Last Updated on November 26, 2023 by Brian Beck
Several years ago when we adopted our biological program I was not well-versed in all of the nuances and idiosyncrasies of how microbiology interacted with the soil in the plant root. Since then I have a much fuller understanding of how it works in the benefits of such a system and how it is superior to any synthetic method of fertility. One of the things that I have learned is there are five basic factors that any plant will experience here on earth. They are the sun, the atmosphere or the air in it, the composition of the soil, the water that enters the soil whether that is from precipitation or irrigation and the nutrients that are supplied to supplement what does not exist in the soil that is needed by the plant. The first two of these components will never be changed and are relatively fixed and stable. The composition of the soil is largely inherited when someone buys a property for better or for worse and then there is the natural precipitation that we receive which is not that much here in Colorado on the front range and then there is the watering habits of the customer. I will tell you right now that one of my largest observations in regard to watering your lawn is that it is typically too shallow and too often which is the worst way in the world to water. The last component of course is the service that we provide which supplies the necessary nutrients in the biology that gets the job done.
One phenomenon that I began experiencing shortly after we adopted the biological program was one of the characteristics of working with biology. Because people have been using synthetics for so long along with herbicides and pesticides they have largely killed off the ecology and the soil meaning the biology and have left inorganic salts in the soil with each perpetually poison the ground and slowly degrade the soil’s ability to impart nutrients into the plant leaving the plant hopelessly dependent on subsequently larger and larger doses of fertilizer to get the same job accomplished. The phenomenon that I began to experience was the utterance of people telling me how their neighbors lawns looked better than theirs. Let me start by saying this is a very unwise way to compare in a scientific manner that is one soil with another as no two soils are alike and just like people and animals have unique characteristics to their chemical profile. Not to mention that whatever action is taken on one soil does not translate any benefit to another soil down the street. What I know now that I did not know back then was that when you use synthetic products you disassociate the relationship that would naturally exist between the plant root in the soil. Actually in a healthy ecological system the soil in the plant root should be viewed as one organism that is governed by the presence of microbiology which control everything from water absorption, to pH balances, to nutrient uptake and defense against pathogenic organisms.
People have been so accustomed to getting a chemical fix and having a shortcut to seemingly success that they are blinded to the fact that they are slowly killing their soil and setting their lawn up for a lifetime of high maintenance and eventual failure. A better question to ask would be what is wrong with my soil and how do I fix it? The answer to that question is biology! The higher the amount of carbon in the soil and the subsequent amount of biology to cycle nutrients into the plant is what makes a lawn look truly beautiful. I have found that a biological system is not only superior to a synthetic one but will actually look better if the soil is healthy. So before you get envious of your neighbors lawn don’t buy into the lie that the grass is greener on the other side as the truth is not quite what it seems.
