Lawn Care for the 21st Century, How to Build a Corporate Styled Marketing Plan

Lawn Care for the 21st Century Webinar Series

In the End there will be only Cockroaches and Crabgrass

The Modern Turf Managers Approach to Dealing with Grassy, Annual Weeds in Turf.

How many times have you heard your customer say this sentence while pointing across the street, “Look at my neighbors lawn, she has absolutely no crabgrass whatsoever and she doesn’t do anything to her lawn at all!” You hang your head, take a deep breath and conjure up as much restraint as you possibly can.   You say, “Yes Mama, I understand and I will work as hard as I possibly can to get these two tiny patches of crabgrass out of your lawn.” 

Over the years we have tried just about everything to prevent and control crabgrass and it sure seems like in recent years the problem has worsened.    You’ve tried all the pre-emergents, you’ve tried double pre-emergents and you’ve tried all the post emergents too.  (Does anybody remember how horrible Acclaim smelled and how little it worked?)

Maybe your customer’s neighbor was onto something.  Maybe all this “extra” stuff is just making things worse.  This months installment of “Lawn Care in the 21^st Century” will take a hard look at the means and methods that we’ve attempted over the years to prevent and control crabgrass.  What are the newer products and techniques?  Why doesn’t that neighbor who doesn’t do anything to her lawn at all have any crabgrass?  Join us on this month’s webinar to find out!

Register using the links below.

Thursday, April 5  1:00 P.M.

https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/523795214

Friday, April 6  1:00 P.M.

https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/304574542

Lawn Care for the 21st Century

When we came up with the idea of putting together a year long webinar series that would address the care of turf in todays day and age we knew that it would be of interest to a varied group of people.  Although the series is largely aimed at turf grass professionals who deal with more challenges than ever before we also knew that it would be of interest to homeowners who have become concerned with the way they handle their lawn care needs.

The first in the series was titled, "Acceptable Nutrient Inputs for the Modern Turf Manager, a discussion of chemical fertilizers, bridge products and bionutrion."    We here at Bee Safe would like to thank the more than two hundred participants who attented the presentation and let you know that we are not only grateful for your participation but also very excited that so many of you have become concerned with the manner in which we treat our lawns.

Is Your Lawn Care Business Ready For The Organic Customer?

The 3 Golden Rules To Mowing The Lawn: An Organic Lawn Care Approach

Over the years it's become apparent that the manner in which you mow your
lawn is probably the most important part of creating healthy vibrant turf.
In fact, I would go as far to say that a secondary component of caring for
your or your customer's lawn is to create an environment where you actually
slow down the growth of the grass.  Prior to the onset of the organic lawn
care movement many people firmly believed that you should fertilize as often
as possible, with as high a nitrogen fertilizer as possible to get a lawn
that is as green as possible.  The side effect of this is the fact that the
lawn is also going to grow as fast as possible.

There are three golden rules when it comes to mowing your lawn ESPECIALLY
when you are converting to an organic approach.

1.  The first is to maintain a consistent schedule.  Try not to let the lawn get
out of control and be sure to keep up with it.  Never remove more than one
third of the grass blade when you mow.  If you miss a week or if the lawn
is growing too fast for you to keep up with you will end up taking off more
than a third and this causes significant stress to the lawn.  It also
shortens the roots of your turf and can lead to the need for more water than
should be required.

2.  Secondly, mulch your clippings.  There is so much nutrients and moisture in
the grass clipping and it just simply doesn¹t make sense to remove it all.
By mulching your clippings you can easily return the equivalent of one pound
of nitrogen per one thousand square feet back to your lawn.  Also, in an
organic setting an incredible amount of energy is created by the
microorganisms in your soil breaking down and recycling the clippings.

3.  Finally, never EVER and I mean NEVER mow your lawn in the heat of the day.
Mowing during the day when temperatures are over 85 degrees can cause
significant damage to the cellular structure of the grass plant and will
immediately cause dormancy. If it¹s hot outside you should just delay mowing
until later in the evening or another day altogether.

This advice becomes tedious after a while and it should obviously be
something that is just common sense but for some reason we continue to do
more damage to our lawns simply by mowing them.

Here is a picture of a lawn not far from the window of my office. The
weather here has been relatively cool and rainy over the last eight weeks or
so and the springtime has given us conditions that are more commonplace in
the fall.  About two weeks ago we had two days of ninety plus temperatures
and the lawn maintenance company mowed at about 1:00 P.M. during one of
those days.


It had just rained for about two weeks non-stop that caused this mowing crew
to get behind schedule so the lawn was about twice as long as it should have
been.  The damage that occurred during this one mowing has continued to be
visible even two weeks after it was caused.  The greater problem sometimes
is that these brown spots can be construed as insect damage or even drought
causing the turf manager to make decisions that are even more ill advised.
I wonder how many tons of insect controls are applied to brown spots that
don't have a single turf-damaging insect even in the vicinity.

Growing A Healthy Lawn: Best Summer Watering Practices

Tuesday, June 28, 2011, 8:41:00 AM | Tom Kelly

How To Remove Weeds: Organic Lawn Care Simplified

This past weekend wasn't much different than most summer time weekends; I spent the great majority of the daylight hours in the back yard hanging out with the kids and family.  We have a pretty nice back yard with a picnic table, patio, grill, vegetable garden etc.  It's not huge but it's just big enough to get a good game of wiffle ball going and there is just the slightest wear and tear in the lawn where first, second and third base are located.  There is really nothing like a summer weekend spent in the backyard with your family especially when the weather is nice.

I do have a confession, however.  This weekend I did something that almost
no other fine outstanding backyard American would ever dare to do.  The
truth is, I even surprised myself when I did it. It just seemed like one of
those things that would never even enter anybody’s stream of consciousness,
especially in the context of a family fun day.  I know it was pretty radical
and to tell you the truth I'm not ashamed of it whatsoever.  In fact, I plan
on doing it again.

This past weekend, in my back yard, while my family watched….

I hand removed a few weeds!

As you can imagine my lawn is fairly nice.  Actually the front yard is a
disaster but the back yard looks pretty good.  It gets plenty of use and we
always have lots of activities going on back there.  I've followed a strict,
completely organic program for as long as I've been there and have seldom
deviated from anything that I wouldn't recommend to somebody looking for
advice in regards to the care of their own yard.  My lawn is fairly weed
free except for a healthy crop of clover that I actually encourage for its
nitrogen fixing capabilities.  In addition to the fact that the kids like
searching for four leaf clovers we also enjoy the white heat flowered petals
in the summertime.  I've managed to keep most of the other weeds out by
using some corn gluten, keeping the soil pH neutral and being sure that is
alive with microbial activity.  I always follow my best use organic mowing
practices to a tee and the truth is I never water the lawn.  It actually
stays green and healthy even under the most hot and dry conditions with the
exception of some dormancy in deep deep summer.  The turf at my house has
not seen a single pellet of synthetic fertilizer in years.

Over by my patio, right where the picnic table's outside chair sits there
has always been a fairly good size patch of broadleaf plantain.  I'd say
maybe ten or twelve individual plants that don't really stick out too bad
because they don't get a chance to get too big.  They are usually crowded
out by the healthy rye and blue grass and probably don't love my neutral
soil.  They really aren't that big a deal to me.  Their long, fibrous tap
root is likely what has kept them around for the last few years and we know
they love the compacted soil that is right next to the patio edge and picnic
table.  I've left them alone and they've left me alone.  They did until last
Saturday that is.

