Fertilization Program
First off let’s get clear about what it means to fertilize. To Fertilize is to “make soil more fertile by adding suitable substances to it”. Most fertilizers don’t actually do this. Synthetic fertilizers don’t to this at all. All they do is provide water soluble nutrients for fast utilization by the grass. They don’t actually make the soil more fertile.
The key to fertility is the life in the soil, the organisms that make up the soil food web. Organic fertilizers feed those soil microbes helping to increase their numbers which in turn increases disease resistance, drought resistance and nutrient cycling.
The soil food web is a complex community of organisms that live in and around the soil including bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, earthworms, beetles, etc. One organism eats another, then that organism gets eating by something else and so on.
During this process waste is produced which contains more organisms. Nutrients are released, consumed and recycled. Relationships develop between the organisms, their by products and the plant roots. This creates space for air and water. Roots start growing deeper and stronger. This is the key to healthy plants.
The more microbial activity there is in the soil, the healthier and stronger the plants will be. This is how fertile soil behaves, the type of soil you may find when digging in the woods. This is not how urban soil behaves. Before your house was built and before your neighborhood was developed there was a forest.
The trees dropped their leaves each year and as the leaves decomposed they fed the soil microbes. The microbes in turn released nutrients for the trees and the process continued until the neighborhood was developed. The rich topsoil that was there was scraped up, hauled off and sold elsewhere. What was left was the subsoil.
The subsoil is almost void of organic matter and microbes. Although it does contain numerous minerals and nutrients they are out of balance, locked up and not available for the grass yet. While your house was being built large construction vehicles further compacted the soil and workers used your future yard to pile debris.
After the house was finished most of the debris was cleaned up and sod was rolled out and watered. Everything looked great initially, but there was nothing done to improve the soil. Slowly the grass started expressing the underlying soil issues and weeds, disease and poor grass ensued.
Our program addresses these issues. The whole focus is the soil: balancing the elements and stimulating the microbial life. Once the elements come into balance and we’ve built up the microbial life your soil actually starts working for you and poor grass is a thing of the past.
We treat both cool season and warm season turf. We offer a variety of year round organic fertilization & weed control programs. Our organic lawn treatments are based on what each individual lawn needs. Every lawn is different, from the soil and sun exposure to grass type and fertilization history. Every lawn is unique and requires a specialized program.
At Pleasant Green Grass, we design a program that fits your lawn and your expectations. We can suggest an aggressive approach to get your lawn in great shape as quickly as possible or we can suggest a slow and steady approach to improve your overall soil health.
Our approach to lawn care is primarily Soil Health. We take an environmentally friendly and holistic approach, using only organic materials, to treat poor soil and bring it back to health. Our approach is a long term investment in the health of your soil, the health of your family and pets, our employees and the local environment and wildlife.
Synthetic fertilizers and pesticides pose significant harm to your lawn
- Increasing soil salinity killing earthworms and beneficial organisms in the soil
- Quick, water soluble nitrogen dissolves and leaches into surrounding water systems before the grass even gets a chance to use it
- Can burn the grass
- Disrupts PH balance
- Gone after 30 days
- Tends to sterilize soil
- Derived from petroleum products
- Provide a quick nitrogen fix that stimulates excessive growth leading to thatch build-up and dependence on another “fix”
We want to note these differences when attempting to compare our services apples to apples. There can be many hidden costs when using conventional chemical lawn care services. It took years for your soil to fall into poor health which is why we approach solutions by treating the root causes first and foremost.
It typically takes a season or two to figure out the specific problems affecting your soil health so we generally start with a program and then make alterations to fit the specific needs of your lawn. Weeds are a symptom of poor soil health and our ultimate goal is to create a healthy turf that will naturally resist weeds.
Using an organic program will require some time and patience, but once your soil is healthy there will be minimal treatments needed in order to maintain the soil health and a beautiful lawn. We typically offer a year round program consisting of 5-6 treatments. Those treatments typically include Organic Compost Tea Fertilizers, Organic Weed Control (pre and post emergent), Overseeding and Aeration.
Each time you use one of our products or services you are taking a step towards a more healthy beautiful lawn and creating a safer place for our community, families and environment.
At Pleasant Green Grass, we pride ourselves on being your source for complete lawn care & landscaping. Whether its weed control, sod, or organic fertilizers or something more complex like patio design Pleasant Green Grass is the company you can trust!
Price varies based on square footage. Call or Email for your free estimate today!
Fertilizers and Soil Amendments
Organic Fertilization & Weed Control are two of the most important things for a beautiful healthy lawn! A well-fed lawn recovers more quickly from stress and is more aggressive against weeds. As with all living things, proper nutrition is important to prevent diseases and insects. At Pleasant Green Grass, we use 100% Organic Fertilizers in our organic lawn treatments. Some soils are exceptionally good at growing grass and others are tough but most are in between. The results of organic lawn care are always going to vary depending on the soil conditions.
