Ÿ Soil Building and Conditioning
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In a nutshell (download)
The Natural Matters System is a biological approach to yard care.
The organic
method is the foundation of Natural Matters. The organic method is all about the soil, more specifically, the life
in the soil. It is the biology, the micro-life, which is responsible for the
inter-connected bio-chemical web of plant health and growth. Microbes are responsible for numerous
bio-chemical properties vital to plant health, including nutrient- and
water-holding capacity, decomposition of organic matter, and utilization of
plant growth hormones and enzymes.
Natural Matters treatments are based on the ABCs:
Avoiding
chemicals toxic to soil biology (healthy soils depend on a vigorous microbial
population); Building soil to amend the soil’s ability to “warehouse”
nutrients; Conditioning soil to enhance plant growth through physical,
mechanical or chemical adjustment.
Plants growing in
fertile soil are fertilized by the natural reactions in the soil itself, the
eating and excreting, the living and dying of soil microbes. It’s a sustainable system. As a result of soil health, control of pests
is twofold. First, healthy soil gives
rise to healthier plants, which are better able to resist pest and disease
problems. Second, beneficial insects
are naturally attracted (or introduced) and encouraged in order to combat
pests, and natural controls dominate.
It’s simple: “Keep adding the good
stuff!”
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Treatments
for yard areas are priced on a square foot basis. We have a minimum treatment
area of 5,000 sq.ft. The recommended
treatments are a combination of:
Plans
are based on client’s budget, expectations, and soil conditions.
Just give us a call.
Natural Matters soil
treatments use Fertrell, a multiple-source blend of naturally occurring
organic products which provide lasting nutrition, promote microbial activity,
and supply trace elements.
Soil conditioning is the physical, mechanical, or
chemical adjusting of the soil to enhance plant growth. Recommended
applications are based on the results of soil tests and/or physical appearance
and texture of the soil itself.
Early Spring Example of Natural Matters Soil Treatments
This picture demonstrates the difference between conventional lawn care methods (left side) and Natural Matters treatments (right side).
Close-up
of above picture.
These pictures have not been altered in any way and are the property of Natural Matters.
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The base price for
$8.00 per 1,000 additional square feet.
Because plants have the ability to take in nutrients through their leaves, “foliar feeding,” the process of spraying plants with a liquid nutrient, plays an important role in the Natural Matters fertilizing method. It is fast-acting, avoids ‘soil-tie up’ and is immediately available to the plant. I use Natural Matters special Custom Blend, a mix that may contain any or all of the following:
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Aerobic or anaerobic
“teas,” tinctures, or leachates of pro-biotics selected to supply plants with
beneficial protozoa, bacteria and fungi.
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Emulsions of naturally
occurring fish, seaweed, and humic acid formulated to supply plants with macro
and micro nutrients, amino acids, vitamins, and enzymes.
Custom
Blend is sprayed as part of Natural Matters yard care program, with a frequency
ranging from monthly to twice yearly, depending on conditions and homeowner’s
preferences.
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The base price for Custom Blend is
$45.00 for the first 5,000 square feet.
$3.00 per 1,000 additional square feet.
Natural Matters approach to yard care is naturalistic and environmentally friendly. Environmentally friendly landscaping is working with the existing environment, developing and managing a landscape with the awareness that it is part of a larger natural system, utilizing the ABCs, and promoting and maintaining native bio-diversity. I also recommend that the homeowner monitor changes and adjust cultural practices, i.e. cutting back irrigation in the fall/winter, increasing mowing height, mulching leaves and leaving grass clippings.
The benefits of this approach include:
§ Reduced runoff
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A naturally sustainable
habitat that is more attractive to wildlife and beneficial
insects
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A harmonious setting
that is an asset to nature, not a liability.
For more information see Care and Cultivation
Some examples of Natural
Landscaping
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Integrated
Natural Matters offers integrated pest management for flowerbeds, shrubs, and trees. Integrated Pest Management, also known simply as IPM, is a balanced approach to pest and weed management incorporating the use of less toxic controls first, appropriate cultivation techniques, and beneficial organisms. Insects and weeds are good indicators of growing conditions, soil and plant health. Weeds occur in response to growing conditions (i.e., too shady, too wet) or as nature’s means of correcting a deficiency in the soil. Depending on the deficiency, specific weeds will draw up missing nutrients. Insects are attracted to unhealthy plants. So they, too, indicate an imbalance in the system.
The goal of Natural Matters is preventative rather than
curative. The best defense is plant health where natural controls dominate.
For situations where this approach has not had time to take effect or an
overwhelming bug infestation occurs, pests are managed with horticultural oils
or soaps, friendly fungi, or beneficial bugs: nematodes, ladybugs, parasitic
wasps, big-eyed bugs, and others.
Beneficial Nematodes
Beneficial Nematodes are
not to be confused with pest nematodes such as root knot nematodes that attack
plants’ root systems, but instead are quite the opposite. They are naturally
occurring, most prolific in undisturbed settings, and known for quick control
of insect pests that spend part of their life cycle in the soil.
Once applied they
aggressively seek out their host, penetrate the body wall, emit an endo-toxin
and death occurs within 24 to 48 hours.
When that host is dead, the nematodes reproduce and will complete
several generations within the carcass and feed until host tissues are
depleted. Larvae then develop a
protective cuticle and leave in search of a new host. Larvae in this protected state can survive in the soil without a
host for as long as one year if moisture levels and temperatures remain
favorable.
Nematodes require a
moist, dark environment. As
temperatures drop in the winter, they burrow deeper in the soil and begin
hibernation.
IPM techniques work best
when used in conjunction with Natural Matters soil treatments and natural
landscaping principles, fostering a beneficial environment where natural
systems are balanced and natural controls dominate.