Does an organic lawn look like a non-organic lawn?
Yes and no. You can't just take away the chemicals and expect your grass to look like a chemical lawn. Beautiful organic lawns are totally possible, but take a different approach, starting with healthy soil. With the right strategies and consistant care we can make your organic lawn look just as beautiful as any other type of lawn. If you are interested we can also help you cultivate different types of ground cover to work with the natural tendancies of the land like meadows, moss gardens and sand areas.
What are beneficial organisms, and how do they benefit me?
Beneficial organisms in agriculture are living things that help with pests and plant health. These can be things that an organic landscaper brings in to balance out problems, or it can be something living in the soil that we try to maintain. Some examples of beneficial organisms include ladybugs that eat aphids, fungi that help plants to absorb more nutrients, and nematodes that kill grubs. These things do not disrupt the local ecosystem, and are non-toxic to people and water ways. Only by creating a thriving biomass (the world in your dirt!) can you create a thriving organic landscape.
Why don't you bag my grass clippings?
A big fear we face when we say we don't bag clippings, is that there will be large clumps of dead grass all over the lawn. Norris Organics uses a mulching mower, a special mower that pulverizes clippings (and fall leaves!) into fine pieces and blows them down into the turf where they are easily broken down into the soil. This turns your clippings into food for the soil and fertilizer for your lawn. This is a key practice when maintaining an organic lawn. A mulching mower does not leave clumps behind. However, we do bag clippings around pool areas to ensure neatness and are always willing to bag clippings in other areas upon request.
How do sythetic pesticides and fertilizers affect me?
They affect you, your pets, your neighbors, future generations, and all local wildlife and water ways. Synthetics do not break down quickly in the environment. They rub off on you and your pets, and are absorbed through the skin. What is washed away enters our drinking water and the water we swim in. It also enters the fish and produce we eat. Pesticides you spray around your gardens and lawns kill bees and other pollinators, and can cause entire local hives to collapse if they feed on freshly sprayed flowers. Some of the known side effects include toxic algae blooms, fish die offs, cancer, autoimmune disease, infertility, and hormone imbalance. For more statistics and information regarding the effects of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides visit the pages listed on our resources page.
What are invasive species?
Plants that have been introduced to the region from other parts of the world and aggressively displace the native ecosystem are considered invasive. Not all introduced species become invasive, but the ones that do create considerable damage that is difficult and expensive to undo. Plants like Bamboo can grow into and crumble foundations, pull up decking and crush septic systems. Multiflora Rose and Chinese Bittersweet create thick masses of vines that suffocate native trees and forest floors and leave room for little else. Japanese Knotweed spreads so aggressively that it actually reduces your property value if it is found growing nearby. Purple Loosestrife chokes out entire swaths of wetlands, blocking water flow and access to the shoreline and eliminating aquatic habit. Let Norris Organics help you select native and non-invasive plantings for your landscape and help you come up with a plan of action to control or eradicate invasives before you have to deal with expensive structural damage and loss of regional biodiversity.