Gardening requires certain skills. You have to understand the type of soil, what type of plants you can place on them, how you will take care of those plants, aside from the many other considerations that you must be aware of when you are serious about it.

It may sound complicated enough for the beginners. But if you have been marked as the one with a green thumb and you’ve already honed you skills on this, then you might as well try the organic way of gardening. This method is particularly special as well as hard. It will require you to double your effort as compared with the regular stuff that you do with the usual gardening tricks.

The Concept
The basic rule on this type of gardening is that you will only use synthetic products in all your endeavor with regards to the task. This will include the important elements such as the fertilizers and the pesticides.

You can actually get from the earth what you will then use for your organic venture into gardening. You will use such elements to be able to grow something new, these are your plants, your vegetables or whatever greens you may want to grow. Do you get the picture? To look at it from a bird’s eye view, it is like working closely with nature. Or as others may say, this is like being one with nature.

Organic Fertilizers
Is there such a thing, you may ask? Yes, and you are the one to make it. You can actually perform composting on the materials found on your garden. You can use fallen leaves and twigs, animal manure, but this will depend on the type, and many more.

Organic Pesticides
This type of gardening wants, as much as possible, to stay away from pesticides. But if you can’t afford to pick the insects one by one by your bare hands, then you can go to your local grocery store and ask for an organic pesticide that is available commercially.

The old way really is to be vigilant with your garden and take off every pest that you see. You should only turn to the organic pesticides when it becomes too many and uncontrollable that you can no longer handle. You can also try to bring in the animals that feed on those pests. This way, you’ll have some help in picking those pests up. And that is also helping the other animals satisfy their hunger.

As a hobby, this may be time consuming. So if you cannot devote enough time into it, might as well find a partner or drop the idea until you’ve found the right time to carry on with the tasks.

Organic gardening really entails a lot of hard work. So you better be prepared to perspire in the process. To ease your tiredness when you are already into it too deep, just think that what you are doing is helping nature. This is your way of giving back what nature has bestowed on you since the day you were born.

Any sort of foliage that is not native to the area is called exotic plant and that means it will need more care and extra items such as special food, water or lighting conditions for it to succeed. So, planting only native plants that are used to fending for themselves, is one way to avoid making lawn care in your home a time consuming task.

Some individuals, myself included, tend to find even the most basic lawn care a bit boring. Yep, even just taking out the old lawn mower for a short clipping session can appear very boring. But then again, I live in an almost tropical climate where the grass grows so fast that if I don’t trim every week in the summertime my backyard begin to look quite jungly.

There is always the herbal lawn for those of us looking for a way to cut down on even basic lawn care. True, you may find it more work to get started if you already have a lawn in place, or if the existing lawn is a particularly hardy variety such as St. Augustine or some types of crab grass. But you may find it worthwhile and even pleasurable to integrate an herbal lawn if you don’t have a lawn yet or have a more fragile variety growing.

Getting to Know Your Composting Equipment
The site of your composting activity is the primary consideration and one of the best tools you need to master before you do any composting activity. The place must be free from obstruction and well capable of obtaining the right temperature needed for your composting. Aside from this, you also need to be thoroughly familiar with the site which you chose for composting. In addition, you also need to be able to access the site frequently as composting requires a lot of monitoring on a frequent basis.

Compost Bin

Your compost bin must serve the functions of the particular type of composting you intend to have. If you are up for the industrial level of composting, you may need more than one compost bin to satisfy your objectives. This compost bin needs to be cleaned every once in a while, and must be of the right size depending on the amount of materials you are to put.

Be sure that you are able to manage the compost bin you choose, and for beginners, it is often recommended to start small and then branch out once you get the hang of it or at least get comfortable with what you are working on.

Thermometer

Composting requires you to maintain a specific temperature. So a thermometer may come in handy for you as you do your daily rounds of inspection on your compost pit. You need to make sure that the thermometer is properly calibrated. Some shops also sell thermometer that is tailored to suit the needs of compost owners, so you can also check these out. The specifically tailored thermometers may prove to give a better advantage for you. More on Composting Equipment.

Lawn fertilizing companies like TruGreen ChemLawn, Scott’s Lawn Service, Spring Green and Lawn Doctor all have large operations in throughout the United States, so it would seem logical that they are putting down tons of pesticides in home lawns each week. But have you considered what homeowners are doing when they attempt to apply these products themselves?

