how do I transform my lawn of roughly one acre to an organic lawn? And what is the difference between using regular fertilizer and organic fertilizer?

I've never tried it myself, but I think it takes a slightly larger budget, and some flexibility.

My next door neighbor tried it last year using an organic fertilizer that he bought at "The Feed Barn" - a funky garden store near my house. He said the price was higher but he wanted to give it a try. I think that the fertilizer portion of it worked out ok, but he was really unhappy with the amount of weeds he ended up with. He became impatient and decided he didn't want to pay more for results he wasn't happy with.

On the other hand, a guy I knew through work had better results, but he took a different approach; he used an organic type fertilizer - coincidentally also bought at "The Feed Barn" - but continued to use weed-b-gone for the weeds that sprang up. It's like he was doing an IPM program without knowing that it had a name. He was willing to be flexible with his program, using both organic products and traditional weed control side by side, and it seemed to work for him. He also has 5 small children that he could put to work pulling weeds for him....that helps.

 
If you have an independent garden center near you I'd ask them. Folks that work in those stores seem to have a good handle on what will work in your area and what won't.

 

 

Hi Dale,

I applaud you wanting to be more environmentally friendly, but don't be too worked up over the "organic" label, as that by itself does not necessarily imply better or safer. I think "sustainable" is a much better, and more attainable approach. For instance, plants do not know the difference between organic nitrogen from cows and nitrogen produced by a factory. Both originate from the air. Nitrogen is nitrogen - it's either nitrite or ammonium, and that's that. It's how MUCH you put on that is key. Going overboard with organic fertilizer is just as bad as going overboard with non-organic nitrogen. it's just that organic fertilizers are usually so low in nitrogen (2 or 3% generally), that it's hard to go overboard. Whereas a typical lawn fertilizer is usually 25-30% nitrogen. All that means is that 25% of the bag you bought has active nitrogen, whereas 2% of the bag of organic stuff is actually nitrogen. So you get more for your money with regular fertilizer. Plus, cows can have a negative impact on the earth - all that grazing land!

Application-wise, your lawn can only take up so much nitrogen anyway - if you follow the label instructions, you won't have runoff and won't harm the environment with a non-organic fertilizer. I use both on mine - I've used Milorganite, but it takes many more bags to cover the lawn. I also use ***-a-doodle Doo on plants and vegetables with much success. But I also use 10–10-10. The plants don't know the difference.

Organic pesticides are good if they are effective. However, keep in mind that nicotine is an organic pesticide that also happens to be extremely dangerous. Whereas some chemcial pesticides are safe enough to drink (not that I recommend that). If you can find sources of all-organic products that are also effective, then use them. But if you have a serious insect or disease issue, it is much more environementally friendly and sustainable to use a safe, labeled chemical to control the problem than to let it destroy your plants or your lawn. There is nothing earth-friendly about replacing a lawn devastated by sod web worms.

Best,

River Ridge