Overview
1.1.
Treatment Arsenal for Soil Work
1.1.1.
Soil Building
1.1.2.
Soil Conditioning
1.1.3.
Custom Blend Fertilizing
1.1.4.
Aeration
1.2.
Natural Landscaping
1.3.
Pest Management
Natural Matters treatments are based on a combination of avoiding synthetic chemicals, building and conditioning the soil, care, and cultivation. Proper soil building results in healthy, fertile soil. Plants growing in fertile soil are fertilized by the natural reactions in the soil itself. It’s a sustainable system. Under this system, control of pests is twofold. First, healthy soil gives rise to healthier plants, which then have fewer pest and disease problems. Second, beneficial insects are naturally attracted or introduced and encouraged in order to combat pests.
Treatments for areas are
priced at recommended rates on a square foot basis (ten pounds per thousand
square feet), including material with application. We have a minimum of 5000 sq.ft.
at a base price of
$45.00 and $50.00 Liquid and dry treatments, that is Custom Blend and
Plans are based on client’s
budget, expectations, and soil conditions.
Just give us a call.
Treatment Arsenal
for Soil Work
Healthy plants start with healthy soils. Healthy soils depend on a vigorous microbial population. Probiotic applications of beneficial bacteria and protozoa help to establish a vital Soil Food Web. Microbes are responsible for numerous bio-chemical properties including nutrient- and water-holding capacity, decomposition of organic matter, and utilization of plant growth hormones and enzymes.
Natural Matters Soil
Treatments use Fertrell, a multiple-source blend of naturally occurring
organic products that provide lasting nutrition, promote microbial activity,
and supply trace elements. More
information about Fertrell products can be found here or go to the Fertrell home page.
Early
Spring Example of Natural
Matters Organic Fertilization & Soil Treatment
This picture demonstrates the difference between conventional lawn care methods (left side) and Natural Matters Soil Treatment Plan (right side).
Close
up of above picture.
These pictures have not been altered in any way and are the
property of Natural Matters www.organicyards.com
Custom Blend (Liquid) Treatment
The Base price for Custom
Blend is $45.00 for the first 5000sq.ft.
$3.00 per additional
thousand
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 and
immediately available to the plant. I
use Natural Matters special Custom
Blend, a mix that may contain any or all of the following:
·
Aerobic
or anaerobic “teas,” tinctures, or leachates of probiotics selected to supply plants with beneficial
protozoa, bacteria and fungi.
·
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.
The Base price for
Healthy soil conditions provide an ideal growing environment for the microorganisms that are responsible for soil fertility, plant growth, insect and disease resistance, as well as drought tolerance, and many other metabolic and physical actions. Healthy soil life is fostered by reducing toxic chemical use, aerating and amending depleted soils, and incorporating organic matter and minerals. I use a granular Fertrell blend, generally applied twice yearly as part of Natural Matters yard care program. I also recommend the homeowner adjust cultural practices, such as increasing mowing height, and mulching leaves and grass clippings.
Soil Conditioning (Dry and/or
Liquid) Treatment
Soil conditioning is the physical,
mechanical, or chemical adjusting of the soil based on the results of soil
tests and/or physical appearance and texture of the soil itself. Improving the
soils ability to hold nutrients, retain or drain water and basically to breathe.
Soil Conditioning (Mechanical)
Aeration Treatment
This step in the stimulation of micro-life, aeration, is the removal of plugs of soil, which allows oxygen to reach the soil and promote root growth, proper drainage, and loosen the soil. Aerating a lawn allows it to breathe.
As part of the Natural Matters approach to yard care, naturalistic or environmentally friendly landscaping is encouraged. 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, promoting and maintaining native bio-diversity.
The
benefits of this approach include:
- Reduced runoff
-
A naturally sustainable habitat that is
more attractive to wildlife and beneficial insects
-
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, appropriate cultivation techniques, and beneficial
organisms. I do not simply spray bugs or
weeds to kill them but rather my approach is to cure the cause, cause the
cure. Insects and weeds are good
indicators of soil and plant health or the lack thereof. Weeds occur 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.
For situations where the curative approach has not had time to take
effect or an overwhelming bug infestation occurs, pests are managed with horticultural
oils and/or soaps, biologically safe and friendly funguses, or beneficial bugs:
nematodes, ladybugs, parasitic wasps, bigeye and
bugs, and more.
BENEFICIAL
NEMATODES
Beneficial Nematodes are not to be confused with pest
nematodes like 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 in control and the treatments and services are cumulative.