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Greetings
Gardeners!
We are Pure Prairie Organics and we have been fertilizing lawns and trees in DuPage and Kane Counties since 1994. We use all natural products that are safe for children and pets and get great results.
I get lots of organic lawn care questions (and gardening questions in general! ). I will answer some of them here to give you an idea what I use, how it works and how we solve problems. Thank you for your time!
What's wrong with my lawn? It looked good last spring!
Your lawn is hungry. Honestly speaking, we have great soils. This is the Prairie State and if we do nothing we can grow grass. Soils are incredibly active over the winter and lots of nutrients are
released by the microbes in the soil. In the spring there is a huge
amount of food available to the plants and our spring growth is
very strong. About Mothers Day most of the food is used up and
our lawns need our help to stay thick and green. Grass is a very
heavy feeder and goes thru enormous amounts of food. The
original prairie grasses were very tall and had deep roots which
could forage around for food.
We mow our lawns which keeps the roots more shallow so our
home lawns need our help in getting enough food to stay thick
and green.
OK, but do organic fertilizers really work?
They work better than chemicals. Chemical fertilizers are like
breakfast cereal; They give energy but not health. The grass is
real green but the lack of minerals and carbohydrates weakens
the lawn and problems show up. Over time, the grass gets thin,
grubs and diseases take over and the soil sets up like cement.
Aeration and dethatching does not help. Reseeding won't work,
either, because the soil doesn't have enough energy or nutrition
to support the new seed.
Organic fertilizers are like a balanced meal. It takes a while to
digest but the health is much better. Organic fertilizers are
high in minerals and carbohydrates which feeds the whole system
rather than just pushing the green. Over time, the soil becomes
softer and the lawn becomes thicker with fewer insect and
disease problems.
What kind of natural fertilizers do you use?
I custom mix a variety of dry ingredients. Most of them are
animal vegetable and mineral. These include; alfalfa meal,
feather meal, bone meal, dry molasses, brewers yeast, gypsum,
high calcium lime potassium sulfate, kelp meal and dry humates
(a type of coal). I also use small amounts of ammonia sulfate
which is a man made product but has an organic response in
the soil.
The weak point of organics is it won't work in cold weather.
The ammonia sulfate will work well in cold weather (cold soils,
actually) and the earthworms and bacteria love this stuff.
What about aeration?
Aeration by machine doesn't work. It doesn't solve the problem.
Calcium makes soil loose and open and magnesium makes soils
tight. Our soils are high in magnesium which is why it is so
compacted and tight.
Gypsum loosens clay. So do bacteria and earthworms.
This is why I use large amounts of gypsum. I am able to soften
about one inch of soil each year. So after two or three years,
the soil is soft about three or four inches deep which really
helps the grass to stay green with less water in the summertime.
The longer we stay on the program the deeper it goes.
Bacteria make a lot of mucus on their bodies and soil particles
glom onto them which opens up the soil. Bacteria need a high
calcium environment to thrive in which is why we use lots of
high calcium lime with each application. They also need lots of
carbs and organic fertilizers are naturally high in carbohydrates.
The food for earthworms is bacteria. Earthworms can tunnel
10 to 20 feet each week! There is no better aeration than that.
After a couple of years on our program you will see earthworms
everywhere after a rain. I do not need to add them to the soil.
Feed them and they will come!
Nature uses dandelions to aerate the soil. Other tap root weeds
like thistle, burdock, and queen anne's lace will also aerate
the soil. Dandelions make a tap root that wedges open the
tight soils. The half inch of soil around the root is a perfect
soil; perfectly balanced in minerals, perfectly balanced in
organic matter and perfectly balanced in bacteria. The bacteria
around the root is so active that earthworms come to feed.
Many times when we dig up a dandelion we can also pull up
an earthworm with it. In December, the tap root dies and
becomes more organic matter for the soil. This is natures way
of opening up the soil and adding organic matter. Dandelions
are new every year. They are not perennial.
Some lawns are in new subdivisions which has a thin layer of
soil on top of blue clay. This situation can encourage diseases
because of the compaction in the clay. In that situation I can
do a special application of liquid herbs and bacteria which are
specialized at getting clay to loosen up. Sometimes I am able
to soften five inches deep in two weeks. Not all the time but
sometimes.
What about weeds?
The best way to control weeds is to mow high. Weed seeds
need sunlight to germinate and mowing high will shade the soil.
Also, getting the grass thicken will help a lot. The person mowing
at two and a half inches will have twice the weeds and need
twice the water as the person mowing at three and a half inches.
(top setting on the mower.) Mulching the grass clippings will
also help shade the soil giving even more weed control as well
as feeding the grass after it breaks down. We need to make
sure we have at least a half inch of thatch to shade the soil and
hold in the moisture to reduce watering. A half inch of thatch
is ideal. I never recommend dethatching. That's your future
topsoil!
Crab grass is easy to control organically. Quack grass too. Crab
grass only germinates where there is salt and gypsum neutralizes
salt. Gypsum is a better crab grass preemergent than the
chemicals are. Usually crab grass grows along the curb where
the snow plows push the snow. It will also grow along the
driveway where the snow melts off our tires. It may take a
little time but gypsum definitely works.
Quack grass hates calcium. High calcium lime will eliminate
the quack grass over time. I doesn't happen fast but when it
does, it is permanent. There is no known chemical that will
control quack grass other than Round-up which will kill
everything.
Creeping Charlie is sensitive to boron so boric acid will work
for that but I can't always get it to work. There are definitely
a few tricks to get this to work right. The boric acid mix does
not kill the grass.