I don't know what came over me but the urge I once had to have that perfect
stand of turf grass came creeping up like an old addiction. The plantain
really made me angry. I wanted them out, I wanted them dead and I wanted
instant gratification.  Like an ex-smoker, the urge to pick up the hand can
of chemical weed control came over me like a nicotine fit.  Luckily I had
since removed all chemical fixes from my garage.  There was no 2-4, D to be
found in a radius that reached at least as far as the nearest hardware
store.  I managed to overcome the need to chemically kill.  I¹d long since
sworn off any chemical pesticide use on my own lawn, at least since the boys
arrived.

You know what I did instead?  I took the hoe that I use to weed my vegetable
garden and spent about five minutes prying them from the ground.  It was the
purest form of organic lawn care I had practiced since trying to apply a homemade manure based compost tea to my side yard.  (A project that went
terribly awry by the way.)  That¹s right; in about a fraction of the time
that it would have taken to spray those plantains out I actually removed them
with my own power.  For some reason, even after killing weeds since I was 22
years old with every concoction you can think of I actually got a great deal
of satisfaction from making that plantain go away.  It felt awesome!  It was
really easy!  They won't bother me anymore!  Organic lawn care rocks.

In fact, I challenge all of you to do the same at some point during this
holiday weekend.  Trade in that instant chemical gratification for something
even more rewarding, instant organic gratification!

Granular VS Liquid Organic Fertilizer: Which Is Better?

How To Eliminate Pesticides: Build The Soil Food Web

So much goes on beyond what we actually see in everyday life and when you apply that to the care of your lawn it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to spend much time pondering the meaning of soil biology.  Many want green grass, a lawn without the threat of insect and disease infestation.

Not many think too much about the invisible hand of the microscopic world of the soil food web that when given any good amount of consideration can help you reduce and eliminate the use of chemical fertilizers and dangerous pesticides around your home.  The more we realize that the overuse of these products are causing us harm in terms of health and the environment perhaps it makes sense to stop and think about the world beneath your grass.

To get into a scientific discussion about the soil food web would difficult within the confines of an essay that should not exceed one thousand words.  In recent years there have been multiple scientific documents, essays, studies and books written on the topic as we continue to move toward a food supply that revolves around the limited uses of chemicals to increase crop yield.  It’s a complex world of microorganisms, insects and animals and the symbiotic relationship that exists between them that when properly understood and supported can really push a truly organic approach to plant care.  As demand for organic fruits and vegetables continued to soar, so did research into effective ways to produce them.  There is no doubt that you’ve noticed that the organic produce section of your grocery store has multiplied several times over in the last five years and this is not only a result of the demand for these products but more so the farmers ability to successfully supply them in an economic matter.  Much of this can be attributed to a better understanding of the soil food web.  A healthy soil produces healthy plants.  A healthy soil can create a thick healthy stand of turf grass too.

How on earth did we grow healthy food before the invention of chemical nitrogen?  We'll discuss that tomorrow.  

How To Eliminate Lawn Chemicals: Build The Soil Food Web

Our environment is chock full of nutrients and elements that all plants need to grow and flourish. Many people understand that nitrogen is a major source of plant nutrition and many people also understand that nitrogen is one of the most abundant elements on this earth. 

So why is it that we must constantly apply synthetic sources of nitrogen to our lawn, gardens and plants?  The reason is fairly simple in that nitrogen or any other source of plant nutrition that is abundant in air and soil isn’t always in a form that the plant can process or use it.  It is the health of this underground world that helps solubilize and cycle these unavailable nutrients into forms that are more usable.  All of these microscopic organisms that flourish in the soil food web have to reproduce, consume (each other), live, eat, die and excrete the things they consume. 

To create an oversimplified explanation of how the soil food web helps feed our plants one must consider that the byproducts of all of the activities I just mentioned quickly improve the soil in which they occur.  By building organic matter and helping to make food sources more available this underground activity can quickly generate the majority of energy that plants need to grow to their full genetic potential.

How on earth did we grow healthy food before the invention of chemical nitrogen?  We relied on the health of the soil to promote incredibly healthy and abundant food sources.

So what went wrong?  I imagine you could consider it irony that what we thought would produce an even better system of growing plants actually was the biggest enemy of our soil.  The continued application of chemical sources of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium along with an over-reliance on chemical pesticides have actually caused the soil food web to decline anywhere we have purposely attempted to manipulate the growth of our plants. 

Sure, the repeated application of synthetic fertilizers is effective in creating healthy plants but it’s done largely at the expense of the reliance on more and more preventative pesticides.  Take disease or fungal activity for example.  In turf care we are all familiar with nuisance diseases like leaf spot and red thread.  These diseases manifest themselves on turf when all of the conditions become favorable for their appearance.  The pathogen is always in the soil but when there are no active biological enemies of the particular disease it will become incredibly opportunistic and create a situation where turf appearance and quality is compromised. 

A lawn growing from a soil that is rich in organic matter, flourishing with microbes and abundant with all the components of a healthy soil food web will not be susceptible to the appearance of these diseases.  In addition to becoming more resistant to disease activity a healthy soil food web will feed the turf all of the necessary components to thrive.

Although the underground world of the soil food web is difficult to imagine I propose we all take it into consideration as we begin to further acknowledge that our reliance on chemicals is not a sustainable or healthy process.

Summer Organic Lawn Care: How To Deal With Crabgrass

Crabgrass is a lawn’s worst enemy.  You can be trucking along from that first treatment in the springtime all the way through the mid-summer with your lawn looking great.  If you’ve done all the right things your lawn may be a dark, healthy green.  You may have been able to keep the weeds to a minimum and the density of your turf may be thicker than you ever remember.  So far, so good in the lawn department.

 

And then it hits. 

 

With the temperatures consistently in the nineties and even triple digits around the country for most of July weeds are being opportunistic.  Broadleaf weeds and especially crabgrass thrive in hot dry weather and for some that crabgrass invasion happens so quickly they don’t even know what hit them.  Crabgrass will germinate and flourish completely based on soil temperature and can take a perfectly good lawn and turn it into what looks like a weed infested failure.

 

The good news, if there is any is that this is a problem that occurs on a very high percentage of lawns so the, “look at my neighbors lawn, she doesn’t do anything” argument usually doesn’t apply.  Also, crabgrass thankfully is a temporary problem.  Because it is an annual weed, it will go away as fast as it arrived in the first place.  As soon as temperatures begin to head in the other direction the desirable turf grass will again win the competition for space in the lawn.  Finally, as soon as autumn temperatures arrive crabgrass will die out completely.

 

We thought it might make sense to offer a couple of suggestions to help your mental state when it comes to a crabgrass infestation.

 

First off, relax. 

