Organic Lawn Care Research on Home Turf.

The consistent growth in certified organic farming and demand for organic foods has fostered a companion movement towards employing organic growing methods for land care.  While the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) was developed for the certification of food and fiber products, the organic lawn care initiative is an independent program.   In 2001, The Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut developed an accreditation program for organic land care professionals based on applying organic agricultural principles to landscaping.  In 2014, Rutgers University developed an extension program in organic land care with standards modeled after those for organic crop production.  Attempts to implement organic land care using conventional approaches to turf management have apparent ecological limitations.  Despite recognition that research is essential to place organic lawn care on a sound agronomic foundation, attempts to garner funding have failed.   In the absence of such funds, agronomists (much like pioneering organic farmers who lacked support from land grant universities or USDA) can use their own home lawns as case studies in organic land care. With the objective of evaluating the agronomic potential for organic land care, I conducted a case study on my property in Monroe, NJ following land disturbance from construction.  After the site was remediated with deep tillage to alleviate compaction and amended with compost and limestone based on soil tests it was seeded in September 2009 with a mix of modern turf type Kentucky bluegrass cultivars.  Once established, this lawn was attractive, competitive against most weeds, and performed well over the following six years under organic management.  This lawn was mowed frequently with the clippings always returned so as to recycle nutrients in place.  It remained attractive without fertilizer input.  In 2014, another organic lawn study was established at my farm in Ringoes, NJ to evaluate several organic fertilizers.  References: https://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/soilprofile/sp-v21.pdf