Organically we don't have anything for broadleaf weeds
(dandelion thistles, etc). I worked with corn gluten in 1995
and 1996 but the results for weed control were very poor. It
makes great green lawns but the weeds were still there.
Vinegar and lemon juice works to kill the tops of weeds but
not the roots. This will work ok in the beds or the driveway
but it will leave brown spots in the lawn. Polka dots in the
lawn... not good.
I recommend the homeowner keep a bottle of liquid weed
killer in the garage and spot spray a weed that bothers them.
If it doesn't bother you then don't spray it! Usually it's just
dandelions in the spring. The rest of the year nobody even
sees them. We keep some chemical in our truck and will
spot spray if we are asked. We never do this automatically.
With our service, the homeowner is always in control of
the killer chemicals.
On the larger lawns we need to call in a truck. Usually,
tho, it's just once a year for dandelions which keeps the
use of killer chemicals to a minimum. I don't like it and I
don't recommend it but I don't want my clients to make
enemies in the neighborhood if things get bad.
Weeds and what they tell.
Weeds are not evil! They are natures' soil repair system.
When the soil is high or low in a certain mineral, a weed
will appear to correct the imbalance.
For example, dandelions add calcium to the soil. When
the soil is low in available calcium, and there is calcium in
reserve, dandelions digest the calcium from unavailable to
available. If there is no calcium in reserve then the weedy
grasses thrive, which are crab grass, quack grass and sedges.
Weeds with a strong stem will digest potassium. Plantain
thrives in surface compaction (footprints) but deeper down
the soil is ok. Creeping charlie is an indicator of poor
drainage (it likes wet). Clover fixes nitrogen into soils that
are low.
In this way, weeds are indicators of poor soil conditions and
are also natures way to correct this condition. Controlling
weeds in the lawn is more complicated than I have explained
but I wanted to give a general idea of the biology that occurs
in nature.
How can I grow grass under my trees?
You can't! Grass is a full sun plant. Even the "shade" grasses
need five hours of full sun. If we don't have five hours of
full sun under the tree then the grass will always be thin.
Trimming the bottom branches definitely helps but shade
will always be an issue.
Plants don't have a stomach. The digestion has to happen
in the soil. Grass is fed by bacteria and trees are fed by
fungi. Fungi like wood chips. Lawns and trees don't fight
but they are different ecosystems and trees can out pull
grass for water and food. Trees definitely do better with
mulch underneath.
The first week of August, trees get a signal from the soil
to start getting ready for winter and about mid August the
grass under the trees turns brown as the roots start pulling
extra water. This also thins the grass under the trees and
explains why putting new grass seed down under the trees
in autumn doesn't work very well. Even if you water it,
the tree just takes the extra water.
How often do you fertilize?
I fertilize four times a year, roughly every two months. I
feed three times per year to keep the lawn green and the
fourth application to help me get enough food on the lawn
to make it thick.
The fertilizers do not need to be watered in and the lawn
is safe to walk on after we do the application. We can
fertilize in our bare feet if we want to. All our products
are 1000% biological meaning it is safe for the bacteria,
fungi and earthworms who do all the important work in
the soil.
What about grubs?
The best way to control grubs is to take away their food.
The food for the grubs is fungus. There is a fungus that
attacks the lawn called summer patch disease and it
makes those brown circles in the lawn around the Fourth
of July when it starts getting hot. Gypsum works well to
kill this fungus. Gypsum has sulfur in it and sulfur is a
fungicide. Gypsum is a mineral that is quarried out of the
ground.
Sometimes I use probiotics to control the summer patch
disease. Home owners can use yogurt to do the same
thing. Yogurt contains Lactobacillus bacteria which is a
superior competitor. Just make sure the yogurt has active
cultures! In the soil, 98% of the microbes in the soil are
good and helping us. They digest the grass clippings, old
roots and the minerals in the soil and make the nutrients
available to the plants. Controlling the bad guys is easy!
We just feed the 98% and they overpower the bad guys.
Plants are also able to kill the bad fungi. All plants make
an enzyme that can dissolve the cell walls of diseases.
The mineral at the center of this enzyme is copper.
Diseases are an indicator of a copper deficiency. Sometimes
I spray small amounts of copper and other minerals to feed
the plant so it can protect itself. My grandfather used to
pound a copper nail and a zinc nail in elm trees to help
control Dutch Elm disease. Don't try this at home because
if you over do it then you can kill your tree! But you get
the idea. We have known for a long time about the value
of small amounts of certain minerals.
Practicing soil and plant nutrition is very important in
the organic program. We sometimes do soil testing to
help us know what minerals are high or low.
Do you do soil tests?
If I see problems that concern me then I will do a soil test
to help me identify the problem and some solutions that
will get our plants healthy and happy. Insects and diseases
are indicators of malnutrition and it's ok to treat for them
but until we address the underlying malnutrition these
problems will continue. Soil test are an important tool for
this reason. I do maybe 50 tests each year and I learn many
things from each one.
Why should we choose your service?
I give great advice! For example, I give detailed advice
on how high to mow, when and how often to water, what
to do about Japanese Beetles, rabbits in the tulips, dog urine
spots, and the right kind of mulch to use. All the other
wonderful things that we do for our yards!
The best part of my job is talking to you and helping you solve
your plant problems. I do lots of homework and I love working
with the soil.
I also leave awesome newsletters every time we fertilize!
If you have any questions, please call or email me and I will be
glad to help.
Thank you for your time!
Bill Scheffler, owner
Pure Prairie Organics
PO Box 1458
Wheaton, IL 60189
630-510-2483
pureprairie@gmail.com
pureprairieorganics.com
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