 

If you’ve got crabgrass in your lawn take comfort in the fact that it will be temporary.  It may get worse before it gets better but remember; it’s going to go away. Secondly, as you are driving home take a good hard look at the turf you drive by.  From commercial properties to homes that obviously don’t take care of their lawn, to those lawns that you’ve noticed are among the best in the neighborhood crabgrass is an issue in most.  I’d be willing to bet that at least 75% of the lawns you drive by are being taken over by crabgrass and some of them will be completely infested.  The truth is that many people panic at the site of crabgrass and feel as though the dreaded weed has singled them out even though it’s as widespread as the heat we are all feeling.

 

The biggest enemy of crabgrass is a thick healthy lawn.  Do the best you can to focus on improving your lawn from year to year and don’t think of it as “this year only” issue.  Much of the work you do today will help control crabgrass next season.  Seed bare spots in the late summer or early fall.  (If you do it in the springtime prepare for, you guessed it, crabgrass.) 

 

Crabgrass will thrive on drought stricken lawns because it’s roots are so shallow.  When your turf goes dormant the crabgrass will out compete the desirable grass immediately.  Your organic lawn will require less water to stay green but you should do everything possible to water deeply when you can.

 

Mow high but don’t let your crabgrass go to seed.  A single crabgrass plant can generate tens of thousands of seeds that will just try to come back next year.

 

Most importantly of all and this bears repeating many times over.  Do not, I repeat, do NOT mow your lawn during the heat of the day.  A stressed out lawn allows soil temperatures to soar and soaring soil temperatures allow crabgrass to fill in quickly.  If it’s 85 degrees or hotter, just wait until the temps drop.  If you can’t wait until another day, try to mow as late in the day as possible.

 

If you’ve got a crabgrass issue and you want to do something about it the first thing I suggest is to be patient.  It will go away.  It doesn’t make you a bad person and it doesn’t make your lawn care provider a failure.  Unfortunately it’s an issue that we deal with every single summer but gets better every single fall.  Instead of firing your lawn guy, it’s my advice that you hire him to do good core aeration and over seeding in a few weeks.  You will be thanking him for it next summer.

 

Comments (0)

Fall Organic Lawn Care: 7 Benefits Of Lawn Aeration

Late summer and early fall is the best time to prep your lawn for the fall growing season. As your lawn comes out of the summer dormancy, it’s ready to start its growing cycle with the cooler temperatures approaching. As part of an organic fertilizer philosophy, one of the best things you can do for your lawn is lawn aeration. Here are 7 of the top reasons to aerate your lawn this fall.

1. Aeration is the most effective lawn treatment

Plain and simple, aerating your lawn is the single most effective treatment you can perform as part of an organic lawn management program

2. Helps the soil breathe

Aeration helps to improve the air exchange between the soil and the atmosphere

3. Allows food, water and oxygen deep into soil

Lawn aeration opens the way for water, fertilizer, and oxygen to get to the roots of your lawn by creating channels to feed the root system.

4. Improves root growth

When your lawns roots aren’t growing, your lawn can’t develop the root system necessary to survive the hot and dry periods experienced every summer.

5. Reduces compaction

One enemy of your lawn is soil compaction. Heavily trafficked areas from walking and mowing, or play areas for children compact the top 2-3 inches of soil. The dirt particles are forced closer together and water and nutrients aren’t able to get to the root system

6. Microorganisms in plugs break down thatch layer

The plugs that are removed from the soil contain microorganisms that help break down the layer of thatch naturally, allow nutrients deeper into the soil. Never remove the cores from your lawn.

7. Effective soil preparation for overseeding

As part of an organic lawn care program, the best weed preventative is a vibrant growing grass. Aeration helps to open up the soil for overseeding. Once ovreseeded, you’ll see new grass growth from the holes created by the tines form the aerator.

Questions or comments about aerating your lawn or organic lawn care?  Let us know.

How Is Organic Lawn Care Defined?

“Organic lawn care is the process of creating healthy turf by employing the use of natural inputs to build organic matter in the soil.”

 

Of course this is a very open ended definition.  Naturally we all have our own thoughts on how organic lawn care should be defined and at this point there are no official standards in the industry.  In the end, we all want to reduce and eliminate the use of chemical fertilizers and dangerous pesticides and the most efficient and effective way to do that is to focus on soil improvement.  When the soil from which turf grows is healthy so will the plants that grow from it be healthy.

 

A conventional approach to lawn care relies specifically on using synthetic fertilizers to push un-natural growth and applying chemical pesticides to contend with the problems that are created by that un-natural process.

 

Organic lawn care relies heavily on natures own defense mechanisms to ensure that plants are not impacted negatively by invaders such as weeds, insects and disease.  Once you’ve begun to maintain a healthy and natural soil environment you must depend on proper mowing and watering habits.  As soil biology is improved we must commit to never going back to destroying it again.  Discontinuing the use of synthetic fertilizers and dangerous pesticides is the first step in improving your soil.  In order to take the organic approach to the next level it makes sense to have a basic understanding of what soil actually is.  Having a firm understanding of the soil food web is of the utmost importance.

The State of the Lawn Care Industry: Is Change On The Horizon?

The state of the lawn care industry from both a professional standpoint and a “do it yourself” standpoint is changing and it’s changing at a pace that far exceeds what most of us are able to keep up with on a daily basis.  It’s changing from a public relations standpoint, it’s changing from a product use stand point and it’s changing from an industry standpoint as well.  I think it makes sense for us here at Natural Technologies to make a concerted effort to keep up with these changes and we’ve made a commitment to ourselves, our dealers and our retail end users to remain at the forefront of what we believe are very important changes going on right before our very eyes.

 

Sometimes the signs are obvious when an entity is going through a significant metamorphosis and sometimes the changes are a little more subtle.  Sometimes it’s the old standards that don’t see it coming and are blindsided when the shift occurs and sometimes those pioneers are able to adjust.  Most often however, during an enormous shift such as the one we are watching in this industry, it is a progressive upstart that gains the most traction with the shift.  (Ask Blockbuster Video how it feels about Netflix.)  With our particular industry, I think it’s a combination of all of the aforementioned scenarios.

 

As I set out to attempt a real time recording of the issues that face the lawn care industry I thought a great place to start would be “Google.”  If there is any gauge of “the state” of anything it has to be a search engine that operates under the premise that he/she who is new and relevant shall be seen and heard first and foremost.  For this reason, I simply “Googled” the term “Lawn Care” and the top ten web results weren’t particularly surprising.  The top two results were informational sites that are clearly run by the nation’s leading lawn care provider, Trugreen/Chemlawn.  The top ten is rounded out by a few other informational sites powered by large corporate lawn care companies and then their operational sites as well.  It’s no secret that the large corporate lawn care services I speak of are Trugreen/Chemlawn, Scotts and Lawn Doctor and they have always had a firm hold on the lawn care business although we seem to see their foundations becoming a little bit rattled .  These companies have obviously done well both in business and in the world of search engine optimization as it’s clear they dominate the top ten.  Number nine on the list is an informational type site or blog called “Organic Lawn Care for the Cheap and Lazy” and it serves as transition point.

When you search the “news” category for the term “lawn care” you get a very different perspective of the state of the lawn care industry.  In place of informational sites and blogs you get mostly news pieces about the success of organic lawn care and the hazards of chemical lawn care.  In place of sites that promote tips to get a nice lawn you find headlines titled, “Hazards in the Front Yard.”  In place of sites that promote a weed free lawn at all costs you find articles titled, “Controlling Weeds without Chemicals.”  There are also several press releases concerning the successes of newer organic lawn care companies and books written about the topic.

