Fall Organic Lawn Care - pH, Soil Depth, Weeds

Now that we have started our fall organic lawn care regarding our mowing, watering, and fertilizing, we also need to check the pH level, the depth of the soil and the weeds. It is not quite October and believe it or not the home and garden center already has Christmas decorations on display. So I believe we better finish our fall organic lawn care soon.

pH Levels
The pH levels of our lawn are very important. The level for healthy grass is about 6.5, if your level is below 6.0, you need to reduce the acidity and will probably have to add lime to the soil; if it is above 7.0 you have too much alkaline and will have to add sulfur. Dandelions love the pH levels to be about 7.5, so if your level is that high you grass won't have much of chance against that dandelion. If you can lower it to about 6.5 the grass will have a better chance. It has also been said that if you add a little dusting of lime to the soil surface, you may double the reproduction of the good old earthworm. Something else you might want to do is to fertilize with some organic fertilizer.

Soil Depth
Check to see how deep your topsoil is, your lawn will be fine with a soil depth of about 4 inches but it will be even better with 8 or more inches. If you don't have but about a half inch or so of topsoil you may want to think about having the nursery haul some in for you, your grass will have a much better chance of surviving. The deeper the soil, the less watering you will need to do, you may not have to fertilize, but you may have to mow more often because your grass will be nice and green and thick.

Now would be a good time to talk about the quality of your soil. Believe it or not there is a difference between dirt and soil, soil has a great deal of organic matter and is plentiful in microbial life. Dirt can come in just about any form and could be very difficult to get anything to grow in it. If you are going to have topsoil delivered to your house and you are not sure if it is dirt or topsoil have them also deliver some compost. If you mix two parts dirt with one part compost you will come pretty close to actual soil.

Weeds
There are some stubborn weeds that are very hard to get rid of, no matter how hard you try. Two that come to mind are bindweed, which is similar looking to the pink or white morning glory, and Canadian thistle. Both of these weeds have a massive root system that could very easily go down to about 30 feet in the soil. Your grass spreads with rhizomes and so do these particular weeds. The nice thing is they don't like mowing or tall grass. If you see maybe fifty or so outcroppings it could all be from the same plant, so you need to get as much of out as you can. The best thing to do is get rid of the green part of the plant as this part provides it with sugar; it needs sun and sugar to keep that huge root system alive. If you constantly dig at it the bugs and bacteria will eventually take over.

Dandelions are a sure sign of too much alkaline in the soil.. Check the pH information above. Dandelions may live for only about 5 years and the mature ones will struggle with your tall grass and will eventually die off. Black medic is a sign of poor nitrogen soil. A little organic lawn fertilizer will help this situation. This will help keep black medic away. Occasionally you will see some it in your lawn as it looks like little yellow clover. It can sometimes take over by making flat mats a foot in diameter.

Clover is also a sign of poor nitrogen soil. Refer to the remedy for black medic above. Pink and white clover is sometimes desired because it provides nitrogen to the soil and won't strongly compete with grass. Watch for yellow clover, it is actually black medic. Knapweed will try to poison the plants around it with niacin. A little water will wash away the niacin and the surrounding plants have a better chance. You may want to mow more frequently during late June and early July; this will help to get rid of knapweed.

Now that we know all the scoop of fall organic lawn care, our grass will be the greenest and healthiest in the neighborhood. Fall organic lawn care regarding pH, depth of soil, and weeds is all tied in with the mowing, watering, and fertilizing to keep our lawns healthy.