Organic Lawn Care Case Studies

Organic Lawn Care Service in the Real World

Week 0

Inspection

We inspected and made determinations to the customized approach in order correct the lawn issues in this new home. We noticed discoloration along the side walk and the pathway leading to the backyard gate, a very weak backyard turf, a bare spot in the middle of the front yard, where a plant used to be. Yellowing on localized areas can be a telltale sign of lawn stress. This can be due to compaction, nutrient levels, pH levels, excessive salt, or a combination of one or more factors. We noticed the soil specifically found in North Austin has a majority clay composition. That when moist can be very soft to the lightest amount of pressure. This can make the lawn greatly unfitted for any activity when wet. Unlike its counterparts along Mopac and in South Austin, lawns in North Austin, Round Rock, and Georgetown area need far more care on the side of the homeowner. Neighbors may unknowingly cause damage by simply walking on the lawn, especially immediately after a rain. If we truly want to revive this lawn back to its former glory, further inspection of the lawn's soil composition, macro and micro nutrients, pH level, salt content has to be known.

To further guide us, we inspected the grass blades to look for obvious nutrient deficiencies. Ocular inspection suggested nitrogen deficiency. This was confirmed by a subsequent soil test using the zone sampling method. The zone sampling method separates the lawn into different zones to give the most accurate representation of the soil's current condition on a given area. This is best used when there is a localized issue or inconsistency. Another typically used method is the field sampling, where samples are taken all over the lawn and are then mixed to "average" out the data. Both have their uses in different situations. In this case, we noticed that in areas where the deficiencies are pronounced, thousands of mini live oak spouts have germinated. This is on top of the dozens of crabgrass and broad leaf weeds along the fence of the backyard lawn. The previous provider was close to suggesting a complete re-do of the backyard. However, we felt that this would be a great challenge for us and our lawn program, a system we developed in collaboration with other experts in Agriculture from around the world. Clients are normally surprised to know that we travel to other countries specifically to find best practices and revolutionize the way we handle our lawn in Austin.

Soil pH test confirmed a very strong alkalinity. Alkalinity and acidity levels have a direct effect to the amount of movable and immovable nutrients like Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sulphur, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Manganese, Boron, Copper and Zinc, among others, that are available and can retained by the soil. Our goal is to hover around the goldiluck's zone of 6.2 to 7.3 pH level range, depending on the type of turf you have. This will give the lawn the best possible balance of nutrients before adding organic matter and other nutrient rich amendments for a sustainable development of the lawn. The common problem we see from homeowners and other lawn care professionals alike is to generously spread commonly available synthetic granular fertilizers at big box stores, eventually burning the lawn, making it turn brown, and killing a lot of microorganisms along the way. For your lawn, the best rule of thumb is to think that slow is fast, and fast is slow because it takes time for nature to nurture.

The approach we took for this specific lawn was multifaceted. We first had to loosen up the soil through core aeration to let the roots breath and easily absorb more nutrients. This have been covered extensively on previous blog posts. We then had to remove the strongest of the infesting weeds and live oak spouts. Afterwards, we applied the right amount of top dressing to aid in repairing the lawn. This also adds more organic materials back to the soil. Organic amendments and natural conditioners to adjust the pH level to lessen salt levels were applied. The trick is to make sure we are adding the proper amount organic matter using the results from the soil test, add the proper amount of water, and then mow much more frequently a few weeks later. Even when the lawn has not grown much, mowing more often encourages the lawn to use all the nutrients available to regrow and repair. This calls for a weekly lawn mowing as it is really impossible to successfully recover the lawn under any other service intervals. There has to be constant monitoring to check the reaction of the lawn to make the necessary adjustments as needed. It was a slow but highly effective scientific process that has proved itself to be very successful time and again. There is little arguing with the results. At Week 7, the lawn has recovered, and the more time passes by, the better the lawn will look as the organic amendments break down to its natural cycle.

Week 7 and Week 20

Works on Problem Areas

On this second example, another client had a couple of problem areas. A big name full service provider was unsuccessful in installing new sods a year earlier. The sods did not take, the client told us. It was a very tough challenge at the time because we were unsure what went wrong with the previous provider's project. We analyzed the problem and recommended a round of new sods to be installedto expedite the recovery process and remove time from the equation. Naturally, the client was concerned and a bit hesitant because they had already been burned before. In this case, we guaranteed the new sods would "take" and be alive over a period of 30 days. As seen in the photos, the maintenance program was used to full effect. At day 60, the sods are propagating quite well. The new sods "take" and the project was successful. At day 90, the owner had let the dogs out in the backyard. This was a concern. We were not aware the dogs would be let in the backyard. Notice small dotted yellow patches on isolated areas have appeared. This is where the dogs would normally pee. Because dogs are carnivorous, their pee have large amounts of Nitrogen, which burns the lawn. This situation is exacerbated with larger breeds. In this situation, that is exactly the case. This is the reason why it is very important to wash away the dog pee to dilute nitrogen levels and lessen burn marks. This is very similar to having synthetic fertilizers poured over one spot. The best practice is to get the dog trained to pee and poop on one specific spot in the backyard. This way, proper planning can be done to accommodate the pet.

Works at Anytime of the Year

The same program was performed extensively on a recent project we had in South Austin. In this case, two previous reseeding applications from other providers failed to revive this football field. 50K Professional Lawn Services LLC was eventually contracted to help revive the football field below. Our expertise in lawn care accurately assessed the situation and performed the proper corrections. We even had an independent laboratory confirm our results. Our maintenance program was used to help our community regain a fresh new football field to use. Our clients, partners, and the community were pleased with the results.

Note the discoloration towards the edges in the after photo is a result from heat stress. The sprinkler system of the field did not have sufficient zones to completely cover the edges. Since this install was done in Summer, there had not been enough time for the grass to deeply root. Portions were hand watered for an extended period of time to prevent the lawn from receding. But despite the lack of watering on certain areas, the results showed that the program can be successful at anytime of the year. It is of course much easier to do in Spring.

Afterthought

We are fully aware that you may find contradicting information on other websites. In the lawn care industry, there are a lot of misinformation from special interest groups and companies that benefit from selling ethically questionable products. No matter how harmful they are to our waterways, sewers, lakes, and overall environment. Our company mindset has always been to think of organic, natural, and creative ways to solve lawn and landscape problems. It is simply the right thing to do because there is no other substitute for our environment.

Should you need help or have any questions that you'd like us to answer, please don't hesitate to contact us .

Roof Clearance

Maintaining proper roof clearance is crucial to lessen roof damage due to hanging limbs being blown away during a storm or insect infestation after months worth of tree debris pile up on gutters and roof crevices. We have seen spiders, cockroaches, millipedes, poisonous centipedes, and in extreme cases mold and mildew on people's roofs. All of these issues can be avoided and thousands of dollars worth of pest control services be saved with regular maintenance from your lawn care provider. If you have mature trees around your home, make sure to have them checked at least once a year. This ensures you are ahead of all your home's exterior maintenance.

Live Unedited Onsite Video Recordings.

These videos will show you the amount of roaches on this small pile of tree debris. There were 5 of this kind of pile on our client's roof. The main issue in this situation is that once the roaches have infiltrated the house, they can be very hard to fully eradicate. By cleaning the roof, we are an inch closer in controlling the infestation. In cases like this one, we almost always seek assistance from pest control specialists.