Easy Steps to Natural Lawn Care

Growing with AGGRAND

Easy Steps to Natural Lawn Care

Natural lawn care offers lawn care professionals an environmentally compatible, easy-to-use alternative to high-input care. Natural care improves the beauty and vigor of your clients’ lawns – and reduces your cost of doing business. Converting your business to natural methods is easy with AGGRAND products.

AGGRAND Natural Fertilizer
The foundation of the AGGRAND natural lawn care
program, AGGRAND Natural Fertilizer will improve
your whole operation, from the quality of the
lawns you produce to your profitability.
• Prevailing lawn care practices depend on high
rates of nitrogen input, which promotes an
excessive leaf development to root reserve ratio.
Such over-abundant top growth is easy prey for

disease-causing organisms and insects, while the
shallow root system can’t store the reserves to cope
with drought stress. Heavy, excessive top growth
also leads to an excessive amount of clippings,
which outstrip the ability of soil organisms to
break down dead materials, leading to thatch
build-up, increased disease risk and unsightly
appearance. Finally, all that top growth needs frequent
mowing!

Excessive nitrogen
Rapid leaf growth
Poor root development
Frequent mowing
Poor stress tolerance
Rapid thatch build-up
Poor nutrient cycling
Depletes plant reserves
Favors weed growth
Leaches out of soil
Pollutes nearby waters
Increases soil salt content

AGGRAND
Balanced leaf and root
development
Reduced mowing frequency
Good stress resistance
No thatch build-up
Cycles nutrients efficiently
Increases plant reserves
Favors grass growth
Stable in soil
No leaching, no pollution
No salt increase

	Excessive salt Reduces nutrient cycling Decreases organic matter Promotes soil compaction Damages soil structure		AGGRAND Efficient nutrient cycling Increases organic matter Increases soil aeration Improves soil structure
	Excessive nitrogen and salt Harm earthworms Harm soil microbes Burn foliage		AGGRAND Allows soils to return to more natural pH, salinity and overall chemical and physical balance, encouraging the return of earthworms and microbes

AGGRAND Natural Fertilizer 4-3-3 helps lawns
develop deep root systems with proportional top growth
by supplying nitrogen as part of a balance of nutrients.
Due to its balanced growth, the natural lawn resists
disease, insects and drought much more successfully
than high-input lawns do. Naturally-managed lawns
cycle nutrients efficiently, preventing thatch buildup.
In fact, recycling thatch actually gives the lawn an
extra two pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet over
the growing season – a nice little boost. Finally, natural
lawns require less mowing than high-nitrogen lawns.
     • Conventional lawn care practices may cause
micronutrient deficiencies and inefficient nitrogen
usage. Plants take up nitrogen and micronutrients
in a fixed proportion, so when nitrogen is highly
abundant, micronutrients should be, too. Most
commercial fertilizers don’t supply micronutrients,
so lawns may suffer micronutrient deficiencies and
often fail to use all the supplied nitrogen.
     • Natural lawns depend on fixation and release of
nutrients by soil microbes to regulate soil fertility.
Nutrients that are not directly taken up by the grass
are stored and released slowly in proportions that
promote healthy growth.

AGGRAND Natural Fertilizer 4-3-3 contains kelp
and fish, potent macro and micronutrient sources.
Many of the nutrients are in chelated form which
holds them in reserve until needed. Plants get the
nutrients they need when they need them.
     • Conventional fertilizers supply nitrogen as a salt.
Salts dissolve quickly in soil, releasing nitrogen which
encourages weed growth. In fact, a late-season nitrogen
spike specifically favors crabgrass.
     • Lawn grasses respond to a nitrogen spike by producing
excessive top growth in lieu of storing
carbohydrates. Lawns with poor carbohydrate
reserves go dormant during drought or other stressful
times.
     • Rapid fertilizer release also allows nitrogen to
leach through the soil which pollutes ground and
surface waters.

AGGRAND Natural Fertilizer 4-3-3 supplies many of
its nutrients as organic compounds, such as carbohydrates
and proteins. These water insoluble compounds
are held in the soil until microbes and other organisms
digest them, “time-releasing” plant nutrients, with no
leaching, no pollution.
     • Salt-based fertilizers toxify the soil which reduces soil
microbe and earthworm populations, and consequently
reduces nutrient cycling, decreases soil
organic matter content, increases soil compaction and
damages soil structure.

AGGRAND Natural Fertilizer 4-3-3 helps restore
soils to their natural nutrient balance, encouraging soil
microbes and earthworms to repopulate the soil which
increases nutrient cycling and loosens soil structure.
     • Sprayable liquid is available in quarts, 5-gallon twin
packs or 55-gallon drums. Guaranteed analysis:
4-3-3. One quart treats 3,000 to 8,000 square feet.

AGGRAND
Natural Liquid Bonemeal 0-12-0
AGGRAND Natural Liquid Bonemeal provides an immediately-
available source of natural phosphorus to your
lawn. Phosphorus makes an important contribution to
root development which is essential to the establishment
and long-term vigor of the lawn.
    • Sprayable liquid, available in quarts, 5-gallon twin
packs or 55-gallon drums. Guaranteed analysis:
0-12-0. One quart treats 1,000 to 2,000 square feet.

