 View of the prairie and pond areas looking south I took a walk outside to check on the pocket prairie we installed in late 2018. We removed about a third of the turf grass in our backyard to put this in and are very happy with its progress. You can see that we left the old growth in place for the winter so that birds and critters could take advantage of the seeds and shelter. The prairie was mostly planted with plugs and the growth in the first season was tremendous; the New England asters were at least 5' tall! (I'll include a full plant list in a future post) The area surrounding the pond is unresolved since that was just dug in the fall and is not quite finished. It will be densely planted so plants are trailing into the water and screening the pond from the rest of the yard to provide a hidden destination accessed by a path.  View of the hedge looking north The native shrub and perennial hedge is looking great this winter. I particularly love the contrasting form and color of the redtwig dogwood, willow, and coneflower seed heads. It's providing some screening even without leaves. We had considered incorporating some evergreens, but were unable to find anything that felt "right" with all of our other plant choices.
If your interested in native plants, keep an eye out for regular posts in this series!
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 While many of us recognize the value of native plants, tearing up our lawns and planting wildflower meadows is not a realistic course of action in most neighborhoods. Ecologically, lawns are often considered a desert since they contain and support so few species. If we go below the blade, however, there is an opportunity to both improve the appearance of your lawn and make your lawn more ecologically valuable. I’m talking about soil health. By focusing on feeding the soil, you can improve the appearance of your lawn, create more resilient turf, and increase the number of microorganisms in your soil.
While traditional high-nitrogen fertilizers may cause turf to “green up”, this effect is short-lived and soon your stressed out grass will be wanting more. Traditional fertilizers can act like a sugar rush for your lawn, causing fast growth that needs water and ultimately more high-nitrogen fertilizer to be sustained. Organic fertilizers, on the other hand, feed the microorganisms in the soil which will in turn will break down nutrients and make them available to your grass. This creates a natural “slow-release” mechanism that fosters consistent growth and improved turf health. By feeding the soil, the organic matter in your lawn will increase and, over time, you will need less fertilizer and water to maintain high quality turf. This increased resilience will also make your lawn better able to handle periods of drought, as well as increase its disease resistance. This makes your lawn even more environmentally-friendly by reducing the need for irrigation and pesticides. While we mostly think about the plants and animals above ground, microorganisms also contribute to biodiversity, carbon-fixing, and overall ecological health. Basically, just because your lawn may only contain a few species of grass doesn’t mean that it can’t be growing on top of a thriving community of microorganisms! Invisible to the naked eye, these good bacteria and fungi produce food for your grass, can pull carbon out of the air and into the soil, and improve all aspects of your soil, such as texture, drainage, water holding capacity, and more. So, if you’re going to have a lawn, go organic! It's not only safe for the environment (and pets and people), it actually improves the ecological function of your yard.  Terms such as "natural", "organic", "eco-friendly" and numerous other synonyms get tossed around a lot these days. In the grocery store, it's easy to see what food is certified organic, but when it comes to maintaining turf grass, there are no regulations and thus no definitions available for these terms. As a result, what you actually get from a "natural" or "organic" lawn care program can vary widely and any company can claim to offer one. If you are shopping for a lawn fertilizer program, it's up to you to ask what exactly makes a program natural, organic, or eco-friendly. Does the company only use OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) or National Organic Program's (NOP) certified products? Are their products synthetic, processed, and/or chemical free? It's easy to get confused in our world of intense marketing campaigns. For example, a natural fertilizer product can be both organic (made from plants or animals) and inorganic ( contain mined material like powdered limestone and rock phosphate), while a certified organic fertilizer can be natural or synthetic. Confused? I would be surprised if you weren't. The most important thing to remember is to choose products or programs that best support overall plant and soil health with the least negative impacts to the surrounding environment. When choosing products for our organic lawn care program, we focus on two things:
So don't be afraid to ask questions when looking for an organic or natural lawn service and make sure a company's standards align with yours. |
AuthorAlex Duncan is a landscape and environmental consultant currently living in Northwest ArchivesCategories |
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