 

Over the coming weeks and months we would like to commit to studying how and why this chasm exists.  How long it has been going on and essentially how long before what is considered current news becomes main stream from all angles.  We will take a look at how organic lawn care works and study topics like bio nutrition and bio stimulation.  The goal will be to develop a more firm understanding of why it looks as if traditional lawn care has begun to be defined as “bad” and newer, organic lawn care has become known as a viable replacement.  There is no doubt, lawn care is not a crime, even though many of the current lawn care methods and providers have been treated as such.  Perhaps the best place to start would be to quantify and define just exactly why these companies have begun to be looked upon as criminals. 

 

Cutting Through The Propaganda: Organic Lawn Care Coming Of Age

Monday, August 22, 2011

In the Spring of 2010 TruGreen/Chemlawn and the National Earthday Network made a joint announcement through several press releases.    The two organizations had come to an agreement that would make TruGreen/Chemlawn the marquis sponsor of the world famous event that promotes environmentalism world-wide.  The initial reaction from most everybody was complete disbelief.  How could one of the most respected environmental organizations on the planet come to an agreement with a company that has a consistently poor record when it comes to its own environmental policies?

Well, it wasn’t too difficult to see that TruGreen was shelling out some serious cash to get in on what their corporate hierarchy saw as an opportunity to jump on the “environmentally proper” lawn care bandwagon.  Twitter and Facebook went completely berserk and there were many pages and groups created simply to protest this move.  Even now, more than a year later the first result that comes up for a search with the pertinent keywords is a Facebook group called, “Stop Trugreen from Sponsoring Earthday.”  In slightly less than a month after the relationship was announced both entities released statements that the relationship had been terminated.  In a development that could potentially be identified as karma or just plain irony, it was announced during that same time period that TruGreen/Chemlawn had agreed to settle with the state of NY in regards to violations associated with improper pesticide application and record keeping.  A fine totaling $500,000 was handed out and TruGreen/Chemlawn agreed to pay the fine and take the slap on the wrist.

When we take a look at how the industry has become so polarized this is a good place to start even though the water is significantly muddy when it comes to the stance of the corporate giant that is TruGreen.  Perhaps they really are trying to make an effort in terms of their environmental presence.  In fact, having spoken to some of the higher ups I can honestly say that this is somewhat the case.  A couple of years back they introduced their Tru-Natural program and even though the Earth Day thing is pretty thinly veiled as a business booster, they still did make the commitment.

There is no doubt that pesticides are not good for you.  There is no doubt that the overuse of them is even worse, so the industry that revolves around the application of these products finds itself in a pretty serious spot.  Unfortunately for them I don’t think they are handling it particularly well and this is aimed at everybody else and not just TruGreen.  A significant “us versus them” culture has developed within the industry and it isn’t boding very well for the message that should be getting conveyed.  Yes, there are hundreds of truly environmentally “good” companies out there that are beginning to make headway in terms of getting their message out.  And yes, that group is growing exponentially but many of the old tried and true stand by’s in the industry continue to stand up with their fists in the air screaming, “pesticides are not bad for you, you"re just overly emotional.”  When this happens and these dinosaurs open themselves up for criticism they usually come off like tobacco executives in blue blazers.  Even worse, some of them are beginning to call themselves “environmentally” friendly without even changing two single granules of product in the back of their trucks.  It’s a term we call “greenwashing” around here.

Very few organic standards for lawn and land care have been developed or, at the very least, taken a strong hold on a national basis but that is changing quickly.  A polarized industry is changing for the better and some of the dinosaurs aren’t coming off with squeaky clean hands.  As with most things, there has to be a good and a bad and in the lawn care world this is increasingly true.  Sometimes it makes sense to cut through all of the propaganda, however, and look at the facts.  In other words, we may just need to get technical to bring some clarity to this issue.  Over the last six months or so, a new phrase has developed in the lawn care industry.  Bio-nutrition seems to be the direction that most companies are heading so it probably makes sense to start there.  Let’s get ready to open up our “soil biology” text books and learn a thing or two about the dirt that supports the grass we work so hard to perfect.

Isn't Nature Incredible? The Principle Behind Organic Lawn Care

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Isn’t nature incredible?  It never ceases to amaze me when you find instances of nature’s incredible internal and external relationships that are manifested before our very eyes on a daily basis.  I think I’ve mentioned before that when it comes to nature and the cycle of organic lawn care there is no such thing as waste.  Each and every member of the soil food web serves a purpose, lives and dies and actually ends up creating a better little lawn society for all parties involved.  I know it’s a little bit awkward to say the least.  That is to think of the members of the soil food web and dirt beneath your grass as a “little lawn society” but that’s exactly what is going on right now as we speak and type.  In fact, perhaps the words “natural ecosystem” could be replaced with “little lawn society” at any given point.

Every once in a while nature throws us a little signal that if we just sit back and relax everything will be okay.  Far too often, we see the slightest inconsistency in our lawns and gardens and quickly resort to a chemical arsenal to make sure every little thing is perfect.  The fact is that television commercials and societal standards probably help us head towards the use of chemicals as a means to perfection but I would like to suggest three things.  First of all, perfection in your lawn and garden is impossible.  Secondly, the more stressed you get about trying to achieve that perfection the more disappointed you will be.   Finally, use the following example as a very good reason why reaching for the chemicals at the first sign of any pest infestation is a bad idea.

If you have a vegetable garden and if that vegetable garden has any number of tomato plants in it you are probably well aware of the “Tomato Horn Worm.”  If you’ve seen it you’ve probably had the same reaction that my four year old has when presented with the large green caterpillar type worm and it goes something like this, “EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!”  This picture was actually just taken the other day right in my very own back yard and I definitely took the opportunity to turn it into a teachable moment for all who would listen to me.  (That’s usually not a very large group, especially when I’m walking around with big fat green worms saying, “hey kids, check this out!”)

The “Tomato Horn Worm” is a visitor to your garden during the mid to late summer and has been known to wipe out a tomato plant in less than a 24 hour period.  You don’t typically notice them until it’s too late and at that point it’s just about useless to whip out the chemicals anyway.  The “Tomato Horn Worm” however can offer us a perfect example of how and why you shouldn’t be whipping out those chemicals in the first place.  Take a close look at the two examples of the horn worm in this picture.  One is big, fat, happy tomato horn worm and one is a small, stressed out tomato horn worm with little white things attached to it.  These white things are the pupa stage of a member of the braconid wasp family.  The wasp will lay its eggs directly on the body of the tomato horn worm and they will feed on the worm itself.  The more the wasps feed on the worm, the less damage is done to the tomato plants.  If your lawn and garden is a chemical landing pad for all kinds of insecticides these wasps certainly wouldn’t be around.  Get it?  The wasp actually acts as a beneficial insect and protects your tomatoes from the tomato horn worm.

When you apply that to lawns the same exact principles apply it’s just that it’s happening in that “little lawn care society” that’s going on beneath your turf.  There are good things and there are bad things but for the most part the good things tend to win the battle of evolution.  Even though the bad things are there they typically become much less of a problem when it comes to actually causing damage.  

