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Beneficial Nematodes and Composted Doody

Hello C.J.,

I have some questions. I hope it won't be too much.

A year ago, I bought a house with virtually a destroyed lawn and landscape. I said to myself...that's no problem because I will be able to create it myself from scratch. I started last spring by redoing the front and backyard lawn. I seeded a blend of ryegrass, creeping red fescue and KBG. The problem is that before I began redoing the lawn, I had to treat the soil with nematodes as I had a big problem with grubs in my lawn so I couldn't put fertilizer on my lawn because it kills the nematodes thus the treatment is useless. Keep in mind that at that time, I didn't know that we could put organic starting fertilizer. As you might probably know, I will retreat it with nematodes this fall. So...my new lawn didn't receive any fertilizer since the establishment and it starting to bother me as I will overseed and treat with nematodes again. 

What should I do? 
1. Should I overseed and wait until next spring to fertilize? 
Should I overseed and put down an organic starter fertilizer? If so, do you know any brand? I know of"Myke" but this starter fertilizer is only a step one - Spring fertilizer 10-3-3. Here is the "Myke" website: http://www.premiertech.com/myke/mycorise/gardening/indoorplant/mykepottingmix/fpottingmix.htm 
3. I heard that putting a starting fertilizer when we overseed in fall will help the existing grass to grow faster and compete more with the new seeds? Is that true and if so, what would be your recommendation?
4. Should I only topdress with top soil before overseeding or should I use compost? I heard that compost is too strong for the seeds?

Let me know and thanks a lot for your advices.
Simon :)
Hi Simon,

Okay, thank heavens that I have a 9 year old son who basically bombards me with questions all day until I have no choice but to press my fingers into my ears and sing “la la la la la.”  I’m well prepared for your challenge, and it doesn’t even come close to my definition of “too much!”

Let me first get to the nematode question.  This is one of the coolest areas of this field of research that I know of.  You breed these miniature worms, freeze dry them into a cake, rehydrate them, and spray them out onto your lawn to control grubs!  How cool is that?  Then of course, my mind starts wandering and pondering whether or not I’d prefer to be exposed to chemicals or tiny, squiggling parasitic worms.  Kind of a buzzkill, huh?

The issue I have with the nematodes is that the effectiveness of this procedure is very much still up for debate.  The reliability of putting out billions of organisms and having them do exactly what you want has proven to be a difficult challenge to overcome.  Sometimes they seem to work great.  Sometimes the seem to have no effect at all.  The research is continuing and improvements are being made yearly, but I personally would rather not do anything than spray nematodes.  I just don’t think the results are worth the cost at this stage in the game.  Hopefully that changes, and soon.

The problem is that people want to do the right thing by going organic, so they replace all the chemicals with organic alternatives.  Unfortunately, some of these organic alternatives are simply not worth doing.  So why do them?  There’s nothing wrong with saving the money and putting it toward re-seeding costs in the event of grub damage, right?

Overseed and fertilize now.  I like Milorganite for this purpose, but there are lots of good organic fertilizers.

Yes, the exiting grass will also grow as a result.  That’s why you continue to mow.  Though a little of the seed may get crowded out, you should still get good germination if you water daily.  I would topdress with topsoil personally.  The compost isn’t too strong, it’s just brutally expensive if you get the right stuff.  Topsoil often gives the same benefits for a fraction of the cost (provided it too is of a good quality).

Thanks for writing in Simon!  Let me know what you end up doing.


C.J. Brownhttp://www.premiertech.com/myke/mycorise/gardening/indoorplant/mykepottingmix/fpottingmix.htmhttp://www.premiertech.com/myke/mycorise/gardening/indoorplant/mykepottingmix/fpottingmix.htmhttp://www.milorganite.com/home/shapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

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