Organic Lawn Renovation: BurnOut II VS Nature's Avenger

Today is the first day of my organic lawn renovation project and it starts off with killing off my existing lawn and weeds. I didn't want to use RoundUp or other glyphosate based herbicides so it seemed like a good opportunity to compare two of the available organic weed and grass killers I mentioned in my post on organic RoundUp alternatives to see how well they work.

I reached out to St Gabriel Organics and Cutting Edge Formulations, the makers of two organic herbicides which I had been investigating, who provided me free samples for my review.

As I posted previously, there are three sections of the lawn I'm renovating and will apply BurnOut II to half of each section and Nature's Avenger to the other half.

This is a multi-day process so bookmark this post as I'll be updating it with the results. I'll also be tweeting when I update this post so please follow me on Twitter.

Smith 2 Gallon Max Contractor Sprayer Review

I needed a new pump sprayer for my lawn renovation project and the  Smith 2-Gallon Contractor Sprayer seemed to be the best garden sprayer available and at a reasonable price.

I used to own a Stanley metal pump sprayer that lasted for over a decade until the nozzle got clogged and I couldn't clean it. I was shopping around for a replacement nozzle and was about to order one when I realized I can't find my old sprayer! Don't know what might have happened to it. It's not like it's a sock.

While looking around for replacement parts I kept seeing the Smith pump sprayer and it had very good reviews and a well thought out design so I decided to purchase it.


The image on Amazon (where I ordered it) was slightly different than the sprayer I received. It seems that they have made some upgrades and re-branded it as a "Contractor Sprayer" instead of a "MAX Contractor Sprayer".

Organic Lawn Renovation: The Plan

Because I was planning on killing and reseeding parts of my lawn last year I didn't take as good care of those areas as I should have. I didn't do anything about the weeds and didn't water regularly. As a result the lawn in one section in particular has gotten very bad and it wasn't great to begin with.

Three sections will be renovated in total. Two are in decent shape but one of the sections requires a bit of regrading and I might as well reseed the other since they're in close proximity and I feel the grass should match.

Reader Question: Converting To Organic

Linda asks:

I think I need to add something to the lawn to help dethatch naturally.and maybe help the soil.  Would spreading a commercial packaged manure mixture be helpful?  At 98 cents a bag I could cover the lawn with 30 bags.

Also would you suggest an application of ammonia sulfate in the Fall to help balance the ph from years of chemicals?

thanks! ;-)

There are a few different questions here and I'll answer them one at a time. This is general advice when converting to organic lawn care.

Naturally Dethatching

First, thatch isn't a bad thing to have in your lawn. It's when you have more than a 1/2" of thatch that it can be a problem. Take a spade or shovel and cut out a square of your lawn to inspect the profile and measure the thatch layer. If it's more than 1/2" then you'll want to do something about it.

The problem with thatch is that it can prevent air, water and nutrients from going down into the roots. There are two ways to resolve this problem. One is to mechanically dethatch, the other is to core aerate. I discussed aerating vs dethatching previously. Basically dethatching removes the thatch layer and aerating creates holes in the lawn that allow air, water, etc to penetrate into the root zone.

Soil microbes and other organisms in your soil such as earthworms will help break down the thatch but lawns that have had years of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides applied will have poor soil biology and likely soil compaction. Adding compost to the lawn will improve the soil biology as well as add organic matter in the soil.

Adding Compost

Compost does a lot of great things to the lawn. It improves the soil structure, adds organic matter, helps relieve compaction, adds nutrients and enhances soil biology. It is the best thing you can add to your soil when converting from synthetics to organics. Some microbes found in soil and compost help break down the chemicals in the lawn from synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

The EPA has published this information sheet on compost describing it's use for bioremediation, disease control and other issues. Compost was even effective in remediating soil that had explosives in it!

From what I've learned it's best to use a mix of compost from different sources. Compost from plant material and composted manure. I would personally go heavier with the plant based compost because if the composted manure is not composted completely it can cause problems.