Addressing Turf Bio Nutrition: The Problem With Organic Lawn Care

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Over the years organic and natural horticultural products have received a bad rap. Critics have cited limited effectiveness as the primary impediment to mainstream acceptance. By and large the problem with organic and natural products to date has been they did not address soil biology.  Ever since “Organic” became fashionable in the lawn care industry many companies have attempted and failed to implement a legitimate organic lawn care program.  This was mainly because of the belief that one could simply substitute natural fertilizers for synthetic fertilizers and stop spraying weeds and treating for insects.  The transition to a truly chemical free approach is far more than just a product substitution.

The Bee Safe program addresses soil biology and turf bio nutrition, thereby providing your company with a competitive advantage over “traditional organic products!” We believe that successful “organic plant management” begins and ends with soil biology! In order for plants to thrive in the face of environmental extremes the soil profile supporting that plant must contain a diverse population of beneficial soil microorganisms.

 These microscopic wonders are “nature’s life support system.” They improve nutrient availability, enhance nutrient absorption, reduce the incidence of nutrient leaching, stimulate healthy plant growth, improve the soil structure and provide plants with increased resistance to environmental extremes such as drought, heat, cold and foot traffic. Attempting to implement an organic program without addressing soil biology is a recipe for disaster……….you must feed the soil!

 Bee Safe is dedicated to formulating and manufacturing effective environmentally responsible products that address soil biology. You will find that our products are different than any other product on the market because of our philosophy proper and sufficient plant nutrition and resistance to weeds, insects and diseases exists when a healthy soil food web is purposely created.

 Our products feed the soil through the introduction of select beneficial microbial species allowing them to facilitate the natural processes inherent to healthy plant growth. We blend a diverse array of beneficial soil microorganisms with natural plant extracts and organic nutrients to create microbial systems. These natural systems simultaneously feed the soil and the plant, which allows plants to grow to their full genetic potential

Turf Bio Nutrition: A Symbiotic Relationship Between Plants And Soil

Friday, September 09, 2011

Over the last 500 million years plants and beneficial soil microorganisms have developed a symbiotic relationship. When plants photosynthesize, they release carbon exudates into the soil (rhizosphere) in response to this beneficial microbes surround the root to sequester this carbon source and utilize it as a food source. In return the microorganisms protect the roots, nourish the plant, recycle nutrients, improve the surrounding soil structure and solubilize minerals for plant availability. Unfortunately today many soils are grossly out of balance and are virtually devoid of beneficial microbial populations. This is primarily due to an over reliance on pesticides and poor cultural practices, both of which adversely affect the beneficial microbial populations found in healthy soil.

In response to this phenomenon Bee Safe has formulated a series of biologically enhanced soil conditioners and fertilizers, which work to re-establish beneficial microbial populations in the soil profile. Each product contains a select consortium of highly beneficial soil microorganisms. These biologically enhanced products simultaneously feed the soil and the plant. They create the ideal soil environment for growth allowing plants to develop to their full genetic potential.

The Bee Safe line of products is manufactured utilizing a unique, technology driven production process and are completely different than any other turf care line available today. All formulations benefit from the addition of a select consortium of highly beneficial soil microorganisms. The complex plant proteins that comprise these products are not readily available to plants they must undergo microbial decomposition before they can be readily absorbed and utilized by the plant. The microbial system incorporated into each fertilizer serves to expedite this decomposition process, which in turn begins making the nutrients plant available in as little as three to five days. This is the main reason that many other attempts at an organic lawn care program have failed.  Yes, natural fertilizers are a viable source of food for the turf but because these products depend on the indigenous microbial populations of the soil to break them down and activate the growing process it can take many weeks to see results.  This also means that these products must be applied at extremely heavy rates to be effective essentially making an affordable organic program virtually unattainable.

The soil matrix contains many naturally occurring substrates such as calcium phosphate, which is rich in calcium AND phosphate but these potential nutrients are not readily available to the plant. Many of the microbial species found in the Bee Safe product blends produce organic acids such as citric acid, oxcalic acid, malic acid and glycolic acid. Over time these acids solubilize a portion of the calcium phosphate dissociating them into calcium and phosphate ions. The end result is more calcium and phosphorous is made available to the plant essentially tapping a nutrient reserve not available under normal circumstances.

Bee Safe also incorporates free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria into our product blends. These organisms have the capacity to convert di-nitrogen (N2) from the atmosphere into ammonia (NH3) a plant available form of nitrogen. This molecular conversion is mediated by nitrogenase, an enzyme produced by the bacteria.  To put nitrogen fixation into perspective roughly 2/3 of the global input of fixed nitrogen arises from biological processes. Independent studies have shown that soils rich in nitrogen fixing bacteria can sequester upwards of 100 lbs. of N per acre per year from this process. This data supports the importance and benefit of incorporating nitrogen-fixing bacteria into fertilizer blends.

The addition of microorganisms also enhances a plants ability to sequester and ultimately absorb vital nutrients.  A complex series of biochemical reactions, mediated by microbial metabolites, increases the permeability of the plants cellular membrane, which in turn facilitates nutrient uptake.  Tissue analysis has consistently shown that plants fed biologically enhanced fertilizers contain more nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium than plants fed non-biologically enhanced fertilizers with the same N, P, K analysis.

Turf Bio Nutrition And Positive Impact On Plant Growth

Friday, September 16, 2011

Many of the beneficial species in the Bee Safe blends produce plant growth regulatory compounds, which have the capacity to positively impact plant growth processes. These microbial metabolites stimulate cell division in plants ultimately increasing growth and yield. This biologically induced process coupled with the high quality fertilizer component permits the Bee Safe formula’s to stimulate more growth than their competitors.

The addition of microorganisms, also serves to prolong the fertilizers ability to stimulate growth by reducing the incidence of nutrient leaching. Nitrogen is very mobile in the soil profile and it often leaches passed the roots before they have a chance to absorb it. Soil bacteria will incorporate this free nitrogen into their bodies utilizing it to satiate their metabolic functions.  Much of this nitrogen would have been lost forever to the plant through the leaching process had the bacteria not incorporated it into their cell mass and temporarily stored it. This storehouse of nitrogen is then given back to the plant through a complex process known as nutrient mineralization. Nutrient mineralization occurs when protozoa consume soil bacteria in order to satiate their nitrogen & carbon requirements. Soil bacteria contain more N than the protozoa require therefore the protozoa essentially spit this excess nitrogen back into the soil where it is then absorbed by the plant roots.

In short the addition of beneficial soil microorganisms serves to satiate the short term and long term nutritional requirements of the plant. They have the capacity to expedite nutrient availability, facilitate nutrient absorption and to continue providing these nutrients to the plant over an extended period of time.

Bee Safe product blends will also improve the structure of the soil matrix over time by way of its turf bio nutrition component (bacteria, actinomycetes & fungi). Many soil bacteria have the capacity to produce a glue-like substance (polysaccharides), which serves to create micro-aggregates in the soil profile. These micro-aggregates are then wound together and stabilized by fungal and actinomycete hyphae to create macro-aggregates. This biologically induced process improves the soil structure over time increasing porosity and water infiltration as well as the water holding capacity of the soil matrix.

