The New American Lawn

Are you frustrated with your lawn year after year? Do you continually have weeds and bare spots that just don't seem to go away? Have you been applying the same products and never getting the results you want? If this sounds familiar you should know that there is a better way to care for your lawn. It is a revolutionary concept in lawn care that Jonathan Green calls The New American Lawn Plan.

The New American Lawn Plan can change the way that you care for your lawn, for the better. It is based on the use of both organic and traditional fertilizers in the lawn when and where you need them. You will see that you do not need to apply turf chemicals all over the lawn year after year. You will finally take control of how you care for your lawn in order to grow an attractive, healthy lawn that will not be subject to most lawn problems.

Why should you integrate organics into your lawn feeding program? The benefits gained from the use of organic substances include improved disease and insect resistance and improved heat and cold tolerance. Organic products will also improve your lawn soil's biology. The soil will become more permeable and alive, allowing water, air and grass roots to penetrate into the lawn soil more deeply and ultimately establishing a better foundation for grass to flourish.

Are you always fighting weeds, insects and fungus in your lawn? These problems are, in many cases, symptoms of poor lawn soil management. A healthy soil is the key to a healthy lawn. You can develop a healthy soil by feeding the microbes and earthworms in the soil with our organic lawn fertilizers. This approach is similar to the way we maintain our own health. When you have proper nutrition and exercise you rarely need medication. Give the lawn the proper soil environment and you will create your own healthy, attractive lawn that you can be proud of.

What type of grass seed have you been seeding your lawn with? If you have been using lower quality mixtures you will never achieve success. In order to achieve The New American Lawn you need to seed with genetically superior grass seed such as one of our Black Beauty mixtures. Remember your lawn will never be better than the grass seed you plant. Break the cycle of disappointment and failure this year and finally grow the lawn you deserve!

Importance of pH

pH: potential hydrogen

The role of soil pH in the health of the lawn, and how MAG-I-CAL works to rapidly adjust the pH of the lawn's soil.

The pH level of the soil is an important consideration in growing lawns. Most of us have a basic understanding of pH as a way of measuring how acidic or alkaline a soil may be. If you own a swimming pool you know that correcting and balancing the pH of the water you swim in is important. On a scale of 1 to 14 a pH of 1 is very acidic and a pH of 14 is very alkaline, also called base, while a pH reading of 7 would be neutral. Lawns grow best in a soil that is neutral to slightly acidic between a 6 and a 6.8 reading.

Seemingly small changes in pH readings can mean big changes for lawn grass plants. That is because the pH scale is logarithmic not arithmetic. This means that a pH reading of 5 is ten times more acidic than a pH reading of 6, and one hundred times more acidic than a pH reading of 7, and so on.

Jonathan Green MAG-I-CAL contains 35% Calcium in a completely soluble form that is immediately available to adjust soil pH upwards. Calcium is essential in raising soil pH and is vital to many grass plant functions. Some of which are:

• Proper cell division and elongation
• Proper cell wall development
• Nitrate uptake and metabolism
• Enzyme activity
• Starch metabolism

However, much of the free calcium, already in the soil, forms nearly insoluble compounds with other elements, such as phosphorus, making both elements less available. Even in higher alkaline pH soils, the calcium revealed in a soil test may not actually be available to the grass, because the grass plant can't extract it from the soil. This is why an application of the fast acting, soluble calcium in MAG-I-CAL has such a positive impact on the lawn to which it has been applied.

Why is this important? Lawn grasses need a slightly acidic pH, reading between 6.0 - 6.8, to grow healthy and strong. Tiny soil microorganisms increase and multiply in soil, when the soil has a proper pH. They die in acidic soils of low pH! These microorganisms breakdown the vast array of the organic compounds and mineral nutrients found in the soil that no other form of life can degrade. Since grass plants need much more than the nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium that comes in the bag of fertilizer you spread, they can only get their other essential nutritional requirements from the soil. These include, humic and fulvic acids, calcium, sulfur, iron, manganese, cobalt etc. etc. The bag of fertilizer you spread on your lawn is mostly wasted when the soil pH is too acidic. Also weeds thrive in acidic soils of low pH, so you fight a never ending battle trying to eliminate the lawn weeds. Turf diseases and even insect populations are kept in check when the soil pH is adjusted. There is nothing more important that you can do for your lawn than to improve a low pH soil by bringing it up to a 6.0 or higher pH.

