivating a healthy lawn
One of the easiest ways to cultivate a lush and green lawn is to over-seed with grass that is chosen for your environment. Overseeding works to restore patchy or weedy lawns because well-selected grass seeds outcompete weeds and wild grass for space and nutrients, thereby not allowing invading seeds to grow. This approach is also great because it does not rely on chemicals to boost green growth — instead, it draws on the natural strengths of the environment to promote grass production. Here are the steps.
1. Choose a grass seed that works for your level of sun and water
Grass seed can be selected for full sun, full shade, wet conditions, dry conditions, and everything in between. If you consider yourself having a “problem lawn,” chances are high that just changing your grass seed can make a difference. Consider the conditions of your environment and choose a grass seed that works for your level of sun and moisture levels.
2. Spread the grass seed
The grass seed needs to be spread evenly across your lawn for it to grow evenly. It also needs a thin blanket of soil applied on top to protect it and give it an environment to grow in. There are a few ways to do this.
One way to broadcast the seed is with a grass seed spreader, which can be purchased from a hardware store. It uses a mechanical crank to distribute the seed and you just walk across your lawn with it at a steady pace, turning the crank as you go, until you’ve covered every square foot. Once the grass seed is spread, you can sprinkle the whole area with a thin layer of soil.
If you don’t have a grass seed spreader, you can also mix the grass seed with black earth soil and rake it evenly across your lawn. Be sure your seed-soil mix is thoroughly combined to ensure even results.
3. Water and wait
New grass seed must have a moist environment in order to grow. It’s really important for the success of your new lawn that you water it every day for the first 10-14 days. Watering is best done away from the heat of the day, either in the early morning or late afternoon. Use a hose nozzle setting that most resembles gentle rain (such as “shower” if it’s not too strong) or a lawn sprinkler for best results.
Then it’s important to wait and not disturb your new, growing grass. Avoid foot traffic from kids and pets for at least the first month. It’s also best not to mow your lawn as often as you’re used to. If possible, try not to mow more than once a month to let the new grass really take hold.
If you continue watering your new grass seed and not mow it more than once a month, you can expect to have a new, strong lawn within the year!
Organic fertilizer for your lawn
If you follow the above steps, you will have a healthy, green lawn within the year. But if you want to give your new lawn an extra boost, you can also apply an organic soil amendment that will really help your new lawn grow.
Probiotic
Before you apply any fertilizer to your lawn, it’s important to promote the microbial population of your soil. Microbes in the soil are essential to plants (like grass) being able to take in nutrients, so your lawn will get the most of the fertilizer you use if you build the microbial population first.
Probiotic treatments are a liquid soil amendment that contain live strains of microbes. Once the probiotic treatment has been applied to the soil, the microbes colonize the soil and start helping plants with the uptake of nutrients. Using probiotic can improve germination rates of your grass seed, reduce seed germination time, improve root strength and durability, and increase overall grass health.
One popular probiotic treatment is the application of compost tea. Compost tea can be made out of anything from kitchen scraps to worm casings. Compost tea will inoculate your soil with whatever strains of microorganisms were contained in the composted material. If you like to DIY your own ferments, this is a good way to go.
At Toronto Horticulture, we prefer to use our Essential Plant Probiotic, Outdoor Blend, a similar kind of fermented solution to compost tea but formulated to contain the exact strains of microorganisms that plants prefer. We like having a more standardized potency of the microorganisms we’re promoting, and we see better results with our plants. Essential Plant Probiotic is applied by mixing a small amount into a watering can (2 tsp per litre water) and sprinkling evenly across the lawn. This can be done in the spring or fall.
Liquid kelp and/or fish emulsion
For a plant, lawn grass is an especially heavy nitrogen feeder. That means it requires a lot of nitrogen in order to thrive. Left unfertilized, lawn grass will deplete its soil of nitrogen within a single season. That means a homeowner would really benefit from finding an organic source of nitrogen that is cheap and easy to apply.
Liquid kelp and fish emulsion are two great organic sources of nitrogen. They can easily be found in garden centres and hardware stores, and offer a longer-lasting source of nutrition than synthetic fertilizers. The directions will show you how much to mix with water based on its concentration, but usually only amounts to a few teaspoons per liter water. It’s best to apply kelp and/or fish emulsion every two weeks in the spring and fall in order to build up nitrogen reserves for the hot summer months. These nutrients can even be mixed and used at the same time if you like.
Keep in mind that each blade of grass is a plant unto itself, which means that the fertilizer must be distributed evenly across the lawn in order for your whole lawn to benefit from it.
Reach out if you need support
We hope this post helps you promote the best lawn you can have! If you have questions about any of these steps, or for support in choosing or laying new grass seed, please don’t hesitate to reach out.