Great Lawn Series - Independence Hall, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Independence Hall is the centerpiece of Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, on Chestnut Street between 5th and 6th Streets. It is known primarily as the location where both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted.

The building was completed in 1753 as the colonial legislature (later Pennsylvania State House) for the Province of Pennsylvania. It became the principal meeting place of the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1783 and was the site of the Constitutional Convention in the summer of 1787. The building is part of Independence National Historical Park and is listed as a World Heritage Site.

To learn more about Independence Hall and Philly, visit the Independence National Historical Park site from the National Park Service.  

Sparky's Safe Lawn Tip - The Order of Fall Lawn Care Chores

Here's a great article from Mike McGrath, WTOP Garden Editor, out of Washington, DC about the Order of All Things Fall Lawn Care.  How are you handling Fall lawn care?

Carolyn in Clarksburg writes, "What do you recommend as the best order for fall lawn care tasks, specifically applying corn gluten and milky spore, aerating and over-seeding. Which should we do first?"
That's a very good list, Carolyn, and pretty much everything on that list should be done at this time of year if you have a cool season lawn. I'll give you the short answer and then go into more detail below.

• First, aerate the turf to relieve soil compaction.
• Then apply milky spore powder to wipe out grubs feeding on the roots of your grass.
• Then you pretty much have to make a choice. Either overseed to fill in bare spots or apply corn gluten meal to give your lawn a big fall feeding that will also prevent weeds like plantain, chickeed and henbit from germinating. Corn gluten prevents all seed germination, so it would also prevent the new grass from coming up.

Aeration often the cure for a problem lawn
For cool season lawns (fescue, bluegrass and rye) that have seen a lot of foot traffic and were originally installed on unimproved clay, you can't go wrong by starting off the fall lawn care season with some core aeration to relieve soil compaction.

To do it right, you need to rent a machine called a ‘core aerator.' These devices pull little plugs out of your turf, allowing the roots of your grass to have the extra breathing room that can turn a so-so lawn into a vibrant one. You can leave the little plugs on your lawn to rot, or rake them up and compost them. Just be sure to only return that compost to the lawn if you have your turf treated with herbicides.

But don't fall for gimmicks like the famous ‘lawn aerating sandals' that just poke holes in your turf, you must pull plugs out of the soil to make more breathing room for your roots.

Milky spore now can prevent grubs through 2040
Next up on the fall lawn care calendar, the spreading of milky spore powder to control lawn grubs. As we mention frequently, milky spore - which has been around for half a century - is a great, natural way to control lawn grubs. But the powder has to be ingested by live grubs in warm soil, making the timing critical.

Luckily, the ideal time is now. The soil temperature is perfect and this summer's baby grubs are chowing down heartily on the roots of your poor turf. Apply the milky spore now, the grubs will ingest the spores, join the Choir Invisible and become little milky spore factories, protecting your lawn from grubs for decades to come.

Overseed? Or corn gluten for fall feeding and weed control
The last two chores are over-seeding to fill in bare spots and using corn gluten meal to feed the lawn and prevent cool season weeds. But since corn gluten prevents the germination of all seeds, the only way to do both would be to sow the new seed, wait until it has been up and growing for at least two weeks and then spread the corn gluten meal. I'm not sure if gluten will prevent the germination of any late season weeds at that point, but it would provide an excellent fall feeding.

Still, it would be wiser to choose. If your lawn has bare spots, it would be better to sow some fresh seed and choose a different organic fertilizer. But if the lawn is in pretty good shape, a corn gluten feeding now could prevent some pesky weed problems next season.

Compost for fall lawn feeding? There's an app for that
Without a doubt the No. 1 chore for those of you with cool season lawns is a big fall feeding. Cool season lawns like fescue, rye and bluegrass need their biggest feeding of the season right now to help them recover from that brutal summer we all endured.

Long-time listeners know that I advocate spreading compost over the turf for this job, as compost feeds the grass, helps eliminate thatch and improves the very structure of your soil. The big question has always been 'exactly how do I do this?' There's a new answer in town thanks to loyal listener Matt in Laurel, who found a compost spreader at the Gempler's website.

It's a big steel drum with a long handle. You fill it with compost, roll it over your lawn and the black gold comes out the mesh openings. Feed your lawn with this barrel of fun.

Sparky's Safe Lawn Tip - 5 Things You Need to Know About Chemical Lawn Care

At Natural Turf, we're all about The Better Way to Organic and Organic-Based Lawn Care.  We're don't believe in chemicals, pesticides or anything else that's harmful to the environment, your health, your family and your pets.
 
Here's a great article from our friends at GreenerGreenGrass about why we do what we do. 

