7 Best Organic Fertilizers for Your Lawn
Updated: Apr. 16, 2024
Organic fertilizer helps you attain a lush lawn and healthy soil without using harsh chemicals. Plus, it's safe for kids and pets. Here are our best picks.
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As homeowners become increasingly aware of the impact of their choices on the environment, many opt for chemical-free lawn care to keep their grass robust without introducing potentially harmful substances into the soil and water.
“Organic fertilizers are great not only for keeping your grass green but for ensuring that the entire ecosystem of your yard is clean and healthy,” says Alex Kronk of the Lawn Review. Organic fertilizers erase synthetic chemicals and supply the soil with nutrients from organic matter, providing the best growing environment for grass.
“Plants require 17 different nutrients to thrive,” adds Dr. John Kauffman, a technical manager at TruGreen. Most nutrients are in the soil naturally, but sometimes supplementation is necessary with fertilizers, commonly used to add nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to soil. These are the best organic lawn fertilizers you can buy.
via amazon.com
Best Organic Spring Fertilizer
Espona Organic Lawn Booster
Formulated to give your lawn a chemical-free boost during the most important growing season, Espona’s Organic Lawn Booster is a top choice for an eco-friendly spring turfgrass treatment.
Ingredients like feather meal, pasteurized poultry manure and gypsum will leave your yard vibrant and robust enough to withstand the hot, dry summer months. Amazon reviewers note that this product costs slightly more than competitors, but say the results are worth the expense.
via amazon.com
Best Organic Fall Fertilizer
Espoma Organic Fall Fertilizer
To winterize your lawn and prepare it for a lush comeback the following year, Espona also makes a highly rated organic fall fertilizer. Besides feather meal and pasteurized poultry manure, this seasonal fertilizer formula includes extra potash to bolster your turfgrass root system, protecting your yard from wilt and disease during the cold winter months. Fertilize the lawn in fall six to eight weeks before the first frost date.
You can use your lawn immediately after spreading this natural fertilizer, but be aware a strong odor may linger until watering. Here are a few tips for choosing the right lawn fertilizer.
via amazon.com
Best All-Season Organic Fertilizer
Scotts Natural Lawn Food
This one-size-fits-all Scotts Natural Lawn Food routinely tops “best of” lists for its versatility and ease of use. Suitable for all grass types, it can be applied in any season. It covers all lawn nourishing bases from a green-up to strengthening the root system for a thick, lush blanket of grass. Plus, this product can be used for new lawns before or after seeding or sodding.
Although it’s safe for use around kids and pets, this organic fertilizer has an enticing odor for dogs who may snack on the small pellets. It’s safe for dogs to eat, but some pet owners report that it did cause a bit of a poop issue, ahem. Not to mention, if your dog eats the fertilizer, you’ll have to reapply.
via amazon.com
Best Organic Fertilizer for Yards with Flowers and Vegetables
 Wiggle Worm Soil Builder
Passionate gardeners with yards that mix stretches of lawn with beds of flowering plants and vegetables swear by Wiggle Worm Soil Builder organic fertilizer. It’s made from pure worm castings, aka vermicast or earthworm waste.
This nutrient-rich product includes elements that are absorbed immediately, as well as slow-release elements that feed your turfgrass, flowers and other plants over time. One of Wiggle Worm’s biggest selling points is that it’s odor-free, so you can even toss a small handful on your indoor potted plants for an extra boost.
via amazon.com
Best Slow-Release Organic Fertilizer
Milorganite Organic Nitrogen Fertilizer
For that deep emerald color that will make your lawn the envy of the neighborhood without repeat applications of synthetic chemicals, Milorganite 0636 organic nitrogen fertilizer is a top-growth winner.
Its turbo-boost of nitrogen and four percent iron is formulated to get your lawn vibrant, although the lack of potassium means that you should only use it on healthy, well-established turfgrass. Milorganite’s slow-release formula nourishes your lawn for up to 10 weeks, so you get away with a single application in the spring or fall.
via amazon.com
Best Fast-Acting Organic Fertilizer
Safer Brand Lawn Restore
Organic fertilizers are known for showing results much more slowly than their synthetic counterparts, but Safer Brand Lawn Restore is one of the few natural options that works in just days. Instead of targeting your lawn’s top growth, this product goes right to the roots and nourishes your grass from the bottom up so you can start to see enhanced color and vitality fast.
