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Thursday, August 21, 2008

Getting ready for Fall lawn care!

It's about that time, time to get the Fall lawn in order. Here in the Midwest (and many areas of the country), the Fall is one of the best times to fertilize. Fertilizing keeps that grass healthy and thick, which keeps the weeds out, and gives the grass strength to ward off insects and fungi.

We've decided to change our usual routine this Fall and try out some organic liquid lawn fertilizer. We love the organic safe granular fertilizer we've used in the past, it works great. But with Gracie in the picture now, Mum doesn't like it when she wants to eat and sniff all the little granules for a couple days after it's been put down. Even though it's safe for her, she got a nasty runny nose last Spring from sniffing so much.

We ordered the Just Scentsational TP-128Q Trident's Pride Liquid Fish Soil Fertilizer this year and can't wait to try it out. It's 100% fish protein, a fish emulsion. And has been reported to be really good stuff. We purchased three bottles to have some on hand for next spring (another one of the most important times to fertilize) and save on shipping.

If you don't have a problem with your 'Gracie' eating and sniffing the little granules, here's a great dry fertilizer that we've used before and loved - Espoma Lawn Food. It's derived from manure and works really great.

We also got some more Burnout Grass Killer to take care of those nasty weeds that made their way into the mulched areas this year with all of our rain. It kills everything as long as you utilize it when it's over 85 degrees. It's made out of horticultural grade vinegar. And we love it. Mum just makes sure we aren't around when we spray it. If we do get near it later it's super safe for us. As a matter of fact we don't even show any interest in the weeds after Burnout is sprayed on it.

Our lawn really suffered last year. It recovered well this year, but we still have a few bare spots that the dandelions enjoyed some time in this year. So we'll be putting down some grass seed in late October, so that we'll have nice new grow this coming Spring. We'll just make sure it's not coated grass seed, which isn't safe if eaten.

Then in early, early Spring we'll get some corn gluten to put down on the lawn to help control the weeds even more next year. The only way we've found so far to find corn gluten is granular, so Gracie will have to be watched for a few days until we can get it all watered in. It's not that it's bad for her, it's actually really safe for her to eat. But what she's done in the past is sniff it so much, she gets herself a runny nose, poor girl. That's a BC for ya!

For more information about the dangers of lawn chemicals, fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides - read Just one more reason to have an organic lawn! and Keep the lawn safe and green!. Happy gardening!

5 comments:

  1. I've read really good things about using fish emulsion (sp) as fertilzer. Even the nongreen gardeners swear by it.

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  2. Safe lawns are so important for pets. I've been fighting for our homeowners association to stop spraying Round-up on our lawns without any notification and they agreed. Yippee! I can feel safe about having my pets run around on the lawn!

    SteamboatEcobroker

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  3. Great information. I too have been fighting with the condo corporation to no avail. Awful stuff! I wish they would think about what they are doing out there!

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  4. This organic fertilizer is really taking off. It is good for pets and for the environment. My company St. Louis Lawn Care has been using a poultry based organic fertilizer for a couple of years now and have had great results in the St. Louis area. It is a granular form, but it is still safe for animals.

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  5. I hope you included the price. I've checked this stuff on the local market and they are quite expensive.

    ReplyDelete

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