• First Transition Level – The Awakening

  This first step aggressively addresses the keystone component of a healthy organic turf system: soil health. By taking a solid foundation for an organic turf system. Improving the soil’s biological health will also stabilize soil pH, increase percentages of organic matter present in the soil and make nutrients available that are otherwise “tied up” in the soil and eliminate nutrient run off and nonpoint pollution sources.

  • – By adding an array of food sources, we begin to restore and regenerate microbial life in the soil biology. This process is sustained as part of your routine application program.

  • – By balancing the pH, we establish a more comfortable living area for soil microbes, which makes soil nutrients more readily available to the grass plants.

  • – By adding well-aged compost topdressing and core aeration, we reduce soil compaction, providing a more favorable soil profile for air and water absorption, thus establishing a healthier and more vigorous root system that grows deeper and becomes more resilient in the face of drought.

  • – Bio-herbicides (EPA-registered products derived from naturally occurring materials) are applied to reduce weed pressure.

  • – The introduction of hand-selected grass seed blends is customized by our team based on their expert knowledge of the best cultivars for our organic programs.

• Second Transition Level – The Essential Seven

  The Second Transition Level – The Essential Seven Program is similar to the Awakening Program. We still need to manage turfgrass weeds with bio-herbicides, make pH corrections, reduce soil compaction, add new and improved grass seeds, and continue the regenerative process to improve the soil biology. If any further adjustments to pH or additions of organic matter are made during the second transition level, they should be minimal in comparison to the first transition level.

  If any further adjustments to pH or additions of organic matter are made during the second transition level, they should be minimal in comparison to the first transition level.

  • – Improve the soil biology. This process of feeding the soil will continue throughout the life of your organic turf system and become a part of your routine maintenance application program.

  • – Monitor the pH. The first transition level began to establish a more comfortable living space for soil microbes. Monitoring the pH will keep the microbes active and, in turn, make soil nutrients more readily available to the grass plants.

  • – Core-aeration and compost topdressing will help decrease compaction and allow air, water, and food sources for soil microbes to become more abundant, adding to the stability of the soil biology

  • – We continue the use of bio-herbicides (EPA-registered products derived from naturally occurring materials) to reduce weed pressure. As turfgrass becomes healthier and thicker, these applications are reduced

  • – As in traditional or conventional lawn care, the fall season is the ideal time for the introduction of new and improved grass seed blends. In an organic turf system fall season seeding is an important step in building a dense turf. New selections introduced each year add to your lawn’s resistance against drought and disease.

  • – Improve cultural practices. Ensuring that your lawn is cut at an appropriate height to maximize photosynthesis and improve turf density plays a vital role in the health of your lawn. Proper irrigation is also critical. Lawns are commonly damaged by overwatering. In most cases, frequent, quick, and ill-timed watering will lead to shallow, weak roots and top growth that becomes susceptible to fungal diseases.

• Third Transition Level – Just The Organics Please

  By reaching the Third Transition Level – Just the Organics Please program, your lawn and landscape have transitioned to an economically efficient, ecologically balanced, healthy environment that is teeming with life.

  • – Now, your soil is a living ecosystem full of microorganisms, living creatures that need to be fed and stimulated into action from time to time. You need to continuously improve your soil’s biology. The food sources for this biology may change, but this act of feeding the soil will continue as part of your organic maintenance program.

  • – You must monitor the pH of your soil. Once we have balanced the soil pH, we’ll take soil samples and provide a soil test every third year. Our soils are naturally acidic, and to keep the pH at the appropriate level, we apply lime seasonally.

  • – Compost topdressing is applied only when necessary.

  • – Substituting annual fall mechanical core aeration with biological means is a possibility as your organic lawn matures.

  • – By removing bio-herbicides from the program, we have accomplished our goal of requiring just the organics.

  • – Spring and fall introductions of improved grass seed blends can become the best way to have a weed-free, organic lawn. Our team continually reviews new grass seed science to bring you the best seed blend for your organic lawn.

  • – Maintain cultural practices. McCoy Horticultural will make sure that we follow current best practices and strict cultural practices when weekly lawn mowing visits take place. Routine irrigation system checks ensure that sprinkler heads are operating correctly and plants are watered properly.

Details of The Organic Lawn Care Services We Offer

• Soil Testing

  As a crucial first step in any lawn/land care undertaking, soil testing is the only way to tell what types of minerals, nutrients, and biological components are in your soil. It will also tell you if you have a harmful high salt content from previous synthetic fertilizer applications. With this information in hand, we will be able to determine what inputs your soil will need. Always remember that a healthy lawn starts with healthy soil.

• Core Aerating

  An essential practice for any turf management service; when performed correctly, it helps relieve compaction, which is detrimental to the health of soil biology and allows for more oxygen and water infiltration into the soil.

  However, what sets us apart is that we do this aeration in conjunction with our compost topdressing.

• Compost Topdressing

  An excellent way to add much needed organic matter to your soil is compost topdressing. Organic matter helps soften soils, aids in water retention, and provides a food source for the microbial life in your soil. By ‌implementing this topdressing along with our core aeration, we can incorporate the compost into deeper layers of the soil profile, where it is even more beneficial.

• Compost Tea Applications

  Compost tea is an application used to introduce, increase, and invigorate the microbial life in your soil. In many soils, the microbial life has been dramatically depleted by the use of synthetic pesticides and salt-based fertilizers that kill these organisms.

  By applying a concentrated source of live microorganisms, we will begin the process of rebuilding your soil’s health.

• Organic/Natural Fertilizer Applications

  Now that we have started to rebuild the health of your soil, the last thing we want to do is to set it back again by using salt-based synthetic fertilizers. By using only natural and organic fertilizers, we can supplement any nutritional needs of your soil while building the cornerstone of your organic program.

• Overseeding

  The best way to compete organically against weeds is to have a thick, healthy stand of turfgrass. We accomplish this by seeding twice a year. We seed once in the early spring to help thicken your lawn and out-compete any germinating weeds. We will overseed again in late summer when weed pressure is decreasing, soil temperatures are still warm, and cooler, damp nights aid with speedy germination. An optimal fall seeding value consists of core aeration, overseeding, and compost topdressing. This three-pronged approach is a can’t-miss recipe for quick germination and a way to get the most results from overseeding during the optimal time of the year.

• Lawn Mowing Services

  Cutting your grass can be one of the most critical factors in maintaining its long-term health. We always cut at 3.5 to 4 inches, which is the appropriate height to ensure the plant is not overly stressed. This correct mowing height maintains enough leaf tissue for the grass plants to perform their daily life functions. Also, a taller mowing hight keeps the surface soil shaded to help to inhibit weed seed germination, aids in moisture retention and will also help keep the surface soil cooler.

• Bio-herbicide

  These applications (EPA registered products derived from naturally occurring materials) are used to reduce weed pressure. As soil quality improves and stands of turfgrass become more healthy and thicken up, these applications are reduced to spot applications or eliminated.