Many people ask me what is the advantage that organic lawn care products have over man made chemicals. People will say that even the chemical fertilizers have the same ingredients that are found organically and that they are just put together in a more compact, efficient form.

Unfortunately, those people are wrong if they think that the man made chemicals are the same thing as organic product and that man made products are more efficient. The most commonly used lawn care product is most likely fertilizer, followed closely by weed control and weed killer products. When you compare the differences between the natural, organic fertilizers and week control products and the man made chemical products you see the benefits of using organic lawn care products.

Let us start with the organic fertilizer and compare it quickly to man made fertilizers. First of all, fertilizers contain some very basic materials–nitrogen, phosphate, and potash. The amounts will vary greatly depending on which brand and which type of fertilizer you purchase and use on your lawn.

Man made fertilizers will generally have more of all three ingredients, but that is not always a better thing to have more of. I like to compare it to a steroid used by body builders. Are the body builders (or baseball players) going to get bigger, stronger, and faster? Yes, of course they are. But are they going to be healthier than someone who lifts weights the old fashioned way? No. Your lawn may get greener quicker using the man made spray or pellets but underneath the green blades your lawn will be suffering and will not be as healthy.

This is because man made fertilizers are not good for your soil, which is the key to a healthy lawn. So you will end up with a good looking lawn for a short while, but then your lawn will need another shot of fertilizer juice. This is why most commercial lawn care programs use six or seven treatments during the summer. Unfortunately, all this ends up doing is creating a dependence for chemicals, as your soil will slowly deteriorate and loose the ability to support your grass.

Organic fertilizer, on the other hand will not give your lawn that quick shot of fertilizer juice. You will get some good nutrients, but they will not work as quickly. However, this is another case of slow and steady wins the race. Over time your soil will develop quite nicely and you will not need as much fertilizer. In addition, man made fertilizer will basically come in a salt form, which is not as good for your lawn.

As more and more attention is given to the environment and the steps we can take to protect it, homeowners strong in numbers continue to do their fair share. The recycling of glass, paper, aluminum, and plastic continues to be on the rise in homes across the country; and now, families are even turning to ways to make their homes “green” – using solar power, natural fibers, energy saving light bulbs, and water reducing faucets. There has even been attention given to the upkeep of the suburban lawn, as homeowners make an effort to practice only organic lawn care.

Organic lawn care is any practice that nurtures a lawn within the guidelines of that which is good for the environment. In essence, this means the elimination of chemical weed killers and pesticides. Practicing organic lawn care simply means the avoidance of any chemical product that can in any way harm the environment – including animal life.

Instead, those interested in organic lawn care can use organic fertilizer – found in most home and garden stores – mixed with compost for an environmentally friendly lawn; use mulch in landscaped areas; and use only herbal pest repellants when necessary.

When mowing your lawn, organic lawn care stipulates the leaving of grass clippings directly on the lawn where they can break into compost and regenerate the soil. You may even want to think about limiting the size of your lawn, thus conserving a tremendous amount of water.

When choosing plants for landscaping, choose those plants indigenous to your area, thus reducing the amount of water and fertilizer they will need.

A visit to your local home and garden store will yield an enormous amount of information about organic lawn care, including what products are acceptable to use and what alternatives there are to rid your lawn of weeds, rodents, and other undesirables that won’t compromise the environment.

Or, you can find quite a bit of reading material at your local library or bookstore that offers tips on maintaining a green home including the implementation of organic lawn care. The Internet can also be a comprehensive resource on organic lawn care and the steps you can take to keep your property within environmental guidelines.

With the tightening of environmental restrictions becoming a reality over more and more of the United States that tell you what you can and can’t put on and into your lawn, it is no wonder that organic lawn care is becoming a natural alternative. For those that aren’t familiar with the concept, organic lawn care is the use of 100% natural and organic chemicals and solutions on your lawn to help your grass and flowers grow naturally. Just like organic farming doesn’t use any harmful, man-made pesticides, organic lawn care is dedicated to using only natural ingredients to keep your lawn green!

