Deleted

All I use is compost and cheap high protein, lot salt cattle/horse feeds.

All lawns need a little annual sprinkling of compost to supply plenty of humus and microbes for lawn health and soil conditioning. Compost also buffers soil pH issues.

Protein fertilizers like corn meal, soybean meal, or any other kind of cheap seed meal, is all you need to supply extra protein/nitrogen to feed soil microbes in the lawn soil, and to give extra lawn growth and greening.

I have heard about corn meal gluten, a couple of years ago. Suprisingly, when I called the cooperative extension in my area I was told that it doesn't work (alright) but since my property contained horses even as long as 5 or more years before, that I shouldn't have to fertilize at all. Your thoughts Captain? What I have read about it even since suggests that it may be a good idea as a fertilizer and pre-emergent weed control. When we moved in there was a carpet of dandelions. But with frequent mowings (have to keep on DH not to mow too short) either they have cut down in number because they never get a chance to go to seed, or I just don't ever get a chance to see them.

This is what my brother does. He has a wooden privacy fence up and along the bottom of it he has chicken wire. Then he released into the yard his daughters three rabbits. They love weeds, and they leave behind fertilizer. He also doesn't sholve the dog remains. He rakes it in. I'm in the country so I let my chickens run aroud in the yard. Where ever they go the grass is always green.

You can help the "weed" problem some by mowing high, 3 to 4 inches and this will shade the soil so the "weeds" won't be as apt to germinate. Where I've been able to do this I have few weeds and those I do have are forced to grow straighter and tighter and are easier to remove by hand. Recycling the clippings by mulch mowing also helps by providing half the nutrients needed by your grass. Then all you need to is supplement with a relatively high nitrogen source in the fall, I use Milorganite since that is about the only "organic" fertilizer I can get here.

We've used corn gluten meal, from Blue Seal (http://www.blueseal.com), as a pre-emergent weed supressor and slow-release nitrogen feed (it's about 10-12% nitrogen). Use it alone in the fall at full strength application (20lbs per 1,000 sq. feet). Then in the springtime, we'll use it again, only this time at half stength along with an additional feeding of all organic fertilizer from Espoma.

We have our compost piles,but not enough to spread around the lawn. Because I have so many flower beds, we mostly use it there or in the veggie garden.

One thing about the CGM: timing application and watering w/appropriate drying out periods, are extremely important. I think a lot of folks underestimate the importance of those factors and, consequently, the CGM doesn't perform as well.

gardenz

Thanks for the kind words, tarinann. One of these days, I've got to update that web page of mine :_|. At least I should try and get that Santa Claus off the opening page! There just never seems to be enough time. Especially this this time of year...getting ready for the season and all.

Thanks again, and good luck with the CGM.

gardenz

I use ordinary corn meal because it costs me $3.50 for 50 pounds at the feed store. I also use alfalfa pellets and will start using soy meal this year (another good deal). Fifty pounds of corn GLUTEN meal costs me $20 so I don't use that.

Can anyone point me towards any online articles about corn gluten meal -- this is a subject that I seem to have missed out on.

Thanks for any help offered,
Mari, in the Willamette Valley, OR, USA, z.8b

mari,

Here's some of the basic info on CGM I pulled from my files:
http://www.gluten.iastate.edu/
http://www.extension.umn.edu/projects/yardandgarden/ygb...1cornglutenmeal.html

Good thing about the first link, is it contains a bunch of other reference links as well. Also, it provides names and locations of retailers for the CGM. But, as Dchall mentioned, if it's cost prohibitive for you, then try to locate a source of corn meal (say from a farm/feed supplier). Or most animal feeds (as the Captain has suggested so often).

Generally, the first ingredient in those feeds is either "corn gluten meal" or "corn by products". Check the labels on many domestic animal foods too. (Which is one reason why I don't feed any of those brands to my cat. Too much filler). But for the lawn...that's a different story!

gardenz