Unfortunately, Safer Brand recently released a new version of this popular lawn fertilizer that users report is messier to apply and has a much more pungent odor than the previous formula.
via amazon.com
Best Liquid Organic Fertilizer
Just Scentsational Trident’s Pride
Fans of liquid fertilizers will be happy to know of an effective organic option that combines the fast absorption and easy application of a liquid without harsh chemicals. Just Scentsational Trident’s Pride is a crowd-pleaser for its rich formulation based on natural fish products that nourish the soil with amino acids, microbes, enzymes and vitamins. Just be prepared for a slightly fishy smell, customers warn.
What to Consider When Buying Organic Fertilizer
One element of natural lawns is the use of organic fertilizers, which add vital nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) macronutrients to the soil via natural rather than synthetic ingredients. Some of the most common compositions include alfalfa, cottonseed or corn gluten meal; rock phosphate; cow or poultry manure; compost; earthworm castings; bone or feather meal; or even seaweed or kelp.
Organic fertilizers offer multiple benefits but also a few drawbacks:
Pros
- Reduced chemical exposure for yourself, your family and your pets.
- No need to stay off your lawn for a time after treatment.
- Won’t burn your lawn if you apply too much
- Improves the quality of your soil over time and revitalizes your lawn’s ecosystem
- No leaching of chemicals from the soil into the groundwater
Cons
- Requires more time and effort to see results
- May see more weeds
- Your lawn may be more susceptible to grub outbreaks
“When choosing the right fertilizer, it’s always important to complete a soil test on your lawn,” says Kronk. “Soil test kits are inexpensive and provide tailored results about the nutrient needs of your lawn. With the results, you can easily buy the appropriate fertilizer.”
There are multiple types of organic fertilizers on the market, but according to Kronk, most homeowners need to familiarize themselves with only two kinds when shopping at the local garden center. “Granular fertilizers are small granules you can disperse throughout your lawn using a broadcast spreader, drop spreader or hand spreader. Liquid fertilizers are often connected to a hose and can be sprayed across your lawn.”
Manure, compost and meals are used more heavily in large-scale gardening and agriculture. Dr. Kauffman points out that non-composted and untreated manures aren’t recommended for use as fertilizers, as they can carry and spread diseases like E. Coli. Once manure has been composted, though, it’s an excellent choice for farms and large fields.
“Organic materials can be composted and applied as a fertilizer, which breaks down with microbial activity in the soil and releases their nutrients over time,” says Dr. Kauffman. “Bone meal, blood meal and feather meal are made by processing byproducts of animals used for food or other purposes and applying them to soils for nutrient delivery.”
Why You Should Trust Us
In addition to writing about gardening and DIY home improvement for Family Handyman, I also live on a small working farm, where I keep chickens and garden. To give more insight into organic fertilizer, we contacted two experts. Alex Kronk founded the Lawn Review, a website dedicated to helping non-gardeners care for their lawn themselves with the best tools possible. Dr. John Kauffman is TruGreen’s Mid-Atlantic Region technical manager, responsible for agronomic/horticulture program development and new product testing.
How We Found the Best Organic Fertilizers
To find the best organic fertilizers, we asked expert professionals and gardening enthusiasts for their opinions and recommendations. After combing through the offerings of retailers that can deliver organic fertilizers to just about everywhere, we then researched each brand’s quality and composition. We also consulted reviews from real customers to see how these products performed with extended use.
FAQ
What is the best organic fertilizer for grass?
The best organic lawn fertilizer on the market is Espona’s organic lawn booster. It’s produced to give your lawn additional nutrients (like feather meal, pasteurized poultry manure and gypsum) minus the presence of harmful chemicals. While Espona’s organic lawn fertilizer is pricier, the benefits outweigh the cost.
Is organic lawn fertilizer worth it?
There are many reasons why switching to an organic lawn fertilizer is worth it. It reduces chemical exposure for yourself, your family and your pets, and it won’t burn your lawn if you accidentally apply too much. It also improves the quality of your soil over time and revitalizes your lawn’s ecosystem, and you’re in no danger of chemicals leaching from your soil into the groundwater. Of course, there are downsides, like the fact that it may take more time and effort to see results, and if grubs are a problem, your garden may become more susceptible to outbreaks. However, the overall pros of using organic fertilizer definitely outweigh the cons.
Originally Published: April 19, 2021
