In the United States, the total area covered by lawns comprises more than 30 million acres and there are around 200 different pesticides which are available for lawn care. The sad thing is that the majority of households resort to the commercial and chemical fertilizers and pesticides which contain harmful elements in them.

The best alternative to these chemical fertilizers and pesticides is to use organic lawn care products on your lawn. The two most important ways to get hold of organic lawn care products is either to manufacture it yourself or to buy it from the market. Organic lawn care products are a great option since there is no health hazards associated with it. So, it is great for you and your family. As far as the environment is concerned, the benefits of organic products are manifold.

To be more precise, there are many reasons why you should eschew chemical fertilizers and opt for organic products. The most important reasons are obviously the health of your family and the environmental factors.

Just as you need food to survive, so does your lawn. There are, in fact, sixteen needed elements for a lawn to survive and thrive in green glory. Most of these elements are a part of nature and need little from you to help your lawn’s success. Others, however, definitely need your attention and should be attended to.

Don’t dash out to the store just yet to get a complete fertilizer kit and a thousand dollars worth of stuff you probably won’t need. First, let’s get to know your lawn and why it needs these things and how you can provide them for it.

Nitrogen is one of the most talked about and least understood element in lawn care. Everyone knows what nitrogen is and that plants need it, but that’s about the extent of their knowledge. Just because a fertilizer or spray has nitrogen in it doesn’t mean it’s getting to your lawn in the way your lawn needs it. Did you know that nitrogen is what gives grass it’s green color? It also naturally helps fight off pests and bugs. Nitrogen is absorbed through the root system, not the atmosphere, so spraying it on your lawn doesn’t always have the desired effect.

Our town, is in an area heavily forested with pine trees, but my two lots and others to the north and south are what would be called a clearing in most forests. The reason, the soil too thin over an impervious underlayer for trees to grow, save one and its the problem in my story.

I have always been an enthusiastic gardener but I shied away from roses. They were more trouble than their worth, pruning, spraying, etc. After moving to Oregon I acquired by purchase a house, two lots and a few scraggly rose bushes. All I knew to do for them was to give them water (not enough though I later learned).

After a long period of neglect they responded so slowly that I said in disgust, “Im going to dig’em up and plant a lawn.” Next spring came and they suddenly took off and I found myself a rose grower.

Not many of the original planting remain. I learned by trial and error which would and would not grow (for me, let us say). White and most of the red varieties are best left alone.