Question
I guess I should answer some of your questions

Soil - about 6" topsoil and then clay below, mostly well draining...I have a few spots where I get a pool of water when it rains

Watering...good ol hose and sprinkler

So you are stating not to do any fertilizers...what do you mean when you say organics? Sorry new to this
-------------------------

Followup To

Question -
I live just outside of Sioux Falls, SD on an acrage and I just planted my lawn with a very good grass mixture (not for sure what is all in it) I fertilized right away when we put in the grass seed (August 27th). what I am wondering is, do I fertilize again before winter? Or do I wait? If so what to do next? Thank you so much for your help

Mike Schuldt

Answer -
Hi Mike;
PERFECT time to start an organic program that will set you off in really good shape, for a MUCH better gardening experience, with less problems, less money laid out for chemical JUNK, and less work.
I have been on an organic program for going on my 9th or 10th year.
Can't remember exactly when I started it.
Feeding in the fall is just part of getting the lawn and garden set up to weather the winter.
If you want to know more about organics, write me, and I will send you somne good information for success.
Need to know some things when you write.
1. What is your soil like? Clay and pretty to very hard, very sandy, or good loose, well draining soil?
2 what facilities do you have for watering? Sprinkler system, soaker hoses, sprinklers on hoses?
If you haven't oput in a sprinkler system yet, save yourself some time and money and DON'T even consider one!!!
They waste more water than gets to your grass and plants, and cost a whole lot, that to me, is just money down the drain.
If you are going to continue to use chemicals, you need to fertilize, and be ready for fungus etc, and weeds, and pests in the spring.
Organically, you will need very little for now, and will have fewer worries with thoise other things in the spring, and from now on.
Organics is more about what you DON'T do that what you do, and the results are so much more.
You will have thicker, greener, healthier, and sweeter smelling grasses, flowers, and everything else you plant.
On organics you spend a few hours per week working on your lawn, and the rest of the time, sitting, watching and enjoying it.
On chemicals, you spend a fortune, about all your spare time after work, battling weeds, pests and diseases.
I know because I did that for almost 50 years, and since I started the organic program, I just don't have those worries anymore.
I also do not have to worry about what my grandchildren and pets get into in my yard.
No poisons around to potentially harm, or kill them.
I also have less problems with Asthma and allergies, since I am not breathing in all those toxic chemicals.
I have beautiful bug free shrubs and flowers, weed and insect free lawn, and a thick,lush, carpet of grass to walk on.
It even smells nicer when it is fresh mown.
I wouldn't go back to chemicals for anything.
Charlotte

Answer
Hi Mike;
Organics means all natural things put on your soil, not artificial chemicals.
Fertilizers, week killers, fungicides and pesticides do more damage that just about anything to our enviornment.
They are poisonout to animals and people.
For every harmful insect that is attracted to your lawn, there are hundrens of beneficial ones that not only feed on the harmful insects and organisms, they also benefit the soil.
Toads love slugs, and other insects like ants, army worms, etc. That makes them best friends of mine, even if it is impossible for me to touch one of them.
Lizards keep my roses free of aphids, mush better than the gallons of insecticides I used for so many years did.
They aet other things too.
I have two fruitless mulberry trees, and they got tent catapillars in them, constantly. My husband sprayed about once a month, but I couldn't go outside without the vile things dropping on me, UGH!!!
Grass snakes eat bugs too.
I am sure they also eat some of the beneficial ones, like roaches, but there are so many millions of beneficial ones, they can spare some.
I have put no insecticides or any kind of chemical treatments on my lawn for more than 8 years, and I have a weedfree, insect free, lush, thick lawn.
Wouldn't go back to chemicals for anything in the world.
If you want to get very technical,( one of my questioners did.LOL) sugar and the other things are chemicals too, but they occur that way, they are not made in a factory by adding a lot of other chemicals together.
Right now?
Get enough plain old white table sugar, to put 4 pounds per 1000 sq.ft of lawn, and water it in well.
Just broadcast it by hand, like sowing seeds or feeding chickens.
That is really all you need to do, but if you want a quick start on next years lawn, get some lava sand, and sprinkle it lightly all over. You can also do the same with alfalfa meal.
I am copying some information on using corn gluten meal from a site I belong to.
CORN GLUTEN MEAL


Corn gluten meal is a natural weed and feed fertilizer. It should be broadcast in the spring around February 15-March 15 to prevent grassburs, crabgrass, and other annual weeds that germinate from seed.

For the cool season or winter weeds, broadcast sometime between September 15 and October 15 at 15-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet for the control of henbit, dandelions, annual bluegrass and other winter weeds. It also serves as a powerful organic fertilizer having about 9-10 percent nitrogen.
Corn gluten meal can be used when overseeding ryegrass or other cool season crops but only with care. You must wait until the grass, vetch or clover has germinated and started to grow before putting the corn gluten meal down or the seed germination will be hurt. Do not use prior to planting summer grasses.
Corn gluten meal replaces the need for other fertilization for that period
Corn gluten meal is also a natural fungicide.
Right now, if I were you, I would put down the sugar and corn gluten meal, water well, and next spring, when it is time for things to start greening up, put down sugar again, and sprinkle alfalfa meal and lava sand down, and water well.
Sit back just watering deeply, to a depth of at least 6 inches to encourage a deep root system. A dep root system protects against heat, cold and drought damage, and prevents thatch.
I set my mower bleads at 3 inches, to help shade the soil from heat, and in the winter, to insulate against the cold.
Mow and edge your lawn.
Let the critters do their work.
What the saugar does is nothing to the weeds or soil or anything else, except the beneficial microbes that DO A LOT!!!
Those microbes enrich the soil, and they work at it day in and day out and year in and year out.
Fertilizers and the other poison stuff kills them.
If your ears perked up at the mention of cockroaches before, yep, they are beneficial insects.
They normally live in the soil and feed on myscopic harmful insects and organisms. We put down insecticides that kill off their food supply and threaten their lives,so they come into our hiomes for a place to hide from the poisons, and for food.
Keep them outside where they will benefit your soil. They also tunnel through like earthworms do, and keep your soil aerated.
To keep them out of your house, put about a 1 inch piece of fresh rosemary on each pantry and cupboard shelf, lower cabinets, under appliances, etc. Everywhere they can come in or hide.
Put new rosemary every month or two.
In the spring, I put cedar bark mulch all over my yard, just a thin layer of it, and not complete coverage. It keeps away fleas, ticks and other insects. I put a trail of it around the foundation of the house,and out buildings, about 2 or 3 inches wide and an inch or two high. That keeps termites away.
Think of qhuestions you have about house insects, and other pests you want to keep away from your house or lawn, or garden, and write me.
I have remedies for everything ( except old age.LOL)
Charlotte