Healthy lawns start with healthy soil.
Soil is a rich, living environment, an independent microcosm teeming with many varieties of beneficial organisms. Healthy soil decomposes once-living organic matter, slowly releasing nitrogen, which plants – including grass – absorb. Grass depends on a readily available supply of this critical nutrient to survive and thrive. When you see lush green grass in someone’s lawn, the soil is usually well-fertilized and rich in nitrogen.
Traditional lawn care techniques typically use too much nitrogen and other chemicals to artificially produce a green lawn. These excess chemicals disrupt the natural environment and reduce beneficial organisms that break down soil and nourish plants. They also leach nutrients from the soil, making plants more susceptible to disease. Artificial chemicals simply mask soil deficiencies; they don’t fix them.
That’s not all. If you apply too much fertilizer, grass can’t absorb nitrogen fast enough so most of the chemicals simply run off into our water supply. Of course, this is harmful to the environment. OrganiCare can soil test your Richmond area soil to ensure you have healthy soil or let you know what needs to be done to improve your lawn.
Did you Know?
- Leaving the short clippings from mowing is good for your lawn. Lawns with clippings have less crabgrass, less disease, and need 50 percent less nitrogen fertilizer.
- Watering in the evening invites disease. Water your grass in the morning.
- A well-maintained lawn is nature’s filter for stormwater into creeks and the Chesapeake Bay.
- Thick lawns help cool air temperature on the property.
- A well-maintained lawn adds 5-10 percent value to a home. A thick green lawn highlights flower and shrub beds.