Aside from their ability to positively affect plant nutrition, soil structure & plant growth the microbial systems utilized to augment Bee Safe products afford the plant and soil a number of other quantifiable benefits. They serve to stabilize soil pH, increase humus levels, improve CEC of soil, increase the photosynthetic capacity of the plant, enhance root architecture and provide plants with increased resistance to environmental stress such as heat, cold, drought and foot traffic.

Liquid Corn Gluten: A Breakthrough In Organic Weed Control?

Monday, September 19, 2011

There are so many organic lawn care professionals and homeowners who are using natural methods to treat their lawns literally sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for product developer to invent a SAFE weed control.  Sure there are a few things out there but any post emergent control is really just a vinegar based solution that literally burns any plant on which it is placed.  In other words, it's not selective, meaning it will kill whatever it touches.  A few years ago there was a huge breakthrough when university researchers found that CORN GLUTEN MEAL had characteristics that would prevent many weed seeds from germinating.  It's not necessary to go into the science of it here but it really was a big deal to those who were searching for a natural weed control.

It turned out that yes, Corn Gluten did have pre-emergent qualities but there were some setbacks too.  First off, it isn't one hundred percent effective.  In a good first year of use one may expect roughly sixty percent control of weeds.  Yes, if it is used for many years in a row it will work wonders.  Another setback was the amount of product that needs to be applied.  In order to get results it has to be put down at twenty to thirty pounds per thousand square feet.  Those of us who have pushed a spreader for a living can tell you that thirty pounds per thousand square feet on a twenty thousand square foot lawn can be daunting.  That is six hundred pounds of product and can also become very expensive.  Corn gluten is also a very big source of nitrogen which promotes growth and color in the grass, but with the weeds too, corn gluten's biggest contradiction.  With that being said, granular corn gluten is an incredible organic lawn care product.  It's a wonderful natural fertilizer with weed inhibiting effects.  Who could ask for more if you can get beyond the draw backs?

Recently there has been an incredible breakthrough with organic weed control.  Scientists have found a way to produce all of the positive effects of using corn gluten while taking out all of the negative drawbacks.  Fire Belly is proud to be able to offer the very first easy to use liquid corn gluten product.

Corn Gluten Hydrolysate (CGH) has been shown to effectively control the following unwanted grasses & weeds on a pre-emergent basis.  With that being said "theoretically CGH should control the growth of or mitigate the proliferation of any grass or weed that propagates via seed heads.  CGH contains di-peptides that have an inhibitory effect on "early root growth formation".   If these di-peptides are present in the soil (at high enough levels) when the seeds are germinating they will essentially kill the seedling. Laboratory research indicates that five individual di-peptides (two amino acids joined by a single peptide bond) found in corn gluten meal have the ability to inhibit root formation in germinating seedlings. These dipeptides were identified as glutaminyl-glutamine, glycinyl-alanine, alaninyl-glutamine, alaninyl-asparagine and alaninyl-alanine.

Okay, enough of the technical stuff.  Just what weeds will the Fire Belly Spring Weed Preventative control:

* Velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti)

* Creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris)

* Redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus)

* Common lamb's quarters (Chenopodium album)

* Orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata)

* Smooth crabgrass (Digitaria ischaemum)

* Large crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis)

* Barnyard grass (Echinochloa crusgali)

* Couch Grass (Elytrigia repens)

* Wooly cupgrass (Eriochloa villosa)

* Catchweed, Bedstraw, Goosegrass (Galium aparine)

* Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne)

* Black medic (Medicago lupulina)

* Annual bluegrass (Poa annua)

* Buckhorn Plantain (Plantago lanceolata)

* Purslane (Portulaca oleracea)

* Curly dock (Rumex crispus)

* Giant foxtail (Setaria faberi)

* Yellow foxtail (Setaria lutescens)

* Green foxtail (Setaria viridis)

* Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum)

* Shattercane (Sorghum bicolor)

* Dandelions (Taraxacum spp.)

Questions or comments?  Let us know!

Fall Organic Lawn Care: 6 Tips For A Maintaining Healthy Lawn

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Fall has arrived and the growing pattern of your lawn has begun to adjust to the change in temperatures.  In the north, your lawn’s root system grows at the most vigorous pace of any other time of the year.  Any help you can give it in terms of care will allow it to gain significant momentum and help build turf health and vigor.  In the south, your lawn is beginning to slow down its pace and you should begin to reduce your fertilizer rates.  No matter where you are fall is a great time to start an organic lawn care program.

Here are six tips to help turn your lawn into a beautiful carpet of green next spring.

1.      Fertilize-help promote root development and turf density by applying an organic fertilizer.

2.       Aerate-Aerating your soil will give the roots a chance to breath.  Aeration allows water and nutrients to reach the root system more easily.

3.       Prevent those weeds and crabgrass- You’ll need to apply liquid corn gluten twice a year and the effectiveness increases with each application. After a couple of years, you won’t get crabgrass in your lawn. As an added bonus, any dandelion seeds that blow onto your lawn won’t sprout. More and more people are enjoying the benefits of corn gluten weed preventative. This will prevent weeds from popping up in the spring.

4.       Rake the Leaves-Grass needs sunlight and leaves will gradually kill it. Leaves also breed disease when left on the lawn to die.

5.       Reseed-Fall temperatures are a perfect time to fill in any holes in your lawn.

6.     Mow- Gradually reduce your mowing height over the next six weeks or so as your grass growth slows down.

Taking care of your lawn this fall will provide you many happy days on a green, weed free lawn in the spring and summer

Scarborough, ME Adopts Sustainable Land Practices For Public Grounds

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Taken from Enews Park Forest, here’s an interesting article about the town of Scarborough, ME adopting an organic land care approach to the town properties.  As more and more cities, towns and counties adopt a chemical free approach to maintaining public grounds, there’s certain to be an opportunity for experts that understand and can implement a sustainable land care program.  This is one reason Natural Technologies launched the Bee Safe Dealer Network.

The town of Scarborough, Maine joins the ever-growing list of communities in Maine and around the country that have decided to ditch conventional, chemical-intensive landscape management practices on public properties in favor of a more sustainable approach. The town Council Members passed a Pest Management Policy last week which prohibits the use of synthetic or chemical pesticides on town-owned property, including schools, sidewalks, athletic fields, parks, and rights of ways. In addition to banning synthetic pesticides, the policy also creates a Pest Management Advisory Committee to help implement and oversee the program and the use of web and signs to notify residents when any products are used.

According to local paper The Forecaster, the group Citizens for a Green Scarborough, led by Marla Zando, has been working with the town’s Ordinance Committee since January to create a policy to ban the use of synthetic pesticides. The policy was modeled after similar policies in the towns of Rockport and Camden,Maine.

Some opponents of the policy, including some landscapers and a city councilor, expressed concern that the new policy will be more costly than chemical lawn care. However, there are plenty of successful and cost-effective programs across the country that prove that you can maintain turf without the use toxic chemicals. Some examples include: New York State Parks; Chicago City Parks; 29 communities and townships in New Jersey; at least 17 cities in the Northwest, covering more than 50 parks; and, numerous communities throughout Massachusetts, Maine and Connecticut.

