The latest evolutions in organic lawn care promote soil health and family-friendly lawns, but setting customer expectations up front is key for business owners.

 

In the lawn, that deeper issue is soil health, and lawn care professionals who specialize in organics have long emphasized digging deeper — to turf roots and soil microbes — to make a long-term positive impact. 

 

In the lawn, that deeper issue is soil health, and lawn care professionals who specialize in organics have long emphasized digging deeper — to turf roots and soil microbes — to make a long-term positive impact.

 

 

The secret sauce to organics at Vande Hey is a geeky, tweaked concoction the company calls its compost tea. The company’s microbe-rich soil drench is a lot like chicken soup for the soul or an immunity drink, and Vande Hey has adapted the initial formula it acquired after purchasing an organic lawn care company in 2021.

 

When Josh Larson and his team at Greenwise in Skokie, Ill., return home after servicing clients in Chicagoland, there’s no need for a separate laundry basket for uniforms. He doesn’t have to double-wash his work clothes to be sure there was “a complete breakdown of chemicals.”

 

There are no short cuts to cultural practices, and no quick-fix replacements to improving the turf root system and soil content. Aeration, overseeding, proper mowing height — all this is just as much part of an organic program as the five-application service Greenwise offers.

 

Because of the organic establishment program, Sunderland says a typical 7% plant replacement rate in Colorado where extreme weather creates undue stress has been reduced by half.