Outside of using 100% all natural soil additives like compost, top soil, etc, are there any suggestions for "green" lawn chemicals? I realize that may be a complete oxy-moron, but I have yet to find anything that is relatively environmnetly friendly and still packs the punch as a bag of Scott's fertilizer. If anything, I wouldn't even mind a bridge between the extremes in order to reduce the use of the more harsh chemicals.
i'm not sure what you are trying to achieve. be more specific and i can try to suggest "green" solutions. but i gotta know what you want to do/replace.
ie. you want to get rid of aphids, release lady bugs in your garden when there is dew sticking to the plants.
or you want to green it up w/out the chems: use terracycle (it's worm poop, you can buy it at home depot)
Where I live in North Oakland - nobody has a lawn. They are all crispy and brown. This isn't a result of water rationing - it's just not part of the gestalt of the neighborhood. There are a lot of yards with low-water gardens, even some front yards are vegetable gardens. My front yard just grows foxtails...
What about *not* having a lawn? Plant tomatoes instead. That's pretty darned green!
We subscribe to Organic Lawns for America. They use all organic, nontoxic fertilizers, weed-killers and soil additives. Package prices are based on area of your lawn, and they send everything right to your door. We have been pretty happy with it so far. The people there are very helpful. They will give you a free lawn analysis if you send them a few pictures and will provide helpful answers anytime. Treatments arrive UPS and they are each shipped so that they arrive at the correct time for application. The fertilizer they use is a treatment of corn gluten meal. It is not as fast acting as the nitrogen overdose that comes with Scott' fertilizer or a truck-based chemical spray-down, but will last longer and your dog can follow you around while you apply it. (Ours likes to bark at the spreader :) Corn gluten is a slow-release source of nitrogen and our lawn is nice and green a week or so after application.
Organic Lawns for America website: www.organiclawnsforamerica.com/
NaturaLawn is a company that does lawn applications and their website says that they minimize the use of harmful chemicals. That said, they do still use them, just in smaller amounts in coordination with some greener techniques.
www.richsoil.com/lawn-care.jsp has a lot of useful organic lawn care tips also.
The quantity of crap that people put on their lawn here in Minnesota amazes me.
Summer is the time of the year when everything is naturally bright green (since it seems to be the rainy season here), yet everywhere I go I see lawns with little flags warning people not to let small children or pets onto to the lawn.... and then everyone complains about algee blooms on lakes later in summer....
Do not use a grass catcher -- just leave the clippings. Also, let the grass grow 3-5 inches high, and water for 4 minutes three times a week. Aerate in the spring and fall. Add fish fertilizer three times/ year. And de-thatch. You'll have healthy and deep green lawn in about one year.
I also wanted a green fertilizer that was natural and not harmful for my son and my dog. I have been really happy with a product called Get Green that I found while browsing online one day. It's a natural composter that can be sprayed by attaching directly to a hose. I sprayed about a month ago, and so far my lawn has responded really well! It is thicker and I do not have to water nearly as much.
The maker, GET Microsolutions has another product called Get Growing that I want to try for my back yard where we have had really dead grass becuase of winter weather. This one is also organic. It is a natural composter that recycles grass clippings! I'll let you know how that one works!
