Now that spring is fully blooming and temps across the entire country are getting hotter, it is time to think about lawn care, and more importantly, fertilization! But do you want to go natural or organic? Do you know what that really means? After all, organically treated lawns look much better when they are treated properly! Bet you didn’t know that!

Naturally treated or organically fertilized lawns respond just a little slower because organics need proper, prolonged heat in order to release their nitrogen and other nutrients into the soil. Traditional synthetic fertilizers, however, only need water to dissolve and hit the soil line. This means that organics won’t produce any results until later in the year. Organics, however, do have the advantage of being slow release, feeding the lawn over time.

You should not get discouraged, however, because the slow release nature of natural fertilizers will pay off in much longer terms. Picture a child who eats sugar for a moment. That child will explode with energy for a short time and crash to sleep. This is how fast releasing synthetic fertilizers work too. They feed the lawn fast and hard, and then leave nothing in their wake. Slow releasing naturals are much better for long term turf health.

Now that you know why organics are better, here are a few of the best ones I can recommend for your lawn care regimen.

Organic Milorganite: This natural fertilizer turns many people off, but does deliver the very best results. Milorganite is reclaimed sewerage from Milwaukee. But don’t let that stop you because it is really a good fertilizer and does NOT smell bad at all. In fact, Milorgaite also contains slow releasing chelated iron that will turn your lawn a nice blue color, giving you the best lawn on the block. This is the best of the organics in my opinion.

Corn Gluten Meal: Once touted as the perfect lawn fertilizer for organically minded consumers, corn gluten offers many benefits. First off, it delivers the nitrogen we want to turn the lawn greener, slowly. In addition, build up of the gluten in the soil will work as a natural insect deterrent too. That is a nice bonus in areas of the country that have problems with grub worms. Corn gluten can be used all year long when temps are above 60 degrees.

Worm Castings: Finally, and most strangely, is the organic fertilizer for turf derived from earth worm castings. This one is harder to find, but is well worth the extra effort. Many folks are totally against the use of any animal by-products in their fertilizers and worm castings fit their needs. The nitrogen produced by earth worms is very clean and pure and lawns just love it! Give this one a try if you can get some in your local area.

Other than that, you should properly mow and water your lawn all year long to keep it in top shape! I wish you the best of luck in your organic lawn care endeavors this season!