THE ORGANIC LAWN
My last week’s article emphasized the importance of timing. The end of August to the beginning of September is the time to seed, renovate or build a new lawn. This week I want to emphasize the importance of owning an organic lawn. I have written many articles in the past on this subject and I feel it’s redundant when I write on it. But it is one of the most important steps we can take for ourselves, our children and for future generations.
If we are going to understand the importance of organic farming, the understanding starts in our own back yard. American farmers have been poisoning the earth and the food crops they are growing by following Agricultural University recommendations advocating chemical crop accelerated growth programs. Home owners have been poisoning their lawns through highly advertised 4 step chemical programs and their gardener’s habit of employing quick chemical fixes. If we want to reverse global warming, these debilitating actions need to be corrected.
We look at our lawn and we see it as part of our yard. It is an integral part of our outdoor living area. For dogs it’s a place to run, for children it’s a place to play, for grownups it’s a place to spend recreational time with the family. It‘s a way to move from one place to the other. It frames our gardens and for many a beautiful front lawn is a status symbol. When we concentrate on developing a beautiful lawn but don’t follow an organic program, we abuse our soils and pollute our environment. A lawn that is environmentally friendly, healthy for your children, pets and family and free from chemical fertilizers, toxic pesticides and harmful herbicides is an organic lawn. Let us get everyone on board to own an organic lawn.
Let us examine the problems caused by chemically tended lawns. There is the exposure and health issue, the water pollution issue, the global warming issue and the sustainable healthy lawn issue. When you consider these issues why would you want to own anything but an organic lawn? Most people have a gardener taking care of their lawn. If you do, there is a ninety percent chance that you have a chemically treated lawn. Most people say that as long as their grass is cut, their lawn is green, their weeds are controlled they are happy. But if the lawn is suffering from insects, disease or dryness, they become upset at their gardener. The gardener usually comes up with a quick chemical fix to solve the problem but the real problem gets worse.
The problem is these are quick fixes not long term organic fixes. The problem is most people don’t take the time to understand the debilitating effects that occur when toxins and chemicals are added to their soil and what effect it will have on the environment. My wife loves me to quote the famous Native American Proverb= We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors we borrow it from our children. We all have a responsibility not to add toxic materials to our soils. We have a responsibility not to kill the food web or the vigorous life that exists in our soils.
If we don’t see it, it does not mean it does not exist. We need to teach our children not to be blind to global warming. They need to know how to preserve the earth. This is an educational process that does not take place when we close our eyes to it and the schools are not properly addressing it.
I am going to try to explain each of the issues I mentioned and hope you will understand their importance and pass the knowledge on to your children, your children’s teachers, your friends and family. This is an article to convince you of the importance of following an organic program to maintain your lawn. If you already own an organic lawn, be an ambassador and teach others what you know and what you have learned.
The first and for you as a parent and family protector this is probably the most important. It is the health issue. There are pages and pages of research done on the detrimental and debilitating effects on the health of your children and pets when toxic insecticides, herbicides, crabgrass and weed killers, and certain fungicides are added to the soil.
Chemical fertilizers kill the microbes in the soil which work for you day and night to purify your soil and support strong root growth. More and more severe health problems have been developing for our pets, our children and ourselves. Take the time to Google the many articles written on this subject. You will be flabbergasted and will be rightly worried. Don’t take chances and make sure you own an organic lawn. The problem with toxic products being applied to the lawn is the exposure issue. Through exposure to them they build up in your system. There is not an immediate effect; there is a long term effect. So don’t add these products to your soil.
The second point is the water pollution issue. Chemical fertilizers are water soluble and either wash into our water systems or leach into them. Phosphate washing into our lakes, ponds or oceans can cause algae plumes that are unsightly and detrimental to our environment. Nitrogen in chemical fertilizers on the other hand usually leaches into the waterways. Excessive Nitrates can cause health problems through drinking water and affect the marine life in our water systems. Organic fertilizers are the solution for they are not water soluble and require the microbes in the soil to break them down and then release them to the roots of the plant.
The third point is the Global Warming issue: Chemically treated plants release carbon into the air increasing our air pollution while organic grown plants take carbon out of the air and release oxygen into it. If we could get the home owners and the farmers to make this simple change, we could conquer global warming and reverse the trend. Global warming is the biggest threat that we have to life on this earth. We spend so much time fighting wars when we need to unite together to fight global warming.
The fourth point is sustainability. Some people want a beautiful lawn others just want a green lawn and still others just want a lawn. The key to success is sustainability. My program is written to include a list of materials applied in a timely manner that will accelerate building up the food web in your soil. Once you have developed a good food web you will achieve sustainability and in the process build a beautiful lawn. Although initial costs may be higher eventual costs will be much less. Our program is to achieve a beautiful lawn and there is no better lawn than a good organic lawn. However, I realize there are different levels of achievement homeowners are willing to undertake.
In my book ‘12 steps to Natural Gardening’ I have directions and a list of products for building a new lawn and the criteria for doing so. I also have a formula for renovating an existing lawn. These are on page 149. You can also obtain this information on my web site. The monthly organic calendar is also available in my book and as a free pick up at the Nursery. Our web site Naturalgardennews.com -Krautters Korner newsletter are other sources for information.
The end of August is the best time to build or seed your lawn. This is a must read for everyone needs to own an organic lawn. At stake is Health, Global Warming, Water Pollution and Sustainability. If you own an organic lawn, you need to become an ambassador. If you don’t own one, you need to get on board.
