Organic lawn care is a growing segment of the lawn care industry. Many homeowners are opting for a more natural approach to maintaining a lush and vibrant lawn. Unfortunately, some people believe that organic lawn care is not as effective as traditional chemical methods; “going organic” means tolerating a yard full of weeds. We’re here to tell you this is not the case. There’s a middle-of-the-road approach that can safely eradicate weeds and incorporate organic lawn fertilizer.
You Can Have A Nice Lawn Without Chemicals
A Healthy Lawn, Is A Weed-Free Lawn
The key to maintaining a weed-free lawn without relying heavily on chemical herbicide is two-fold: A) Keep your lawn as healthy as possible, so weeds don’t stand a chance, and B) reduce the number of herbicides to the barest necessity.
In respect to point A, there are several things you can do to make your lawn inhospitable, so weeds don’t have an opportunity to take root in the first place.
Starve Weeds For Sunlight
Many common broadleaf weeds in Illinois are sun-worshippers. They need full, direct sunlight to germinate. When you keep your grass mowed at the appropriate length, the sun won’t be able to penetrate down into the soil where the seeds and rhizomes of weeds are waiting to soak it up.
Keep Grass Nourished
Turfgrass that isn’t lacking vital nutrients will be more robust and better able to withstand competition from weeds.
Suffocate Weeds With Grass Clippings
Not everyone is a fan of the mulching mower attachment. However, if you mow regularly, the grass clippings should be small enough that you can leave them scattered on your lawn. They will naturally break down, providing your grass with nutrients. It’s a free source of mulch! It just so happens that using grass clippings in this manner can help protect your lawn from weeds. As we’ve already established, most weeds need a lot of sunlight to thrive, so covering them with extra grass will keep them in the dark.
Only Use Herbicide If Absolutely Necessary
Organic-based lawn care is not a black/white either/or scenario. At Pure Prairie Organics, we’ve developed a program that allows you as the homeowner to decide how many chemicals you’re comfortable with. Think of it as customized weed control. Our Organic-Based Blended Program uses at least 64% organic fertilizer while also using only the amount of herbicide you tell us to. This usually means only spot treating when we see weeds during one of our visits. We can, of course, spray your yard if you’d like. However, by only spot treating, instead of spraying, our technicians can treat your yard with just one gallon of herbicide. Compared to industry averages, this is 1/12 the number of chemicals that other traditional lawn care programs use!
After spot treating for weeds, we can ween your yard off the chemicals as the weeds become less and less frequent. If there are no weeds, we don’t need to apply weed-killer. In other words, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. We believe that organic lawn care shouldn’t be a “one-size-fits-all” service.
Try Out Organic-Based Lawn Care Before Making The Switch
Maybe you’re not sure if organic-based lawn care is the right option for your yard. The Blended program allows you to try it out before committing. In fact, around 85% of customers choose this program before switching to our completely organic program, which uses no chemicals whatsoever.
Find Weed Control In Cook County, Illinois
Since 1994, Pure Prairie Organics has assisted homeowners with natural lawn care in DuPage, Cook, and other Chicago metro counties. Our Organic-Based Blended Program lets you decide how much weed control you’re comfortable with. If you’re interested in learning more about this innovative package or would like to schedule an appointment, give us a call today at 630-780-7939 or leave us a message online here. To learn more about organic lawn care, be sure to check out our monthly blog and Facebook page!