Organic lawn care not only makes lawns safer for children and pets, it saves homeowners time and money, according to Brian Monaghan, a Madison Environmental Commission member who will be speaking on “The ABCs of Organic Lawn Care and Renovation” on March 11 at 7pm at the Chase Room of the Madison Public Library. The talk is sponsored by the Master Gardener’s Speakers Bureau of the Rutgers Cooperative Extension.
“Organic lawn care is about feeding the soil, not the plants,” says Monaghan, who is also a member of the Madison Shade Tree Management Board and the Community Garden Advisory Committee. “It’s a different way of thinking about your lawn.”
In his experience, going organic typically saves costs after the first year. “Aside from mowing, there’s very little maintenance with an organic lawn,” says Monaghan. “And you have the peace of mind from knowing that you’re not using chemicals with warning labels. We have well water in Madison, so what you put on your lawn does go into the aquifer.”
Here are five ways that going organic is different.
- It starts with soil. Monaghan recommends ordering a soil test kit from Rutgers, www.njaes.rutgers.edu. It costs $20 and comes with access to a master gardener hot line for lawn questions.
- Organic lawn care relies on corn gluten to knock back crab grass. “Corn gluten will be about 65% effective the first year,” says Monaghan. “Your aim is to build up your soil health so that your grass will compete favorably with the weeds and keep them in balance.
- Nutrients come from compost, not chemical fertilizers. Fortunately compost is easy for Morris County residents to obtain. It can be picked up for free at the Morris County Municipal Authorities location in Parsippany (www.mcmua.com) or delivered for a fee. A 5000 square foot lawn requires four cubic feet of compost, applied a half-inch thick.
- Mowing should be minimal. “You don’t want to cut your grass short,” says Monaghan. “If you keep it tall—about two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half inches—t will shade out weeds.”
- Grass clippings should be left on the lawn. Clippings are 80 to 85 percent water. They contain valuable nutrients and decompose quickly, disappearing when they filter down to the soil.
A companion talk on chemical-free gardening will be held on March 13 at 10am. Dr. Diane Lewis, founder of the Great Healthy Yard Project, will discuss the hazards of common garden projects and share alternative practices.
To register for these events, visit the events section of the Madison Public Library’s website. To receive a copy of the Madison Environmental Commission’s natural-ingredient DIY weed killers, write to MEC@rosenet.org.
