As reported here throughout the past few months, the SafeLawns Foundation and the Glenstone Foundation are partnering with the University of Maryland's world-renowned turfgrass department on a long-term study to review the efficacy of organic lawn care. After months of planning, researchers broke ground in the last two weeks at test plots, both at the university's turfgrass research station and also at Glen ...

New Laws Wrongfully Restrict Organic Fertilizers [caption id="attachment_4440" align="alignleft" width="360" caption="After more than 70 years in business, Milorganite is finding its product illegal as a lawn fertilizer in some states due to the 2 percent phosphorus in the bag. Other organic fertilizers are fighting the same issue."][/caption] The coming year is shaping up as a major battleground and your l ...

The No-So-Instant Makeover: A Lawn Renovation As much as a complete new lawn construction removes much of the mystery from the process, a renovation is the ultimate horticultural puzzle. Finding the solution begins with a big multi-pronged question: What is it about your current lawn that you don’t like and what is causing the deficiencies? Somewhere along the way, you might have read Albert Einstein’s defi ...

[caption id="attachment_4411" align="alignleft" width="540" caption="As the maple leaves peaked yesterday at our organic lawn trials at Glenstone in Potomac, Md., the question arises about how to care for leaves."][/caption] That was the question during our weekly radio interview this morning. For a full analysis of whether to rake, or not, this fall . . . read on: Part I, Foliage: http://www.safelawns.org/ ...

Out on the road last week after an extended period at home or in my office, I was reminded that not EVERYONE understands the principles of organic lawn care. It's often easy to get comfortable in one's cocoon and it's useful to be reminded that, many times, new ideas are worth repeating. So I thought I'd begin this week by trotting out some of the principles of our organic lawn program, beginning with an ex ...

[caption id="attachment_4368" align="alignleft" width="547" caption="On Day 2 of the Mid-Atlantic tour an organic landscape roundtable discussion hosted by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society included PHS project managers Mark Paronish and Julie Snell, along with SafeLawns founder Paul Tukey, Glenstone horticulturist Patricia Manke and organic lawn guru Barry Draycott of New Jersey."][/caption] I just re ...

Anyone concerned with pesticide spraying should take note: PROTESTS DO WORK. For further evidence, turn to Highland Park, Ill., where 25 emails and 600-plus signatures on a petition caught the attention of local officials who ultimately delayed a plan to spray public parks with synthetic weed killers: http://highlandpark.suntimes.com/news/7810266-418/park-district-backs-off-pesticide-use.html. The issue in ...

Nearly five years after its publication, our book, The Organic Lawn Care Manual, continues to draw nice reviews. Here's this one today from About.com: http://lawncare.about.com/b/2011/09/26/book-review-the-organic-lawn-care-manual-by-paul-tukey.htm ...

SafeLawns will make its first visit to Delaware in three years when I deliver the annual Copeland Lecture for the Delaware Center for Horticulture in Wilmington at 7 p.m. "How & Why to Create a Natural Landscape" will be the general theme of the talk, which will be followed by a signing of our book, The Organic Lawn Care Manual, along with a Q&A session. The event is co-sponsored by the Delaware Grounds Man ...

This article, published last Friday in Pittsburgh, offers a fairly thorough review of natural lawn care, including links to many excellent products: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/lifestyles/homegarden/s_757182.html ...