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Whether you’re a parent, pet owner, or eco-minded individual, you want to provide a safe and healthy environment for yourself or your family, indoors and out. That’s why it’s important to consider using an organic lawn fertilizer on your lawn.
Traditional fertilizers may provide a quick boost to your lawn’s growth, but they can also harm the environment and pose a risk to the health of your children and pets. Many fertilizers contain synthetic chemicals, like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, which can be harmful if ingested or come into contact with the skin or eyes. Children and pets are far more likely to be exposed to these chemicals than adults as they play in the yard.
Synthetic fertilizers containing nitrogen and phosphate can seep into groundwater, resulting in higher toxicity levels and leading to water pollution. When these fertilizers make their way into streams, rivers, and lakes, they can harm aquatic ecosystems.
Pros and Cons of Organic Lawn Fertilizers
Organic lawn fertilizers offer a safer and more eco-friendly alternative. These fertilizers are made from natural ingredients (such as compost, corn gluten meal, cow or poultry manure, alfalfa, bone meal, or seaweed) and they provide the same benefits as chemical fertilizers without the negative side effects.
The best organic lawn fertilizer brands still provide the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium that your lawn needs to be healthy, but they feed your lawn without the use of synthetic ingredients that are unhealthy for kids, pets, and the environment. They also won’t burn your lawn, which can happen from over-use of chemical fertilizers, causing more damage than good to your grass.
Pros
There are many benefits of using organic lawn fertilizer for families with children and pets, and it’s a smart choice for anyone who cares about the environment. Here are some of the benefits of organic fertilizers:
- Minimizes the amount of chemical exposure that your family gets exposed to.
- You won’t have to avoid using your lawn for an extended period following treatment.
- Won’t damage to your lawn even if you apply too much, as chemical ones can do.
- Enhances soil quality and rejuvenates the ecosystem of your lawn over time.
- Prevents the seepage of chemicals from soil into groundwater.
Cons
Now, on to the possible cons of going organic with your lawn. Since organic fertilizers contain fewer pesticides and herbicides, they aren’t as good at killing off pests and weeds. Your lawn may have some more weeds in it, or possibly grubs, if you use organic fertilizers instead of chemical ones.
However, we happen to think this is a fair trade-off. There are other, non-toxic ways to deal with grubs and weeds if they become a problem on your lawn. And a perfect lawn without any weeds doesn’t seem worth the trade-off of risking the health of our kids, pets, and groundwater.
5 Best Organic Lawn Fertilizer Brands
Please note that the lawn fertilizers below do not contain phosphorous. There are “natural” lawn fertilizers on the market that contain phosphorous that some states have begun banning because phosphorus ends up polluting local waterways and harming fish and other wildlife.
1. Espoma ($57): Top Pick
Espoma makes both spring and fall organic lawn fertilizers, as well as an all season lawn food. It adds nitrogen, calcium and sulfur and other important nutrients your lawn needs to boost healthy growth, derived from feather meal, poultry manure, and gypsum.
This is our go-to lawn fertilizer, as the lawn is safe right away after applying it for both kids and pets to play on. The 30 pound bag feeds up to 5,000 square feet.
2. Jonathan Green Organic Lawn Food ($46)
Jonathan Green’s organic lawn food is another great option. It also feeds 5,000 square feet of lawn, and its ingredients come from feather meal, soybean meal, molasses and wheat middlings.
Like Espoma, kids and pets can play safely on the lawn immediately after application.
3. Coast of Maine Kelp Meal Organic Plant Food ($18)
Coast of Maine’s kelp meal organic plant food increases lawns’ stress and heat tolerance and promotes root growth. Its slow-release ingredients feed your lawn and plants over weeks or months instead of all at once.
This kelp fertilizer is 100% natural, environmentally friendly, and is safe to use on trees and shrubs, lawns, and garden beds. This organic plant food comes in four pound bags, so you may want to buy a few, depending on the size of your lawn.
4. Trident’s Pride Organic Liquid Fish Soil Fertilizer ($27)
This all-natural, cold pressed, 100% organic fish fertilizer is another of the best organic lawn fertilizers, as it adds proteins and enzymes to soil that helps generate stronger lawns and gardens. It helps increase microbe production, which reduces the need for pesticide use in your lawn. The suggested use is 4 to 6 ounces per gallon of water.
You can also buy it in solid pellet form for easy application with a spreader.
5. GS Plant Foods Organic Kelp Fertilizer ($36)
Kelp (aka Ascophyllum Nodosum) has amazing properties that help plants grow strong and more tolerant to heat and drought, and this liquid lawn and plant fertilizer captures that magic.
To use, you mix 2 ounces of the liquid fertilizer concentrate into a gallon of water and spray it on your lawn with the hose end sprayer. This should cover up to 1,000 square feet of grass. Apply liquid kelp fertilizer in the morning or late afternoon during the cooler parts of the day for best results.
Keeping Your Lawn Green with Organic Fertilizers
Organic lawn fertilizers are an eco-friendly way to feed your lawn the nutrients it needs without adding toxic chemicals found in traditional fertilizers. These fertilizers also boost your lawn’s growth while ensuring that you are keeping your kids and pets safe from toxic chemicals. As far as we’re concerned, a few more weeds along the way is worth that assurance.
