Our goal was to manage our acre of grass completely organically without the use of any chemicals. Dr. Eric Nelson of Cornell University accurately describes our approach to lawn management: "The challenge of the turfgrass manager is to become an expert not only in the management of what everyone can see above the ground, but in the management of the beneficial soil microorganisms to maximize turfgrass health." A key part of managing these beneficial soil microorganisms is our management of soil organic matter.

Our lawn care year starts in early February when we apply corn gluten. As the soil microorganisms break down the corn gluten, nutrients are released. An additional benefit is that the corn gluten prevents the germination of weed seeds such as crabgrass. When it's time to mow the grass, our mulching mower returns the finely cut clippings to the soil, which the beneficial organisms then convert to nutrients, which in turn helps sustain the lawn. Lawns are notorious for their appetites so once the warm weather increases the rate of growth, additional nutrients are provided by injecting a liquid organic fertilizer, made from feather and blood meal, through the irrigation system.

Compost tea is applied bimonthly with a boom sprayer. This adds to the health of the lawn by directly stimulating the growth and diversity of the beneficial soil microorganisms. After aerating the lawn, which we do several times a year, we apply a top dressing with compost made from our own green waste.

Diversity and sustainability go together. Our practices promote diversity of soil microorganisms, which provides myriad benefits such as nutrient cycling, disease prevention, and stress reduction. The variety of nutrient sources encourages the desired diversity of the beneficial soil microorganisms. We intentionally encourage a mixture of grasses and other plant species that make up our lawn to provide a resilience and sutstainability not available with a single species of grass.

All of these practices result in the lush green lawn you enjoy when you visit Lotusland- and it's all done without chemicals.