The Organic Lawn Care Manual: A Natural, Low-Maintenance System for a Beautiful, Safe Lawn
by Paul Tukey
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Book Reviews of The Organic Lawn Care Manual: A Natural, Low-Maintenance System for a Beautiful, Safe Lawn
Book Review: Best book I've read yet
Summary: 5 Stars
I've read quite a few books on organic lawn care, and this one is by far the best. It goes over everything you need to have a healthy, good-looking organic lawn. It contains tons of illustrations and easy to read summaries, as well as entertaining writing. It covers grass anatomy, building good soil, starting a lawn from scratch, overseeding, switching to organic fertilizers, watering the lawn, organic pest control, organic weed control, effective mowing, grass alternatives, and how to make it all low maintenance. It even includes an appendix on games you can play on your new lawn. I keep pulling this book out time and time again as I work on my lawn. The things I use the most are what organic fertilizers are equivalent to the chemicals recommended by a formal soil test, the lawn care calendar, and how to make compost tea so that it is aerobic and contains the most beneficial microbes for your soil.Book Review: This is the book you're looking for
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm trying to get started on an organic lawn. I've been to lots of (sometimes contradictory) websites, talked to local contractors, and ordered another lawn book. This book is becoming my manual for an organic lawn. It has a lot of detail, great pictures that are truly illustrative, and offers a complete approach to creating a healthy organic lawn.
It should also be noted that the author is not a crunchy hippy who is happy with a weed-filled patch of land. He is/was a professional landscaper who understands the appeal of a beautiful green lawn. He also understands that it can be created, and created better, without the application of synthetic chemicals. I think this gives the book credibility, as the reader can start from the assumption that a beautiful, healthy yard is the goal...an organic lawn is not assumed or allowed to be a substandard lawn.
Book Review: Thorough, balanced (and scary)
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the first organic gardening book I've purchased. And I literally read it the same way I read fiction - cover to cover. I found Paul's narrative style, with family pictures and hardcore science simply fun to read. While many of the statistics are scary (e.g., more gasoline is spilled refilling lawn and garden equipment than was spilled from the Exxon Valdez!) Paul avoids being preachy. The book follows a logical sequence with chapters focused on specific steps -e.g. evaluating what you have, pros and cons of different transitions, watering, weeds, pests, and even games to play on nice grass! He provides plenty of warnings of how initially your lawn may not look as good, but the end result is worth it. Although Paul's base is in Maine, he seemed to cover the country pretty well. As a result of reading this book, I plan to make the transition this year.Book Review: Decent, but light on real information
Summary: 3 Stars
This book is like too many "green" or "organic" books lately. It spends as much time arguing for its existence (i.e. why you should manage your lawn organically) as it does providing practical information for how to do it successfully. OK, I bought the book already -- you don't need to convince me!
It was frustrating that, when I needed a solution to a real problem, all the book told me was: if you plant your lawn the way we've told you, you won't have this problem. Not much help!
On the plus side, I did learn about some good techniques like dethatching.
Book Review: Good Basic Info
Summary: 4 Stars
Paul Tukey does a good job introducing you to an all or even a partially natural method of lawncare. The fact that he's realistic enough to give you the option of switching from a chemical based method to an all organic one in one fell swoop or doing it gradually is nice. I especially found tha natural alternatives he lists to chemically based fertilizers to be very valuable. I've already incorporated some of his ideas into my composting and have built a big enough pile to supply all of my compost needs pretty cheaply. As of late April, my compost pile has reached 140 degrees.