1. What is Chemical Lawn Care? You know the companies – they’re big and powerful and promise perfect green lawns.  And they can often deliver, but only temporarily.  These lawns are treated with fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides that are made from synthetic chemicals.  I’m not anti-chemical (I’m a chemist, after all), but there is no justifiable reason to be putting this stuff in our outdoor living spaces.
2. Why is Chemical Lawn Care Bad for People and Pets? The biggest culprit is chemical pesticide – this is the really scary stuff.  All chemical lawn pesticides have to be registered with the EPA, not because this qualifies them as safe, but because they are technically poisons.  Many of them contain carcinogens, have been linked to birth defects, reproductive effects, neurotoxicity, liver or kidney damage, and have been shown to be sensitizers and/or irritants.  Yeah, I want to keep off that grass.
3. Why is Chemical Lawn Care Bad for the Planet? We sometimes forget that whatever we apply to the lawn is not all soaked up by the grass.  In fact, when fertilizers are over-applied (as often encouraged by the big chemical lawn care companies) most of it runs off anyway (along with the money you invested).  By the way, this is true of all fertilizers, including natural and organic ones – over-application is unnecessary and not good for the watershed.  Lawn pesticides and herbicides add to the chemical burden of the environment – they can be a quick fix, but the long-term effects are worth considering.
4. Why is Chemical Lawn Care Bad for Your Lawn? While it is true that these products can have very quick, seemingly positive effects on your lawn, these results are short-term.  When a chemical pesticide is applied, it kills off some of the good bugs too, including some of the key bacteria and microorganisms in the soil.  If your soil is unhealthy, it won’t be able to sustain the health of the grass plants, so you’ll have to apply more fertilizer to provide nutrients to the lawn.  It’s a vicious cycle – Just Say No to Lawn Chemicals!
5. What Are the Alternatives to Chemical Lawn Care? Instead of chemical pesticides, there are a lot of DIY options like garlic spray, neem, chili peppers, chrysanthemum tea, castor bean, and mineral oil.  The best way to avoid chemical herbicides is to make your lawn healthy.  Weeds grow because they are stronger than the grass plant; the logical solution is to make your grass stronger.  This starts with healthy soil and the right combination of added nutrients.  Natural lawn fertilizers can be as simple as manure or compost, and you know we love the liquid products because they are more readily absorbed into the grass roots.

Great recap.  We'd love to hear some of your thoughts - what are your reasons for choosing natural-based lawn care?  

Sparky's Safe Lawn Tip - 5 Chemical-Free Fixes for Common Lawn Problems

From OrganicGardeningMagazine.com

Like many problems for which chemicals seem like a quick, easy fix, lawn problems can usually be corrected without nerve-damaging and ecohazardous chemicals like glyphosate (used in Roundup) and 2,4-D (used in products made by Scotts and Weed B Gone).

Here are some of the most common lawn and yard problems you’ll encounter, what they signify, and how to fix them:

1. Clover
Some weeds you can eat, some weeds are pretty, and other weeds are signs of a problem. If you want your lawn to be healthy, clover is a good weed to have in the landscape. It usually appears when your soil is low in nitrogen levels, but it helps fix the problem by bringing nitrogen to the soil. Solution: Leave it alone! When you mow, the clover clippings will add nitrogen to your lawn, helping to fix the problem without fertilizer.

2. Dandelions
Dandelions indicate that your grass isn’t developing healthy roots, or that there are nutrient problems in your soil. The turf may be either low in calcium, too high in potassium, or too acidic. Get a soil test to find out what’s out of whack, and use the results to strategize ways to balance out the nutrients. You can use a spray of undiluted white vinegar to kill the existing weeds (aim carefully so you don’t zap too much nearby grass), or dig out their deep root systems with a dandelion weeder.

3. Crabgrass
It only takes a little bit of sunlight breaking through your grass to allow crabgrass to grow, and usually it appears when you’ve mowed the lawn too short. Dig out the crabgrass, roots and all, and then set your mower’s blade higher. Corn gluten will help prevent crabgrass, too. But, again, it has to be applied in early spring, before the crabgrass has taken root.

4. Bare or ragged patches
Bare spots in your lawn may be a sign of nothing more than heavy traffic or too much dog stuff. If heavy traffic is the culprit, consider replacing grass with a gravel walkway, and make dog-poop cleanup part of your weekly lawn maintenance. However, bare spots may also be caused by armyworms, which you’ll probably be able to see crawling around in the soil. Rather than resort to fertilizers or additional grass seed, kill the armyworms off with beneficial nematodes, which you can buy from online retailers.

5. Brown grass
This is usually a sign of overmowing, which prevents the grass from getting enough water. Set your mower a little higher and mow less frequently. The higher you allow your grass to grow, the better it retains moisture, especially during hot, dry spells. Sometimes brown grass is a sign of nutrient depletion, in which case you may want to plant some clover to help affix nitrogen in the soil. A soil test will tell you if your soil needs added nutrients. Brown grass may also be caused by white grubs, a pest that can be eliminated with the same beneficial nematodes used to fix bare patches.

Do you have any special fixes?  We'd love to hear them!