30 bags of compost at I'm assuming 2 cubic feet per bag is 60 cu ft is over 2 yards. I think you'll be better off having that compost delivered in bulk. Find a local source of plant based compost that will deliver. Lay a tarp on your driveway for them to deposit it on so it doesn't create a mess. I haven't used one but I've been thinking a Bagster Dumpster in a Bag might be good to use. Buy a few bags of composted manure and mix it in. A pitch fork works well but you can do it with a shovel too.

If you don't have a wheelbarrow, borrow, rent or buy one to help you distribute the compost and use a rake to spread it in. The Ames True Temper Kodiak Forged Level Head Rake is a good rake for this purpose.

To figure out how much compost you'll need determine the square feet of your lawn area and how many inches of compost you'd like to apply. Use the following formula.

(square ft of lawn) X (inches of compost) / 12 / 27 = Yards of compost.

If you had 5000 sq ft of lawn area and you wanted to apply 1/2" of compost it would be:

5000 X .5 / 12 / 27 = 7.7 cubic yards of compost.

It's roughly 3/4 of a yard of compost per 1000 sq ft for every 1/4" of compost you want to apply.

To determine the square footage of your lawn you can use the property survey that's likely attached to your mortgage (or you can get it from your local tax assessor I think) and use that as a guide. You can even try downloading Google Earth and using the satellite images and measuring tools to measure your lawn but going out and taking direct measurements would be the best.

Soil PH

I wouldn't add anything to the soil to adjust the pH unless I knew what the pH was. Don't guess. Send a sample of your soil to get tested by your local university cooperative extension for analysis and use that information to adjust the pH of your soil. Most likely you'll need to add lime.

The soil report you receive will give you recommendations on nutrients in your soil but will most likely recommend synthetic fertilizer applications. You can use organics instead but will need to calculate how much fertilizer to apply. For example if they tell you your soil needs 1.5 lbs of potassium per 1,000 sq ft then you need to figure out how much of your organic fertilizer to apply to give you 1.5 lbs per 1k sq ft.

What I Would Do If I Were You

Right now is the best time to start the process.

1. Determine your soil pH either by sending a soil sample to your extension office or by using a consumer soil pH tester like the Luster Leaf Rapitest Mini Soil pH/Moisture Tester. If you use the soil tester it's important that the soil is moist to get an accurate reading and you should test different locations and take an average.

2. If you have more than 1/2" of thatch I would dethatch the lawn. I don't have a large lawn so I use a manual dethatcher that also helps remove ground ivy and gives a good workout. :) If you have a larger area rent a gas powered dethatcher.

3. Whether you dethatch or not I would core aerate the lawn. Again, I have a small lawn and like to sweat so I use a Turf Hound manual aerator. Based on how much compost you're thinking of getting I assume you'd want to rent a core aerator. Many rental places will carry them. Make sure it's a core aerator and not a spike aerator. You'll want to run the aerator over your lawn multiple times in different directions. How many times you go over your lawn will depend on your model. You want to get at least 9 holes per sq ft but as many as 20 holes per square foot if your soil is very compacted or heavy clay. I'd shoot for at least 16. Leave the plugs on your lawn, don't rake them up.

4. Apply lime and organic fertilizer as needed. I've had good results with Espoma Bio-Tone Organic Starter Fertilizer. It has a good ratio of nutrients and contains beneficial microbes. Do not use corn gluten meal at this point if you plan on overseeding which I would.

5. Spread compost on your lawn. Get bulk compost delivered. If you can get a mix of composted plant material and composted manure that's your best bet. If not get the composted plant material and mix in some composted manure. Plain composted plant material is fine too. Because of the core aerating I would shoot for 1/2" of compost.