Note: Even in high alkaline soils exhibiting a higher pH there may also be a high sodium content. The sodium competes with the calcium reducing both elements availability. Calcium is not very mobile in the soil, or lawn grass plant tissue, therefore a continuous supply is essential for the development of a healthy attractive lawn. So if you lawn looks poorly apply Mag-I-Cal and your likely to see improvements. You will never hurt your lawn or soil, even if you apply excess Mag-I-Cal.

More About Why the Soil pH level of your lawn is important.

pH is a measure of the quantity of hydrogen present in the soil. As the amount of hydrogen in the lawn increases, the soil pH reading decreases, thus becoming more acidic. Hydrogen carries a weak positive electrical charge which enables it to attach to negatively charges sites on the clay and humus particles in the soil that contain most of the nutrients the grass needs to thrive. Therefore these negatively charged sites become clogged with positively charged hydrogen; thus the mineral nutrients are not able to attach to these same sites.

How does Mag-I-Cal raise lawn soil pH?

As Mag-I-Cal dissolves in the water in the lawn soil, the hydrogen that is attached to the clay and humus particles reacts with the calcium carbonate contained in Mag-I-Cal to form carbon dioxide and water. The result is that the exchange sites are partially cleared of hydrogen and the soil becomes less acidic or has a higher pH reading.

Soil Chemistry and the Importance of Maintaining a balanced pH

All tiny particles in the soil including minerals, organic matter, (humus) and microbial life carry electrical charges. These charges are called ions. Ions with a positive charge are called cations and particles with a negative charge are called anions. Positively charged particles are electrically attracted to negatively charged particles. This is what happens when opposite ends of magnets attract each other. Even microorganisms in the soil carry electrical charges. If it wasn't for the operation of this weak electrical charge in holding mineral nutrients on the surface of clay and humus particles, the mineral nutrients would be quickly leached away by water. Why does this matter? The surfaces of plant root hairs carry their own negative electrical charges. Grass plant root hairs use this electrical attraction to increase their ability to attract and absorb positively charged nutrients from the soil. The pH reading indicates the concentration of hydrogen ions in the soil solution. The more hydrogen ions, which are positively charged particles or cations, the lower the pH level of the soil, making the soil more acidic. The organic acids, produced from organic decay in the soil, drive the soil pH lower. Lawn fertilizers are acidic and contribute to lowering the pH level of the soil too. It is the pH level that influences the quantity and type of microorganisms that live in the soil, and these microorganisms have a great influence on the health of grass plants.

An Additional Consideration: subsoil acidity!

Even if the top six inches of the lawn indicates a pH reading of above 6.0, the subsoil may still be very acidic, with a much lower pH reading. When subsoil pH readings drop below 5, aluminun and manganese in the soil become much more soluble in water. This can create a toxic condition for lawn grass plants, which will inhibit their growth and health. Since lime penetrates most lawn soils at the rate of about one inch per year, the necessity of a long term liming program becomes apparent in the development of a vigorous, deeply rooted lawn that can withstand heat and drought stress. This is also why Jonathan Green's MAG-I-CAL is a good choice, it quickly penetrates deep into the soil, containing 35% soluble calcium and humates, to balance soil pH faster.

How can I determine my Soil's pH?

While more expensive soil pH testing meters are available. Jonathan Green offers an easy, do-it-yourself kit to determine what your soil will need to achieve the ideal growing conditions for a healthy, beautiful lawn. The kit contains a test tube, and a capsule of powder to sprinkle on top of the soil and a pH Range Chart.

Go to four locations on your lawn. We suggest sunny areas, shady areas, bare spots and places full of weeds.

Using a garden trowel or spoon dig down into the soil one inch and take a small sample. Follow the same procedure at the other testing sites. When you have four samples mix the soil together in a dish, combining them to get a representative or average sample. From the dish take just enough soil to fill the test tube half full. Sprinkle the powder from the capsule on top of the soil and fill the rest of the test tube with water. Put the cap back on the test tube and shake the test tube vigorously for one minute. Place the test tube on a flat surface on its side and wait five minutes. When the water color changes study the desirable pH range chart included with the kit and you will get a good idea of your lawn soils pH reading.