How well does organic lawn care work?

In an earlier blog (http://wormmainea.blogspot.com/2010/04/natural-lawn-care-preparing-and-timing.html), I described organic lawn care practices. I think it is time to revisit the lawn to see how successful organic methods are.

This was a hard Summer with lots of heat and not much rain. I watered during the drought when we didn't get rain for more than 7 days. All watering was before 8AM and no more than 1 inch of water. My lawn and underlying soil were fed with worm tea at least once monthly during the summer. I use about 7 gallons on my lawn. I did not mow during the drought (only hawkweed grew and I could pull those by hand) and raised mowing height on my Fiskars push mower during summer months to 4". The next photo shows my front lawn (approximately same angle as previous photos from April).

Same angle of yard as previous photos-- taken September 9.

Even more interesting are other areas of my lawn. Especially those abutting my neighbor who uses traditional methods-- cutting with a riding mower weekly whether it needs it or not (often mowing lower than I am), random (or so it appears) watering, professional (?) fertilization/weed control by lawn service. I will let the photos below speak for themselves.

My lawn on right, traditional on left (property line is between stake and rhododendron)

Opposite angle my lawn on left, traditional on right (property line between stake and rhododendron)

The undeniable fact is that by paying attention to the biology of your lawn plants your lawn will require less work and money and be more resilient to stress-- whether drought, weed competition, or pests.

Cheers,

Mark

The effect of worm compost tea on Amaryllis

Hypothesis: The Amaryllis that receives worm tea weekly will do better than the one receiving just water.

Methods: We started with 2 identical Amaryllis hippeastrum bulbs. One was watered with worm tea, the other was watered with tap water. Both were planted according to package instructions and were placed on a south-facing window side-by-side. We documented growth for 1.5 months. Start 2/14/09

Results: The Amaryllis receiving worm tea grew faster, bloomed faster and the bloom lasted longer than the one receiving just tap water. Yes, our plant with the worm tea had 2 blooms, but I think that was just chance.

The photos tell it all. Try making some worm tea for your indoor plants.

Cheers,

Mark