Ÿ Soil Building and Conditioning
Ÿ Soil Test with recommendations
§ 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:
§ Aerobic or anaerobic “teas,”
tinctures, or leachates of pro-biotics 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.
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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.
Soil Test with
recommendations
Soil tests performed by one of the nation’s leading laboratories, A&L, with recommendations for crop production and corrective balance according to Organic Standards, interpreted by Fertrell’s network of 65 years of experience in the field.
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
§
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 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.