QuestionI too have switched to organic products for my lawn. I found that laundrey soap poweder works fast as a weed killer, but I am concerned about the effect this may cause harm to the bacteria.
I would like a detailed list of organic products that you use, and how to use them.
Thanks!
AnswerI would be afraid of laundry powder.
Think of what it does to our streams and rivers.I would think in not too long a time, it would kill the grass too.
My lawn care program in Sugar in the spring and fall, Mowing and edging. Baking soda for fungus. The only other maintenance we do is top dressing with the compost we make (in the vegetable garden), and pruning roses and shrubs.
I was advised to use dry molasses, but if that wasn't available, plain table sugar would do.
I started using sugar, and when dry molasses became available here, I used it for a couple of years. I think the sugar does as well, and costs about the same, but the smaller bags are easier for me to handle than the 40 lb. dry molasses bags.Also I can pick up the sugar when I do my grocery shopping.I buy better sugar for my table, but I buy the cheapest they have for my lawn.I use 1 pound sugar per 250 to 300 sq,ft.
Dry molasses or sugar, keeps beneficial microbes alive. They enrich the soil, and weeds won't thrive in rich soil, they like poor soil. Forget about weed control. Concentrate on enriching the soil.Fertilizer doesn't enrich soil, it feeds the vegetation only. Top dressing with humus will help a little, if you want to speed it up. When you compost you make humus. We don't rake up the grass clippings. leaving them where they fall helps feed the soil, and it composts as you mow and water.
We put all our raw vegetablescraps, fruit peels, and leaves we rake up in the compost bin.I make compost bins by making a circle of small guage chicken wire, and dropping black plastic bags in it.the first year I used black leaf bags, but they didn't last long enough and tore up before the next spring. It was a mess. They I got a bag of construction site cleanup bags at Home Depot. they are much heaver guage plastic, and they last until I am ready to empty them. I cut all but 2 or 3 inches out of the botton. The 2 or 3 inch lip makes a bottom for the dirt to hold the bag in place. I put about 4 to 6 inches of dirt (poor dirt is good, it will turn it into good dirt)then I put vegetation in until it is about 6 inches deep, then another layer of dirt, wet it down some. You want to keep your compost damp, not soggy.Keep layering like this until the bag is full. It holds more than most compost bins you buy, and they can cost upwards of $100.00. You just flip the top over and it gets aitr to it, lets rain get in, nd keps it from drying out too soon. When I make the bin, I poke small holes along the sides for ventelation. I have a bad back, so I don't turn over my compost.Whan one bag is full, I make another bin and put it somewhere else in the garden. In the spring, my husband lifte the frames off, slashes the bag down the side, and tills the good stuff into the garden. We usually have fro 3 to 5 bags to dump, and we space them so we don't have to do more than rake the compost ovet the area, and till. No shoveling.
Keeping the earthworms alive will take care of thatch.
Their tunneling keeps the lawn aerated.
Another great little aerator is the yucky little cockroach. The make bigger tunnels that earthworms do. I can't abide that bug, and I certainly can't stand one of them in my house, so I grow Rosemary. I use it in cooking, and once a month, I clip off some sprigs for inside the house. I cut it in little pieces about 2 to 3 inches long, and put them anywhere roaches, spiders etc can go, under the sinks, washer and dryer, refridgerator, and one on each cabinet and cupboard shelf. Where pipes go through the walls, I stick a sprig of it in between the pipe and wall.I was told it would keep cockroaches away, but it must work on spiders and some other bugs too, because since I started using it, I don't see spiders. Don't see silverfish either.It must be the rosemary, because that is all I use. I have a big pot of lavender on each porch, beside the door. It is a lovely plant in a large container, and it repels houseflies. Take a few sprigs when you go on a picnic, and lay them around the table, it will keep flies away. Hang some pieces of fruit in a tree or bush a little away from where you are eating, and this will attract stinging insects, like bees, wasps etc, and keep them away from the people.
In the spring, when it is time for termites to swarm, we scatter cedar bark mulch all over the lawn, and put about a 1-2 inch perimeter around the foundation of the house.Cedar repels termites, fleas and ticks, and some other insects, but I am not sure what they are.We have 4 dogs, so we also scatter cedarbark mulch again in the summer, just to make sure there is more protection. We still use the Frontline, because 2 of our dogs are allergic to flea bites, and it only takes the bite of one flea to set it off.
To kill grass growing up in cracks in the sidewalk, driveway etc, where it will not get to grass I want to keep, on a hot day I pour white vinegar on the grass.It will make it sick or kill it anytime, but on a hot day, it works really fast. Unwanted trees that sprout up where you don't want them. Wrap them in black plastic, and it will cook it. The hotter the day, the faster it works.
To keep cats from using my flower beds and planters for their litter box, I scatter chopped lemon peels.Every time I use a lemon, I chop the peel, and toss it somewhere. By doing it on an on-going basis, it keeps them kitty free.Orange oil is the main ingredient in effective fire ant control, so we chop orange peels and scatter them over the yard. It must work on other ants too, or the lemon peels do, because since I started doing this, I don't have the tiny black ants and the big red ants I used to have.I chop the peels about the size of a dime, or even smaller, they sift down into the grass, and don't show, and they add nutrients when they compost.
I think that's about it.I find you don't have to use all those things the organic gardeners tell you too. I always thought organic gardening meant working even more than I did in my yard and garden, but actually, they are just try this if you have this problem hints.
I have such rich soil in my lawn now, I only use the humus I make for my vegetable garden and fruit trees.I let my herd of livestock take care of the bad bugs.
My livestock includes some very fat lil lizards, toads and grass snakes. I don't let anyone put down anything that will harm them, and they repay me by eating all the aphids off my lovely roses, and the other bugs I don't want.
The only bug killer I put down is snail and slug bait. The one I use doesn't harm my lizards, and my dogs, but it sure gets rid os the slugs and snails.
Too bad I don't have someone in the neighborhood who likes escargo. they could have a feast when I get snails. They are BIG suckers. We have had 20 days of rain, a record here for June, and I am sure when it is all over, I will have a lot of snails.
That is about all I can think of.I don't spend much time working on my yard, as far as yard work . My grass stays green longet than most in the neighborhood, some of the neighbors have jumped on my sugar bandwagon, and out yards are thicker, greener, an they green up sooner in the spring.
If you have any more wuestions, feel free to write me anytime.
Chralotte
PS. I forgot garlic pepper tea, it keeps bugs off your fruit trees etc. Put 2 or 3 whole large bulbs of garlic, 2 or 2 large dried chili peppers, cyenne is goo too, nd 1 quart water in the blender, and whirr till as watery as you can egt it. Strain through cheese cloth to get tiny particles that could clog your sprayer. Use 1 cup of this tea per gallon of water in your sprayer. Be sure to spray underneath the leaves as well as the tops.
