How to have an organic lawn

Just about every person through the door of Evey True Value Hardware in Bethel Park greets owner Andy Amrhein with a smile, hello or a handshake.

He’s been here 44 years and when it comes to lawn care, he’s sold mostly chemical products during that time.

“Eight years ago, the pendulum started swinging the other way,” he says. “A younger customer base started to own their own houses and are a lot more environmentally conscious than what their parents were. That’s what started it.”

Now the store sells 90 percent organic lawn products; eight percent of sales are a mixture of organic and chemical products for grass and only two percent is traditional four step chemical treatments.

“It’s just been the knowledge that’s been pushed on to them,” he says of his customers. “Explaining that the organic isn’t just a fad, it actually works. And the concept of a healthy soil, healthy yard is finally sinking in.”

He teams with his staff to educate gardeners when they are in search of products. They offer many options and let the customer choose which one is right for them.

It wasn’t easy for Amrhein to make the change. He was skeptical, thinking maybe treehuggers could be lured to the store and then they would realize they wouldn’t have a great lawn without the chemicals he had sold for more than four decades. But he was the one who was converted to changing what he uses on his own lawn. Not only does he have great grass, but there also are other benefits.

“When you really learn about it, think about it and do it, it’s actually less expensive,” he says. “It is very possible to have a great lawn organically; I’ll never go back.”

John Harrison is vice president of marketing for Espoma Organic (espoma.com). The company has been selling organic products since 1929 and is best known for its series of fertilizers like Hollytone, Gardentone, Flowertone and a host of others. They’ve created a four-step organic program for homeowners. “The lawn is a dumping ground for pesticides (and herbicides),” he says. “People have been conditioned that every time you put something on the lawn (like weed, pest, crabgrass or fungal control), it should be lawn food plus some control aspect.”

In his mind it doesn’t make sense to apply pesticides and herbicides on the whole lawn, when you don’t have problems over the whole lawn. The natural plant food they sell is 80 percent slow release nitrogen, which compares to approximately 20 percent in other chemical fertilizers.

The advantages of slow release fertilizers compared to quick release are two fold, he says. “You’ll be maintaining a better color year-round as opposed to feast or famine, and the nutrients you pay for, you get, as opposed to having them washed out of the soil and causing problems environmentally.”

The company started a program three years ago called Safe Paws that stresses the use of safe fertilizers for pets, children and the environment, so “people can put their dog out on the lawn or let their kids go out and roll around in the grass and they didn’t have to worry what was there,” Harrison says.

He jokingly refers to spring as “flag season,” where the neighborhood is dotted with flags warning of pesticide applications. “We actually toyed with making one that said ‘come play on me,’ ” he says with a laugh.

“We’re not all trying to grow Augusta National. If a weed or two pops up, it’s not a big deal to go and dig it out.”

Besides using slow release fertilizers, the next most important thing is to monitor and adjust the pH, he recommends. That can be done with a simple, inexpensive soil test ordered from your county extension office. Once the results come back, a formula can be used to get the pH right.

He also says raise the cutting height of the mower to as high as possible, around 31⁄2 inches. The grass will shade out weed seeds and won’t be as stressed by a severe scalping.

“One yard at a time, we’re going to try and convince people to change,” Harrison says, “and we’re having some success.”

Barry Green, president of Jonathan Green Inc., (jonathangreen.com) has been full time at the company since 1977 and has seen the interest in organic lawn care grow over the years.

“Sometimes your lawn has problems,” he says. “It’s like going to the doctor and getting antibiotics, but you don’t want to live on that.”

He echoes the sentiment of getting the pH right, improving the soil and using superior grass seed to crowd out the weeds for a great lawn. One of two Jonathan Green products championed by Amrhein for fixing the pH of acidic soil is Mag-I-Cal. One bag equals five bags of pelletized lime, is cheaper than the lime and works faster because it’s water soluble. The other is Love Your Soil, which Amrhein tested on two buckets of very bad dirt.

“Over the course of two seasons, it turned clay into topsoil,” he says. It’s one of the things he recommends for improving poor soil.

“On a chemical lawn, it’s like a person living on a sugar diet,” Green says. “An organic program is a long term cure, you’re working with nature. You can have a better lawn.”

Doug Oster is the Tribune-Review home and garden editor. Reach him at 412-965-3278 or doster@tribweb.com. See other stories, blogs, videos and more at everybodygardens.com.