We apply products such as compost tea and effective microorganisms to build soil and plant health.
In Harmony offers services in natural lawn care and natural tree and shrub care. Here is more information about what we do and why we do it.
If you are a client, you have seen our service techs at your house with trucks, tools and hoses. If you are not a client, here is information to help you in choosing a landscape company.
Our overall approach focuses on building soil health. Healthy soil is the key to vigorous lawns, trees and shrubs. Like humans, plants do best when they are healthy. When plants are healthy, their natural defenses tend to protect them from problem insects and diseases.
Here is a brief summary of our approach and services.
Natural tree and shrub care
Apply natural products to build healthy soil
The products we use in our natural lawn, tree and shrub care services are aimed at creating the conditions that keep your landscape and garden ecosystem in balance. This starts with feeding the soil.
When beneficial critters in the soil thrive, plants thrive as well. They have more fruits and flowers and are more resistant to pests and diseases. Over the course of the season, we use products such as compost tea, organic fertilizers, mycorrhizal fungi and effective microorganisms.
Use the safest products for pest control, only when needed
We provide an environmentally friendly alternative to companies that spray chemicals on a calendar basis. We pay attention to the seasons and weather, and we monitor the health of your plants.
If we find any insect or disease problems, we use the safest products possible. We use products that target only the pest, and we use them at the right time to be most effective. For example, in winter we may use dormant oils to kill unwanted insects and mites on trees and shrubs. Dormant oils can kill these pests without harming the trees.
We help lawns stay healthy through the use of organic fertilizers, aeration and overseeding, and other natural lawn care services.
Natural lawn care
Build lawn and soil health
Our services include:
- Fertilize with organic fertilizers, about five times per year. We use Hendrikus fertilizer products. Hendrikus is a local company that specializes in high-performance organic fertilizers and soil conditioners.
- Aerate and overseed. Aeration helps bring air and water to lawn roots and stimulates root and shoot growth. Overseeding thickens the lawn so it can outcompete weeds. We also offer topdressing with compost as an additional service.
- Apply lime to neutralize acidity and strengthen the lawn.
- Monitor for crane flies and chafer beetles. If we see either of these pests, we will do even more to build lawn health to resist and repair damage.
- Apply corn gluten to help summer-dormant lawns recover from dormancy.
- Address problems with moss. We may apply iron to burn the moss at clients’ request. The moss will need to be raked out after it dies or it will come back more strongly. We can also correct long-term problems that encourage moss growth, such as improving drainage, pruning to allow more sunlight to reach the lawn, or replanting wet or shady areas with plants that thrive in those environments.
Manage weeds: a partnership with our clients
Weeds are the toughest pests to control organically. We focus on building a thick, vigorous stand of grass plants to defend against weeds.
We believe we are partners with our clients in building healthy landscapes. Keeping the lawn healthy is the most important step in preventing the need for herbicides and other pesticides. We cannot maintain a healthy lawn if our clients don’t do their part. This means mowing properly. It also means watering the lawn regularly and deeply over the course of the growing season.
Some people who want to be environmentally friendly stop watering their lawn in the summer. They think conserving water is a good thing.
We are not suggesting that people waste water. But a lawn that goes dormant becomes thin and unhealthy. And you will have bare spots where it has died out. All dormant areas are ripe for weeds, moss and insect pests to invade when rains return in the fall. Using water in the summer is more environmentally friendly than using pesticides in the fall.
We will not use herbicides on lawns that have been allowed to grow thin and weak due to lack of water.
We spot treat weeds with herbicides only when requested by our clients, and when they have done their part to keep the lawn healthy. We do not use weed-and-feed products, which are toxic to humans and the environment.
Unfortunately, there are no organic products currently on the market to kill broadleaf weeds. We recommend some tolerance of weeds. It is very difficult to grow a monoculture such as a lawn without resorting to herbicides.
Client education and partnership
Our service technicians always seek out the homeowner to have a conversation about their landscape questions and concerns. When techs have finished treating a landscape, they leave a note about what they treated that day and what they noticed. We provide education sheets about natural ways to maintain lawns and landscapes, either before the visit via email or after the visit.
We also provide education via our blog pests. Search by topic for more information about natural practices to maintain lawns, trees and shrubs as well as least-toxic methods to manage problem pests.
Contact us if you would like a consultation and estimate for natural lawn care and/or natural tree and shrub care services for your landscape.
