Natural organics for your lawn

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

There has been an increasing interest in the use of natural and organic products for lawn and garden use.  Many new products have made their way into the lawn and garden industry to address these market demands including Jonathan Green’s organic line of products.

There are a number of reasons why there is an increased interest in these types of materials.  There has been a broader education on the environment and the effects of repeated application of chemicals and synthetic fertilizers.  The younger ‘yuppie” generation is looking to use these products along with middle-aged and older folks too.  The concern for the possible exposure to children and pets also leads to more people considering the use of organics for the lawn.  Some use these products to feel good, since they get satisfaction from preserving the environment.

Jonathan Green organic products contain carbon and include fertilizer ingredients such as, feather meal, blood meal, bone meal, alfalfa meal, poultry manures, etc.  Natural products must be existing or formed by nature.  These include items such as sulfate of potash, ground shells, bone meal, and other mined rock, etc. Most of these products are proteins and derived from animals and plants.  We are able to recycle these ‘waste’ products back into healthy, lawn and garden fertilizers instead of disposing them at landfills.

These groups of products have both positive and negatives like most choices in life.  The good part about the use of Jonathan Green natural and organic products is they are relatively insoluble so they release their fertilizer slowly over time.  They are mostly broken down for use by the microbial action in the soil and not so affected by hydrolysis or the amount of water coming from rainfall or irrigation.  This slow breakdown helps to reduce the potential for leaching or runoff into the soil and waterways.  This is where the terminology “feed the soil” and thus the soil will “feed the plant” comes from.  Synthetic fertilizers tend to be quicker release and the plant takes up a charge of fertilizer, which may produce too fast a growth spurt for the plant to reach its utmost potential.

The problems with natural and organic fertilizers are they take more time to accomplish the job than traditional synthetic fertilizers.  If you desire to have your lawn green-up within a few days of applying your fertilizer, you may want to avoid natural organic fertilizers and instead use Jonathan Green’s Green-Up Lawn Fertilizer.  It takes a while for your lawn to convert from feeding it with traditional fertilizers to only natural organic fertilizers.  Expect things to take time, perhaps 1-2 years before your lawn and mindset fully adjusts to these changes and meets your expectations.  Also, you need to apply a larger volume of natural organic-type products in order to properly feed your lawn.  This can sometimes become cumbersome.  The costs are also a bit higher when you feed your lawn with natural-organic products.

Some products offered are considered “bridge” products which meet both needs, a quicker, greening response with some synthetic content combined with some of the natural-organics products. 

There is one unique product that does it all, corn gluten.  Jonathan Green’s Organic Weed Control Plus Fertilizer contains corn gluten and is an all-organic fertilizer.  My Organic Weed Control Plus Fertilizer also has the ability to control many grassy and broadleaf weeds if applied as a pre-emergent, before these weeds germinate.  These weeds controlled include crabgrass, barnyard grass, annual bluegrass (poa annua), orchard grass, dandelion, purslane, black medic, clover and many more.  Remember, corn gluten will not control any existing weeds; it must be put down prior to the weed seed germination. The best time for this is early spring until early fall.

The future looks bright since there will be more Jonathan Green natural and organic products being offered.  Try some out; I think you’ll like them.  

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