If your soil and turf are healthy, you might think that the
soil would be able to generate its own organic content. This is not necessarily
true. The ideal soil is open and crumbly, giving the grass roots
plenty of room to grow full and deep. When digging, you should find a large
population of earthworms and microbes; these are the good guys in your soil.
When earthworms, microbes and roots die off they decompose, raising the soils’
organic levels for new soil life. This cycle is referred to as the Soil Food
Web, where roots, earthworms, and microbes are constantly recycling themselves.
Truly healthy soil has between 3% and 5% organic material.
That level can be maintained ONLY IF organic matter is added to the soil at the
surface year in and year out. Plants, earthworms, and microbes need that extra matter
to support healthy soil. In the woods and grasslands, that added organic matter
came from dead leaves or dead grasses decomposing each year. We need to repeat that
process in our lawns to be able to maintain a healthy organic content in our
soil.
Very few residential landscapes have soil this rich with
organic material. The truth is soil beneath our lawns typically contains less
than 1% organic material. This is because over a ten or twenty year period not
only was no new organic material introduced, but the main source of these
materials such as leaves and grass clippings have been collected and transported
to local landfills. What a waste!
Healthy soil needs a steady supply of new organic material.
It’s constantly decomposing, adding nutrients for the grass and plants, and
must be replaced. Decomposed grass clippings and other organic material don’t
have much food value left, but they’re valuable in aerating the soil, storing
water and in feeding key microorganisms needed for other tasks. Leaving grass
clippings on the lawn might provide some organic material; it is not enough to
consistently provide 3 or 5 %. This is why we need to add more.
How can we add extra organic matter, you ask?
The solution is simple, and one you may not be familiar
with; top dressing. Top dressing a lawn is the process of adding a fine layer
of quality compost to your lawn. The quick & easy method involves simply
working the compost into the grass with the back of a landscaper’s rake or a
stiff broom (making sure not to smother grass with compost) and watering
thoroughly. In only a few days, you’ll notice your lawn taking on a strong,
healthy appearance; greening up where before there were patches of brown grass.
The “Professional” method is the same process with one
exception; aerate soil before adding compost. If you have an irrigation system
you’ll need to make it’s marked with flags before aeration (don’t want to poke
holes in pipes now, do we?) Then proceed as you would for the quick & easy
method, making sure to water well when finished. When you top dress your lawn
with compost, this organic material eventually begins to decompose. More
important, the earthworms seek it out and pull it down into the soil and eat
it.
If you don’t regularly top dress your lawn, it’s high time
to begin. It might sound like extra work, but it’ll pay off big time in
contributing to the development of healthy soil; stimulating soil life to
provide nutrients and opening soil structure so it holds air and moisture.
Harvest Blend Compost contains premium organic matter
necessary to raise soils’ organic levels to the recommended 5%. Locally
produced from quality, recycled organic materials, Harvest Blend Compost has
passed the strictest testing methods to carry the Seal of Testing Assurance
(STA) label. This means our products are free of weed seeds and pathogens,
guaranteeing product safety for your lawn and garden.
Healthy soil translates into healthier grass. Growing in soil
with 5% organic content, lawns can expand their considerable root systems, reaching
deep into the soil to tap more dependable supplies of water and nutrients. They
are more self-reliant, less dependent on us for nutrition and moisture. They do
not suffer stress. The result is fewer problems with weeds, diseases and pests.
Naturally!
For all the details on Top dressing and Harvest Blend Compost
and all its benefits, go to www.GotCompost.com
or call us at 805-925-2771.
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