I often get called on by home owners for free advice on organic lawn care. Sometimes, particularly this year, it can be tough. If a lawn is dead or diminished due to summer stress, about the only way to revitalize it, is to slice seed it in the month of September. For the most part, that requires the services of a professional. The slice seeders are heavy, a little hard to rent and it takes a while to get the hang of them.

Of course, another way is to core aerate, spread seed and top dress with compost. That’s a little easier but more labor intensive. If the lawn is really dead, it has to be torn up, top dressed with soil and seeded. We would tear up the dead grass with a power rake, but an iron rake with a lot of elbow grease or a roto-tiller can also do the trick.

I’ll be speaking at the Arnold Arboretum on Tuesday, September 28. The topic is organic lawn care for home owners. I’ll be trying to switch my focus from what we would do to how a regular do-it-yourselfer would tackle lawn care problems.

Contact us today for more information on the upcoming Organic Lawn Therapy course or our professional organic lawn care services.

Photo courtesy of Nancy Bosold of the “Gardening in the Keystone State” blog.