The Complete Guide to Organic Lawn Care: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply by Sandy Baker

Author:Sandy Baker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: organic, lawn, care, environment, natural, chemicals, caring, maintenance, yard, pets, children, mowing, fertilizer, trimming, tools
Publisher: Atlantic Publishing
Published: 2011-12-27T00:00:00+00:00

Improving Soil Quality

As with any plant, the condition of the soil greatly affects the resulting health of the grass. Soil often needs amending, and once that is complete, the soil can sustain the grass’s life longer and with better results. As instructed earlier, obtain a soil test from a professional testing company at this point if you have not already done so. The information from this test will provide you with steps on how to improve the soil so you can create the ideal medium for grass to grow.

When rehabilitating a lawn, improve the soil quality after you have removed debris and thatch from the grass and aerated it. By improving the soil before you put down grass seed or sod, you improve the conditions necessary for those grasses to grow.

Regardless of what the results of your soil test are, it is always a good idea to perform a top dressing of compost. A top dressing is simply a thin layer of compost added to the top of your grass. If you are unsure of the composition of your compost or its quality in terms of being good for your lawn, have the compost tested. Most companies that do soil quality testing also offer testing for compost. Most of the time, homemade compost requires adding some nutrients. Macronutrients in particular are necessary, including phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium.

You may also want to add natural material to improve the levels of magnesium, sulfur, and calcium in the soil. Add organic material, such as fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, composting leaves and vegetation, and lime. Most types of grasses use these nutrients at a higher level.

Once you determine what type of nutrients your soil needs, add those nutrients into the soil through the compost layer. See Chapter 4 for a thorough guide to help you determine how to add nutrients to the soil and compost. Once you have the mixture in place, simply apply a thin layer of the compost material across the top of the lawn already in place or in the patches where you are working to improve the lawn’s consistency. The material will naturally enter the soil over the next few days as it rains or as it naturally melds with the existing soil.

Improving the soil quality like this also helps to establish a strong level of fertility for the soil. That means when you go to add grass seed, sod, or other grass to the lawn, those products have a better opportunity to grab hold of the soil and begin to grow.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.