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| I just had a quick question. Last year I put down a top-dressing of Orgro (a local compost product) on my entire lawn. The lawn looked great throughout last summer.
Is it just as good to use fertilizer three times a year instead? Or would I get as much benefit from a yearly spring top-dressing of compost? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by dchall_san_antonio 8 San Antonio (My Page) on Wed, Aug 17, 11 at 16:39
| The answer probably depends on your soil and its ability to keep soil microbes alive. If you have pure sand, then adding compost every year might be helpful. I say, might, because I have an area of pure sand and have not used compost since that one time in the 90s. In my neighborhood compost costs $35 per cubic yard. Delivery charges are another $35. App rate is 1 cubic yard per 1,000 square feet. Total cost is $$70 per 1,000 square feet. Whereas I can get soybean meal, a really good organic fertilizer, in a plain bag from the feed store for $15. It covers 2,500 square feet. Total cost is $6 per 1,000 square feet. It provides much more bang than a layer of compost. Why? Because soybean meal has protein in it. Protein is food for the soil microbes. Compost has expended protein (in other words, no protein) but it has a lot of microbes and dormant microbes. What most soil needs is food for the microbes rather than more microbes. I harvested a picture posted here by mrmumbles last June. It shows a picture of a spot in his lawn where he applied alfalfa pellets (rabbit food) in May. Here's the pic.
Note the color, density, and height differences between the zoysia in the spot and that surrounding the spot. Alfalfa is considered a good organic fertilizer but not a great one. This year I have been using an excellent organic fertilizer, corn gluten meal, every month. My lawn has never looked this good. Next year I will use about half this much and switch over to soybean meal (much cheaper). |
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| Ah, ok, that's some good information! Where do you get things like corn gluten meal, alfalfa, etc? |
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| Look up 'feed stores' in your area. Or 'horse and livestock feed stores' |
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