Maybe the best argument of all to switch to organic lawn care is the fact that everything you put on your lawn gets absorbed into the ground below. Do you really want to be spreading possibly dangerous chemicals right below your water pipes so that these chemicals get absorbed into the water table? Of course not, and it is this realization, more than anything else, that makes people switch over to natural grass-growing and fertilization.

The first step that most people take when they decide to go green is to change the fertilizer they use on their lawn and on their flower beds. A trip to the lawn care store can be quite the experience if you’ve never been before. There are literally hundreds of different types of fertilizer made for home and lawn use, some of them are natural but many of them are not. The most obvious fertilizer to use for your lawn would be manure. When most people think of this, the instant reaction is NO WAY! They imagine fresh out of the cow manure that would make you have to hold your nose every time you leave your house, and we don’t even want to think of the reaction from the neighbors! But most manure that can be commercially bought has no scent whatsoever. That’s right, it’s been treated so that there is very little to no smell at all. And your flowers will just love having natural fertilizer to help them grow instead of a sprayed on chemical that doesn’t even work as well.

Another simple adjustment you can make to help your lawn be green and healthy is the use of natural cedar chips in your flower beds to help prevent weed growth. Some people choose to use other substances that have a layer of chemical weed killer covering it and while it may do wonders for your flower beds, that chemical has a tendency to run off every time it rains and down into the water table it goes. Natural cedar will not only smell and look great, it will do a number on the weeds, too!

Have you ever wondered why organic lawn care is talked about so much at garden centers and lawn care product stores? Or have you wondered why you would want to use organic fertilizer instead of the standard man-made fertilizer?

I wondered that for many years as well, until I started researching the benefits of organic lawn care. Now that I have done my own researched and talked to many different people in the lawn care industry, I will always use organic products on my lawn. And I will do so not only because it is better for the environment, but because in the long-run it is much better for my lawn and will make it so I actually

don’t have to do as much yard work.

Many people think that if they pay someone $400 a year to spread fertilizer and weed killer on their yard that their yard should look great. However, if they do not pay attention to the quality of their soil then they will never have the yard they dream about, and the grass will literally be greener on the other side (i.e. the neighbors yard you always envy).

The soil is the base of your lawn and developing good soil could very well be the most import aspect of a good lawn care system. This is because the roots, or the most important part of your grass, live there. If you do not have healthy roots, then you will not have healthy grass; and, if you do not have healthy soil, then you will not have healthy roots.

Cultivating and developing healthy soil can be a difficult process, but it can be accomplished if you work at it over time. Even though you will have to work hard to develop healthy soil, you won’t have to work as hard after you get there. Good watering habits, good mowing techniques, and good organic lawn care products will help you greatly in both developing your soil and then maintaining your soil afterwards.

Good watering habits and good mowing techniques are what I call obvious factors in a good lawn care program, everyone understands that you need to water and mow your lawn properly in order to have a healthy lawn. However, many people do not understand why using organic products on your lawn is much better than using man made fertilizers and other man made lawn care products.

To explain, remember that while your lawn needs the ingredients found in all fertilizers, that is not all your lawn needs to be healthy. Your lawn also needs microbial macrobial life. Worm and other critters are great for your lawn in producing much needs nutrients for your soil. However, man-made chemical fertilizers usually will deter them, while the organic fertilizer will attract them (no you will not have tons of bugs crawling over your lawn, they will be in your soil where you can’t see them).

Man made fertilizers usually contain a lot of salt, which microbial life does not like at all. While these unnatural fertilizers will make the blades of grass turn green quickly, it will do nothing to cultivate your soil and will actually hurt your soil over time. An organic lawn care program will do the exact opposite for the soil. It will help you cultivate and develop the soil, while also feeding the grass.

In the long-run, using organic products on your lawn will give you the lawn you want and you won’t have to pay the $400 a year for someone to come out and take care of it for you.