Over the weekend, I took a few really nice pictures of our Magnolia stellata flowers. It was sunny and warm and the tree/bush was in full effect.

Just thought I would show them off to you.

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This is an awesome post.

I went organic this year and I am so glad I did. Okay, let me give you a little background – We moved into this house about two years ago. When we moved in, the lawn was in terrible shape. There were weeds and bare spots all over the place. We arrived in the Spring, so I didn’t notice how bad it was until the weeds started popping up in early Summer. This, of course, made me quite upset.

But, I do love a challenge. So off I went. The first thing I did was to aerate, dethatch and add a bunch of chemical weed control and fertilizer to the property. I will give it to them, it worked. The only problem was that there were still bare spots hanging around in the grass. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why the grass wasn’t spreading to fill in those spots. Only later did I figure out that only certain types of grasses spread and that we had lousy soil.

I had an epiphany. As I sat there thinking, I realized that grass wanted to grow in fertile soil. It doesn’t matter how much fertilizer you sprinkle on dirt, grass isn’t going to miraculously appear. There needs to be good soil, seed and water. I realized that if I had those three ingredients, I would be good to go.

The first thing I did this year was to go organic. I made a vow to put a halt to the instant gratification of chemical fertilizers. I would much rather have a good solid lawn growing the way it’s supposed to…naturally. I also started an aggressive overseeding program. I overseed in the Spring and in the Autumn. Last Autumn, I also started mulching the fallen leaves back into the lawn. That’s right…no more raking. I just chop up the leaves and then let mother nature take over. Looking at the lawn this Spring, I would say that much of the leave cover has already biodegraded.

Now, everyone knows that Nitrogen helps organic matter biodegrade. The one thing that I was missing in my “new lawn” recipe was Nitrogen. Since I wasn’t about to go out and buy more chemical fertilizer, I has to get my Nitrogen from somewhere else. Enter Milorganite organic fertilizer.

I have read a lot about Milorganite in the past and really wanted to give them a try. If you don’t know what Milorganite is made out of, you can read all about it on their website. The fertilizer consists of millions of tiny micro organisms that really do a wonder for your lawn. Sure, it does have a certain smell to it, but that goes away within a few days.

Over the past week, I applied 175 lbs of Milorganite organic fertilizer to our rather large yard. It smelled for the first two days, but today it’s completely gone. I am waiting for it to start going to work.

Well, I guess this is my new lawn care regimen. Here’s what I do:

- When I mow, I let the grass clippings stay on the lawn
- I mulch the fallen leaves back into the lawn every Autumn
- I add only organic fertilizer to the lawn about twice a season
- For grub control, I use Milky Spore
- I aerate twice per season
- I toss compost on dry looking areas of the lawn
- I overseed at least once per year

As you can see, my goal really is to add a whole lot of organics to the soil. With better soil will hopefully come a better lawn. We’ll see what happens.

Here are some photos of the Milorganite I purchased last week.

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I was outside a few days ago snapping photos when I came across our White Birch tree. Actually, I am fairly certain that it’s a White Birch, but the flaky bark is somewhat puzzling. It looks more like a Paper Birch, if that’s a real tree.

Since I am not sure what it is, I’ll call it a White Paper Birch. Just take a look and tell me what you think it is. Either way, it’s a really cool picture.

White Birch with flaky bark

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For about two years now, I have seen this beautiful flower emerge from the ground in early Spring. It’s called the Lungwort and is otherwise known as the Pulmonaria.

Now, I’m not sure if all these flowers arrive pink and purple, but ours always do. It’s a pretty flower that was initially difficult to identify. When someone finally told me what it was, I realized that it would soon become unmistakable. I think it’s the spotted leaves that give it away.

It really is a shame that this flower hasn’t spread more than it has. I would love to see half a garden full of these during early Spring.

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