Let’s Explore the Problems That DIYers Face

1) Bags of DIY Weed-n-Feed sold to homeowners contain an over-abundance of nitrogen which detroys the soil and pushes too much top growth. The reason for this is that homeowners want quick results or they won’t buy the product again. Because of this, manufacturers of homeowner pesticide and weed-n-feed products pack in the elements that produce the results, not concerning themselves with the long-term effects of health for the lawn.
2) Continuing with that thought, those bags most normally contain “quick release” fertilizers that create fast greening, but no sustainable long term benefit to the turf. Feeding your lawn too much nitrogen from over-the-counter fertilizer bags like Scott’s and K-Grow is like feeding your kids candy all the time for every meal! Fast-release products give a quick rush, and that is all.
3) There is a big concern with runoff when talking about any product applied to a lawn. The problem with you doing your own is that you put down too much (because you think ‘more’ is ‘better’) and because you get a ton of the stuff all over your driveway and sidewalks. Guess where all that goes when it rains?
The key is FOLLOWING the DIRECTIONS on the bagged products! And most DIY homeowners do not understand fertilizer rates and proper application technique. Also, DIY equipment is not calibrated easily and the pattern is hard to gauge with cheaper lawn spreaders and sprayers.
4) A granular weed-n-feed product like the Scott’s Plus 2 product contains herbicide and fertilizer in one convenient bag: just dump in your spreader, set the release rate, and lay it down…easy! The problem is that you are throwing massive amounts of granular weed killers everywhere weather there are weeds there or not.
It doesn’t make sense to throw weed-killing pesticides in areas of the lawn where there are no weeds! But with that bag of “weed-and-feed,” you have no choice!

The best alternative to Weed-n-Feed products
I recommend a balanced approach that utilizes target weed control as needed with the eventual goal of eliminating it completely. This is what your professional lawn spraying company will do as a part of their everyday practices! They do not want to put down pesticides if they are not needed because that will cost them too much money! They use less because of environmental issues, and because it is better for their profit margins!

This is accomplished by spot-spraying weeds using a back pack pump sprayer with liquid weed control. In some cases, a blanket application of liquid weed control may be needed, but over time, this will be reduced until the weed problem is manageable by good old fashioned “pulling” by hand.

Many of the larger lawn care companies are beginning to offer organic and natural fertilizers that are very much slow release. This slower release means you don’t need as many applications per year, because the nutrients are being dissolved into the lawn on a slow, consistent basis over time.

If you still want to do your lawn lawn, then you will need to buy several products in an ala-carte fashion. Don’t try to find the “perfect lawn in a bag.”
You should use a good organic fertilizer such as Milorganite 4-5 times per year, and use a spot-spraying method for the weeds. You will need to mix your own herbicide in a pump sprayer and control the delivery. In addition, you should apply separate treatments for grub worms and fungus as needed.

You can get free estimates from screened lawn maintenance contractors in your area by clicking here.

But there is one issue that lawn pros and environmentalists come together and agree on, and that is that bagged “Weed and Feed” products are NOT conducive to healthy lawns or our environment.

I have previously written about pesticides, lawns and our environment, but want to reiterate some of the key points for you here as we near the fall season.

Why Weed-Feed Is Bad for the Environment

1. Bags of Weed-n-Feed sold to homeowners contain an over-abundance of nitrogen which detroys the soil and pushes too much top growth. They most normally contain “quick release” fertilizers that create fast greening, but no sustainable long term benefit to the turf.
2. Many experts will tell you that phosphorous leaching into groundwater is the big problem with these bagged products. And while I am not a fan of dumping mass amounts of anything on the lawn, I believe if homeowners and pros alike would follow labeling instructions, they are not endangering our groundwater or lakes. The key is FOLLOWING the DIRECTIONS on the bag! (I included this one in the interest of covering all bases!)
3. A granular weed-n-feed product like popular ‘4-step’ products contain herbicide and fertilizer in one convenient bag: just dump in your spreader, set the release rate, and lay it down…easy! The problem is that you are hurling massive amounts of granular weed killers everywhere weather there are weeds there or not. In addition, much of this granular mix is left on driveways and sidewalks where it runs off into the street and down the sewer drain.

It doesn’t make sense to throw weed killer in areas of the lawn where there are no weeds! What’s more, while the weed control does not selectively kill the grass plants, it still puts heavy stress and pressure on them and can weaken them over time.

What to do Instead of Using Weed-Feed

I recommend a balanced approach that utilizes target weed control as needed with the eventual goal of eliminating it completely.

This is accomplished by spot-spraying weeds using a garden pump sprayer with liquid weed control mixed with water (according to label instructions). In some cases, a blanket application of liquid weed killer may be needed, but over time, this will be reduced until the weed problem is manageable by good old fashioned “pulling” by hand. (My own lawn is now managed by just hand pulling of weeds)

In addition to spot-spraying of weeds, I recommend slow-release organic or semi-organic (called ‘bridge’ products or ‘hybrid’) lawn fertilizers. These products will add nutrients to the soil without destroying it in the process. They also support healthy soil biotics which are the foundation of healthy turf. Organics do need heat in order to break down, so use organic fertilizers in later spring and early fall.

On a final note: it’s not a good idea to completely “refuse to use pesticides” in your lawn if you indeed do have a major weed problem.

Think about this: if your weeds go to seed every year and spread out to all the neighbors on your block, and they do not share the same environmental devotion as you, won’t you be indirectly causing them to put down greater amounts of pesticides every year? Your weeds will continue breeding in their lawns, and they will soak them with more weed killer; year after year! Think about that.

As I always say, “Balance is the key.” When Mother Nature operates in extremes (hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes), people and the environment are damaged, but when she sees fit to offer us balanced conditions (warm breezes, light rains, sunny days), everyone is happy. Which attitude should we take?