Additionally, a March 2010 report concludes that organic approaches can save money after the first two years of implementation, as the soil biology improves. The report compares the relative costs of maintaining a typical high school football field using a chemical-intensive program and a natural (organic) program over a five-year period and finds that the annual cost of maintaining an organic field can be as much as 25% lower than the cost of chemical-based programs.

Eliminating toxic pesticides is important in lawn and landscape management, considering that of the 30 most commonly used lawn pesticides: 14 are probable or possible carcinogens, 13 are linked with birth defects, 21 with reproductive effects, 15 with neurotoxicity, 26 with liver or kidney damage, and 27 are sensitizers and/or irritants. The most popular and widely used lawn chemical 2,4-D, which kills broad leaf weeds like dandelions, is an endocrine disruptor with predicted human health risks ranging from changes in estrogen and testosterone levels, thyroid problems, prostate cancer and reproductive abnormalities. 2,4-D has also been linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Other lawn chemicals like glyphosate (RoundUp) have also been linked to serious adverse chronic effects in humans. Imidacloprid, another pesticide growing in popularity, has been implicated in bee toxicity and the recent Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) phenomena.

Organic Grub Control: Getting Started With The Basics

Friday, October 07, 2011

Let’s start with the basics.

Grubs are the larval stage of any flying beetle.  In turf we typically deal with two types, the Japanese Beetle and the European Chafer Beetle.   You may have seen these beetles flying around your vegetable garden or flowers as recently as this summer.  You may have noticed them chewing up the leaves on your bean plants and at times you may have noticed a couple of grubs doing something that young beetle lovers tend to do.  Well, these young beetle lovers decide to have a family and the female beetle lays her eggs in places like your front yard, the baseball field down the street or sometimes they even have the grub gall to lay their eggs in the bluegrass  sod over at the varsity football field.  The normal cycle of life takes place and these eggs hatch into baby grubs that are hungry for succulent grass roots.  They immediately begin to chow down on the symbolic and literal root of the cause of all of your landscape stress.  Within weeks these baby grubs go through a few stages of development that we in the know call “instars” and before you know it they could really be doing some damage.

When the weather cools off and the grubs internal clock tells it that it’s time to take cover it will burrow down into the ground to escape a potential frost line where it will hang out until next spring.  Sometime as the flowers and trees begin to bloom that grub surfaces, hangs out for a little while and goes through what can only be described as an incredible force of nature.  A wonderful natural metamorphosis takes place and that grub worm pupates into a flying insect where the whole cycle begins again.

Luckily for modern day turf scientists, purveyors of intense chemical concoctions and our friends at multibillion dollar pesticide and chemical corporations the general public has developed an intense fear of grubs.  Yes, they can do some significant damage to turf if they are ignored and you’re very unlucky and yes, they can actually cause some stress and be a financial burden if they choose you to haunt but what has happened over the last decade or so remains a modern day Orwellian phenomenon.  For some reason the appearance or even the threat of a possible appearance by this little destructive creature has caused paranoia, angst, anger and irrational behavior by otherwise rational citizens. 

It used to be in the lawn care industry we treated grubs mainly on a curative basis.  We depended on what we called “scouting” for potential damage when we began our late summer or early fall treatments.  We always carried a product called dylox or diazinon on our trucks and when we found a patch of active grubs we would treat the area with our contact insecticides and most of the time everything worked out okay.  Occasionally we would miss a spot and there would be some damage but in most cases it wasn’t something that some reseeding wouldn’t fix.  Well that all changed in 2002 when the federal government admitted that those curative products, otherwise known as organophosphates, were really not good for us.  EPA completed a risk assessment that was a part of the Food Quality Protection Act and the vast majority of our grub killers were deemed to cause all kinds of problems that I won’t go into here.  Let’s just say that the ban revolved mostly around the fact that these products were negatively impacting the central nervous system of people who were exposed to them, mostly kids. 

Organic Grub Control: Easing The Intense Fear Of Grubs

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Can Grub Control Be Linked To Colony Collapse Disorder?

Thursday, October 13, 2011

When the organophosphates were removed a new class of insecticides was introduced.  The “neonicotinoids” made two really awesome promises to those of us who feared the grub takeover.  First, they were a systemic insecticide that would kill grubs without actually poisoning them but would  create a reaction in which they would molt, or go through their metamorphosis process at a super human, er, ah, super-grub speed.  In other words they would grow right out of themselves.  The active ingredient in the product would become part of the actual tissue of the grass plant and when the grub fed on the root system it would be immediately affected, grow out of its skin and die.   The second promise was that they wouldn’t mess with little kid’s central nervous system.  (I think they may have forgotten to think about what would happen to all of the other bugs that liked to ingest plant like things like pollen though.)   Yes, unfortunately instead of messing with the central nervous system of babies grub control is now messing with the general food supply because its being blamed for the eradication of all pollinators like bees.

What happened with the overall view of the safety of these next generation insecticides was that it made it much easier for the grub control pushers to pray on our fears of the universal grub takeover.  We (and I mean ME too) did everything we possibly could to promote the fact that a chargeable application of grub control was like an insurance policy against grub damage.  We (and I mean ME too) would say things like, “Mrs. Smith, you can choose NOT to pay us $175 for grub control but we simply cannot be held responsible for what happens when ten thousand European Chafer Beetles descend on your front lawn like biblical locusts, have a beetle orgy and lay a trillion grub eggs that will hatch into a trillion grubs and destroy every square inch of your American Dream.  I mean we can try to deal with that but I really think you should just pay for the preventative treatment.”  Mrs. Smith and everybody else on her street, in her town, in her county and state and just about every state in the United States and North America decided that they would do the same thing.  Oh, and all the parks, fields, cemeteries and golf courses did the same thing.  With ten years the grub control we are discussing became ubiquitous.  It can be found just about everywhere and that’s not necessarily a good thing.  (For more information about the issue with bees do an internet search for “Colony Collapse Disorder.”

A Tale of Two Grub Problems And An Organic Grub Control Solution

Thursday, October 20, 2011

This picture is a section of turf at a friend of the family’s house.  We were visiting this past weekend when I stepped on a section of the lawn that seemed to be a little bit squishy to me and I immediately knew that if I pulled up on the turf that I would find at least a small population of grubs.  I think over the years I’ve developed extra sensory grub detections capabilities that most humans do not have.  I’m not sure this would qualify me for super hero status but its fun to talk about at cocktail parties. 

Lo and behold when I lifted up the turf, this is what I found:

This lawn is in pretty good shape.  I know for a fact that it hasn’t seen a chemical fertilizer or pesticide for years and they practice organic methods regularly.  When I lifted up the turf to find the grubs I also noticed that there was an incredible number of earthworms.  The root system was dense and deep and the soil was rich.  The turf above the grub populations showed absolutely no sign whatsoever of stress and my guess is that if I hadn’t implemented my “Grub Man” sensory skills on the site, this grub issue would never have been an issue in the first place.  The reality of nature is that beetles exist, grubs exist too and they will forever live below our grass and eat the root system of our turf.  When there are a really lot of them there may be some damage but in most cases a healthy turf and soil will withstand the pressure.  