AGGRAND Natural Liquid Lime
AGGRAND Natural Liquid Lime contains high-quality
(99.6% pure) dolomitic limestone in suspension specifically
formulated for faster penetration around the
roots. AGGRAND Natural Liquid Lime features lime
particles two times finer than those of conventional,
bagged lime. As a result, it penetrates the soil profile
more rapidly, providing immediate availability.
    • Sprayable liquid, available in quarts, 5-gallon twin
packs or 55-gallon drums. One quart treats 1,000 to
5,000 square feet.

Aggrand Natural Kelp and
Sulfate of Potash 0-0-8
AGGRAND Natural Kelp and Sulfate of Potash
enhances plant health by providing potassium,
micronutrients, sulfur, hormones and amino acids.
AGGRAND Natural Kelp with 2% Sulfur increases
heat, cold and drought tolerance while decreasing the
susceptibility to insect attack and infection by diseasecausing
organisms.
    • Sprayable liquid, available in quarts, 5-gallon twin
packs or 55-gallon drums. Guaranteed analysis:
0-0-8. One quart treats 5,000 to 10,000 square feet.

Aggrand Rates and Timings
Application rates and timing vary according to grass
species, soil type and lawn condition. Normally, four
to six applications of AGGRAND 4-3-3 per year are sufficient.
The first application is made as soon as the
grass shows signs of growth (green color) in early
spring. The second application follows in three to four
weeks (shorter interval for sandy soil). On lawns in good
condition (mostly turf grass, with few weeds and a small
amount of thatch) a third application can be made
before the grass goes into summer dormancy. Resume
fertilization in late summer when the grass starts
to grow again. Fertilize two or three more times before
the end of the season at the same interval as the
spring fertilizations.
The addition of 1 pint/5,000 sq. ft. of AGGRAND 0-
0-8 to the spray mix once in early spring, before
summer heat and/or drought, and in early fall provides
increased beneficial effects to plant health. Addition of
1 quart/2,000 sq. ft. of AGGRAND 0-12-0 once in early
spring or later fall provides further enhancement of root
development.

AGGRAND Natural Fertilizer 4-3-3 rates for specific grass species:

   1 quart per 5,000 to 8,000 sq. ft.
       • Buffalo grass
       • Fine fescue
       • Tall fescue
1 quart per 3,000 to 5,000 sq. ft.
       • Bermuda grass
       • Carpet grass
       • Kentucky bluegrass
       • Perennial rye grass
       • Zoysia grass
1 quart per 2,000 to 4,000 sq. ft.
       • Bahia grass
       • Bent grass
       • Centipede grass
       • St. Augustine grass

Lawns that exhibit slow growth, yellow color and a
large number of weeds may have other problems that
need to be addressed. If weeds are problematic, then
they need to be removed either by hand weeding or the
application of an herbicide. Herbicide applications
should be made when the weeds are just beginning to
grow. As a general rule grassy weeds begin to grow in
early spring when the soil temperature reaches 50°F,
whereas broad leaves take off later in spring when the
soil temperature reaches 60°F. It makes matters worse
to “weed-n-feed” the lawn because resistant weeds
will grow that much faster. A workable plan involves
these steps:
       • Note weed types and areas in lawn where they are
growing the first year.
       • After speaking with an authorized weed control specialist,
implement a weed control plan the second year.

• In early fall, after weeds are controlled, over-seed the
lawn with turf species mixed with compost or well-composted
manure (if the lawn is very uneven, one-third
sand can be used in the mixture to help level the lawn).
• Fertilize the lawn with AGGRAND 4-3-3 as you
would normally once the new grass has been mowed
two or three times.
If the lawn is full of plantain, dandelions and/or
quackgrass this condition could be caused by compacted
soil. Check to see if the soil is compacted by
trying to push a blunt object into it in a number of different
spots. If the soil is difficult to penetrate, then the
lawn needs to be renovated (killed, desodded, tilled,
reseeded) or dethatched, aerated and overseeded.
Check with some lawn care professionals before taking
the renovation route, although it may be the only
workable solution on very weedy and/or compacted
lawns. If renovation is necessary be sure to add compost/
manure, adjust soil pH, and apply one quart
each of AGGRAND Natural Fertilizer 4-3-3 and
AGGRAND Liquid Bonemeal 0-12-0 and one pint of
AGGRAND Natural Kelp and Sulfate of Potash 0-0-8 per
1,000 sq. ft. before the final trip over the ground with
the rototiller.
Slow growth and yellowish grass may be the result
of compacted soil because oxygen is unable to penetrate
into the root zone where the roots use it for respiration
(the release of energy from stored carbohydrates). The
other cause of yellowish grass is low pH. Another sign
of low pH is the growth of moss in the lawn. If the soil
pH is below 6.0 then the pH surrounding the roots
needs to be raised by applying AGGRAND Liquid Lime.
Apply one quart per 1,000 sq. ft. every 3-4 weeks
during spring and fall (along with fertilizer applications).