6. Spread a good quality grass seed over the lawn and water it as recommended to get good germination.

Starting next Spring use organic lawn fertilizers 3-4 times a year. Corn gluten meal in the early spring and late summer, Ringer Lawn Restore in late spring and mid fall would be a good star. Also using a pump sprayer (I like the Smith 2-Gallon Max Contractor Sprayer)  to apply soluable kelp and humic acid in late spring and a one or two times during the summer would be great. You can mix the kelp and humic acid and apply them at the same time.

Also read my mowing tips for a healthier lawn.

Hope this helps!

Jonathan Green Black Beauty Time Lapse Video

I tried to grow two containers of grass indoors. The first was Jonathan Green Dense Shade grass seed which I was hoping would do well with the limited light on my desk. The second was Jonathan Green Black Beauty grass seed mix that I'm considering using if I do a lawn renovation. I had both containers sitting on my desk and created a time lapse video of the Black Beauty Grass seed germinating as well as some of the Dense Shade I replanted because the old seed I used didn't germinate very well.

The video covers 15 days starting from the 2nd day of planting the Black Beauty grass seed.

I was surprised that Black Beauty appeared to do better in these low light conditions compared to the Dense Shade mix but the Dense Shade also had a number of issues going against it.



Black Beauty is on the left and Dense Shade on the right. Under these conditions where I could easily keep the soil moist and no direct sun was hitting the seeds to dry them out the seeds started to germinate very quickly. I used a homemade guide and a pair of scissors to cut the grass evenly a few times during the video.

I used to move the Dense Shade container onto a sunny window sill every couple of days so it could get some direct sunlight. After starting the time lapse video I had to keep the container in the same spot (more or less). At some point I started using a small desk to illuminate part of the containers to give the video a more even appearance. The side of the Dense Shade container that had direct light on it 24 hours a day from a very low wattage desk lamp did much better than the other side of the container that only had some indirect sunlight through North facing windows. The Black Beauty container on the other hand did well all over.

There were a few things going against the Dense Shade mix. First I used grass seed that was over 2 years old that gave me poor germination. Second, the potting mix was infested with fungus gnats. I used neem oil to kill them but I saw the larvae crawling around in the video a few times.

The Black Beauty didn't seem to have the same issues with the fungus gnats or at least not as bad. In the video it looks like there might have been some but the grass had grown in very thick and it was hard to see the potting mix. I did see some fungus gnats landing on the blades of grass but they may have come from the other container.

Black Beauty, as some other TTTF grass varieties are infected with endophytes (a beneficial fungus) that helps control insects. That might be the reason that there wasn't a problem but another reason might be because I didn't plant them both at the same time. I used Jungle Growth's Organic Potting Mix and I've seen other complaints about fungus gnat infestation but from what I also read this is a problem with many different potting mixes. I planted the Dense Shade as soon as I opened the bag of potting mix while it was still moist. Black Beauty on the other hand was planted weeks later and I had already filled the container with the potting mix. During those weeks the mix had dried out. This might have killed off any eggs or larvae in that container.

I chose to plant the grass in a container because it was the middle of summer and way too hot to plant the grass outdoors in a test plot and I wanted to get at least some sense of what Black Beauty might look like. So far it seems like a pretty decent grass mix with very good germination and nice color. It's also a little cheaper and more readily available than what some consider elite grass seed.

You can also read more of my thoughts on Black Beauty as well as why I'm considering Turft-Type Tall Fescue instead of Kentucky Bluegrass..

Ryobi 40V Cordless Blower Review

The leaf blower, an odd name considering I hardly ever use it to blow leaves. It's the last tool used after edging, mowing and trimming my lawn. Until recently it was my least favorite part lawn care because I used an old corded blower. The last few weeks however I've been using a Ryobi 40V Cordless Leaf Blower which has made cleaning up after mowing is a lot easier than it used to be.

Sometimes I was lazy and leave the clippings alone and let the wind and rain eventually take care of them. This left the property looking unkempt for a couple of days but the cordless blower is such a joy to use I don't think I'll ever have that problem again.

Included in my review of the Ryobi 40V Blower is a video demonstrating how well it works in different applications.