Instead of applying a grub control to the property we decided to take this measure:

It worked very effectively

One Town's Dilemma: Grubs Would Be To Blame For Another Disaster

Monday, October 31, 2011

Imagine that it’s your job to care for acres and acres of turf that thousands and thousands of children use daily.  The town of Scarborough, Maine isn’t all that different than any other growing and healthy municipality, on any given weekend day in the fall there are hundreds of school aged children gathered at the soccer fields with their parents on the sidelines sipping coffees and talking with their neighbors.  Oftentimes the children and their parents take for granted the care that goes into the fields to have them safe and usable for competitive playability.  It’s a lot of work for the town employees and the parks and recreation department.  In Scarborough there are close to ten or so fields that the town maintains for use by its citizens, including several parks and sports fields.  They get a lot of use and many residents expect them to be in good shape all the time.  The task of caring for them is no small endeavor especially when people expect perfection nowadays.   Oftentimes it’s the fear of failure that has the biggest impact on the actions taken to care for large scale turf.

Another thing that many parents take for granted is that in the course of their care it is very commonplace to use toxic pesticides and chemical fertilizers. 

Not all of them take that for granted though.  A group called “Citizens for a Green Scarborough” managed to launch a campaign that would create a town ordinance to ban the use of pesticides on the turf that were frequented by children on a regular basis.  At a town meeting last week a vote was taken and the ordinance was passed.  I am told that the debate was emotional at times as it often is when it comes to the use of pesticides for some reason and not everybody at the meeting was convinced that it was a good idea to take away the use of pesticides on the fields.

During the course of the negotiations it was determined that there should be some sort of a policy in place that would call for an “emergency” application of pesticides if a situation warranted such action.  This is typical with most legislation that is passed concerning pesticides and it’s usually for issues such as extreme poison ivy outbreaks, invasive plant species and dangerous populations of mosquitoes or ticks.  It’s a decent concession for activists to make in the face of a successful ordinance.  The truth is that sometimes there is a need as well.

This particular town meeting was held on a Thursday night.  Because it was passed, many of the supporters were celebrating on Friday when there was a snag.  I’m told that on Friday evening somebody found grubs on two of the fields.  Immediate panic ensued and somehow, someway the powers that be were informed that if an “emergency situation” were not implemented immediately, all of the fields would be lost by Monday.  A local chemical lawn care provider told the town’s fathers that if he did not apply a product called Dylox (one of the last remaining organophosphates) to the fields they would be in complete ruin within twenty four hours.  Considering we are talking about many acres of turf here, the loss of entire fields would represent a serious and significant financial burden for the town.  It would cost tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace entire playing fields.  Soccer leagues would be cancelled, there would be no cheerleading practice and anybody who enjoyed a stroll in the park with their dog on a crisp fall afternoon would be horrified to learn that it wouldn’t be possible.  Grubs would be to blame for another disaster.  The town would be thrust into financial ruin and a mass exodus of its population would begin.    Instead of dealing with such chaos, a chemical application was green lighted.   The grubs were killed.  And it wasn’t with a chicken.

Comments (0)

More Spring Lawn Care Tips

4. Don't water unless your lawn needs to be watered!

Line ten lawn guys up and ask them how to water the lawn and you will get at least seven different answers. Just remember this, if it hasn't rained in a long time you should water the lawn. If you have an irrigation system don't just automatically crank it up because the grass is growing. Your lawn needs water when your footprint stays matted down in the grass and doesn't spring back up right away. But even that is an experiment that isn't really necessary beyond watching the weather. If your lawn needs water, water it. Water it deeply for more than an hour per zone. But the point here is that it is April and usually pretty rainy. If your lawn doesn't need water, don't water it.

5. Get Your Mower Blade Sharpened. Mowing the lawn is a violent process and you need to make it as clean and pain free as possible. A common theme that you will hear us promote over the year is that you need to create as stress free an environment as possible with your lawn, especially when taking an organic lawn care approach. Mowing the lawn improperly is often the one thing that creates the most negative issues in terms of cosmetics when it comes to appearance. A sharp blade makes a quick, clean, easy cut across the blades of grass allowing the tissue on top to heal immediately. A dull blade shreds the top of the grass creating all kinds of trouble with your lawn. First off, the tops will turn a light colored brown as the blade of grass is damaged from the dull blade. The normally dark green spring color of your lawn will become yellowish or light green. The next thing that happens is that spring diseases like leaf spot will infiltrate your turf and be very difficult to get rid of with springtime weather. You can bring your mower to a small engine shop to have the blade sharpened or you can do it yourself with any sharpening device. If it's been a few years you may want to have the blade replaced altogether.

6. Have a Soil Test Done. Whether you take advantage of a full laboratory test and report, have your local cooperative extension do a test or just perform a cheap pH test (those cheapo kits at the garden store are not very accurate.) knowing some of the vital information about your soil can make a HUGE difference through out the year. If your soil is too acidic or too alkaline the grass will struggle to thrive and weeds will be a greater issue. Often times we will hear a homeowner say that no matter what they do to their lawn the grass just doesn't respond! When we do a soil test we find that the pH is in the low fives, which is extremely acidic. (Closer to seven is where you want to be.) A good soil test will also give you surpluses or deficiencies in macro and micronutrients. Our organic program will cover most of the bases but you never know if something could be really out of whack!

Spring Lawn Care Tips

We're all looking for a few great tips on how to get the lawn looking really nice. Sometimes the issue is that it's hard to get a straight answer from anybody on what to do, when to do it and most importantly how should it get done. So many lawn care professionals have differentiating opinions on topics that come up for lawn care advice that I thought I would set the record straight right here and right now. Here are the first three of your top ten springtime organic lawn care tips.

1. Just Slow Down.
There is no need to jump the gun with anything when it comes to organic lawn care. We know you're excited, and so are we, but it's okay to give your lawn a little time to wake up. There is a family who lives down the street from us who has the worst case of "lawn neurosis." Last Fall I watched them panic every time a leaf or two accumulated on the grass and this "late winter" they have been out raking and dethatching even as the snow banks were still sitting angrily at the end of the driveway. I truly believe in lawn care karma and being overzealous with your lawn care concerns will only pay you back in a negative way.

2. Do NOT DETHATCH the lawn. I repeat, tell that landscaper to put that machine back on the truck!
As your lawn is coming out of dormancy and soil temperatures are on the rise it's a little bit vulnerable. It isn't as strong as it will be in about six weeks and the root system isn't thriving through the cold soil. Don't forget, it was recently frozen. Running a large machine over it with cutting blades that extract the thatch layer can do nothing but stress out the lawn.

3. Decide whether you want to over seed or apply our "Spray and Play." You really can't do both because the pre-emergent qualities in our “Spray and Play” are designed to PREVENT weed seeds from germinating. By the very nature and intention of the product it will also prevent grass seed from germinating. The best time to seed actually is the very late summer but many times you really want to give it a shot in the springtime. Getting thin areas to fill in will help crowd out weeds and keep soil temperatures down but if the summer gets to be too hot the new grass may not make it through and the weeds will take over. Just keep your expectations in line as you move forward. By the way, make sure you choose the right type of seed for the conditions in your yard. Is it sunny? Is it shady? We can help you pick the right seed and NEVER buy the cheap stuff...it will be filled with weed seeds.

Just remember, there's no need to rush to get your lawn looking great.  Comments or questions?  Let us know.  Look for more upcoming tips!