Create Your Own Organic Fertilizer For Your Residential Lawn
Posted on: 18 April 2017
A beautiful lawn is a key element of an attractive residence. To produce a thriving lawn, you must have consistent lawn care and fertilization. Here are some ways that you can make and use your own organic fertilizer to grow a thriving green lawn:
Build a Compost Pile
You can create your own natural fertilizer for your lawn with a simple composter. To build a composter, fence off an area of your lawn where you can pile up organic materials such as kitchen scraps, coffee grounds and tea leaves, dried leaves, garden clippings, and even shredded paper. Sprinkle water over the pile of organic material and allow it to decompose. With a pitchfork, turn the organic materials once a week to thoroughly mix them and introduce oxygen into the pile. Monitor your compost pile by feeling it for internal heat generated by the decomposing vegetation. When the compost pile becomes crumbly and is no longer warm to the touch, it is ready to use as fertilizer.
Build a Worm Farm
Worms can be farmed to produce worm castings and worm water to fertilize your lawn. You can build a worm farm with two lidded plastic bins, one slightly larger than then other. Drill holes in the top and bottom of the small bin and set it on a overturned flower pot on the bottom of the large bin. This will allow liquids from the small bin to drain into the large bin. Pile shredded newspapers and garden cuttings into the bottom of the small bin. Add soil and sand on top of the newspapers and then add worms. You can purchase worms at a good home and garden center. Add fruit and vegetable scraps on top of the worms and sprinkle with water. Sprinkle water on the worm farm every few days along with more fruit and vegetable scraps. In a few weeks, you will see liquid dripping from the small container and worm castings on the bottom of the small container. Gather up the worm castings and disperse them on your lawn as fertilizer. Also, pour the liquid from the bottom of your worm farm into a larger container and fill the container with water. Sprinkle this diluted liquid on your lawn as liquid fertilizer.
Recycle Grass Clippings
Mowing your lawn produces many pounds of grass clipping that can yield nitrogen as they decompose. Instead of collecting and disposing of your grass clippings, allow them to fall back onto the lawn, decompose naturally, and feed your lawn. Water your lawn after you mow it to wash the grass clippings down toward the soil so they can decompose faster.
Soil Aeration
To create the best growth environment for your lawn, you need to provide your lawn with air through soil aeration. Soil aeration is accomplished by digging holes in your lawn and pulling plugs of soil and grass roots out. These aeration holes will allow water, fertilizer, and oxygenated air to penetrate deeply into the soil where the grass roots can access them. You can aerate your lawn by buying or renting a soil aerator or by simply repeatedly plunging a pitchfork into the surface of your lawn. When using a pitchfork, gently twist the fork tines after plunging them into the lawn to make bigger holes.
Continual Lawn Feedings
An effective way to have a thriving green lawn is to fertilize every time you irrigate. You can do this by adding diluted liquid fertilizer from your worm farm in small amounts to your irrigation water.
Within a month or two, your lawn will respond to the fertilizer and grow rich and green. You can then enjoy your lawn with the knowledge that you created and used your own organic fertilizer to make it thrive.
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