There are important distinctions between synthetic (including ammonium nitrate and urea nitrate) and biological fertilizers, or biostimulants, used on lawns and landscapes. Synthetic, salt, and ammonia-based fertilizers are not good at feeding soil, and many are actually toxic to soil organisms. Further, the chemical structure of salts degrade the soil’s structure, and collapses the soil pores that hold water and air within the soil profile. Although these synthetic fertilizer products give a lawn a quick boost and green-up, the results are short-lived. Excessive synthetic nitrogen causes soil microorganisms to multiply rapidly, consuming available carbon and organic matter. Grass and plants become dependent on heavy influxes of nitrogen to maintain a green appearance, as well as pesticides to keep weed, insect, and fungal pressures down, while soil quality continues to decline.
Biostimulants provide a diversity of beneficial soil microbes and a gentle, slow release of a range of macro and micronutrients, as well as carbohydrates that nourish the landscape by feeding soil microorganisms. As biological life in the soil grows, this microbiome can become so productive that it begins to cycle up to two pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet each month of the growing season. In addition to cycling nutrients, soil microbes increase nutrient availability by exuding proteins that increase nutrient solubility, optimizing soil pH, and increasing the tree’s root surface area.
Thus, the focus is not on using fertilizer products to sustain cosmetic appearances, but using biostimulants that enable soil life to naturally sustain grass and landscape plants. And not only is biological life feeding plants, it is also acting to prevent pest problems by building plant resiliency. These microbes play a crucial role in soil structure formation and limiting disease-causing pathogens, leading to a more vigorous landscape. Sustainably maintained landscapes grow healthier plants that outcompete weeds and have fewer problems with insects like grubs because predators in the soil consume eggs and larvae before they have a chance to cause damage. Over time, this approach saves money by not requiring the frequent use of expensive synthetic fertilizer and pesticide applications.
Because healthy soil is the foundation of a flourishing and resilient ecosystem, our approach to soil health doesn’t include the traditional synthetic fertilizer applications you and your plants may be used to, but rather focuses on supporting the natural systems that are already in place.
Adapted from Beyond Pesticides, https://www.beyondpesticides.org/resources/lawns-and-landscapes/tools-for-change/fcwolm