Organic Plant Health Care

Many of the sick or weak plants in our landscape are generally not suffering from pests or disease but instead, their problems result from cultural or environmental factors such as over watering, drought stress, winter damage, improper pruning techniques or damage from mowers and weed eaters.

The key to managing plants so they are resistant to stress, disease and insect attack is Plant Health Care (PHC) which first emphasizes plant health to fight disease an insects and second, to proactively manage plants by proper selection, installation and feeding.

Niwaki’s primary focus for lawn care is maintaining a healthy lawn that is vigorous and attractive through soil enrichments, weed control and (IPM) Integrated Pest Management.

Proper soil management and organic fertilization may seem minor, but it makes a big difference in the larger picture of your landscape. If we focus on just mowing or just on weed management, we overlook many of the other cultural problems afflicting our lawns.

Landscapes are dynamic in many ways. Micro climates occur in every landscape creating different growing conditions and nutritional needs. We monitor the plants and lawns constantly to keep up with both seasonal and long term changes. We scout for signs of stress on every visit, and are on the lookout for developing pest and disease problems.

We are specialists, not applicators in the field of organics.  We are passionate about its effects on the environments and excited about helping you understand the benefits. We won’t leave the truck running. We will spend time in your yard and want you to get to know us. Let’s just say we won’t be a blur.

Did you know…

Mycorrhizae fungi form a symbolic relationship with the tree and shrub root system to help in the absorption of minerals, nutrients, water and more. The fungi gain sugars and other compounds from the tree. This way, the trees contribute and gain, and fungi contribute and gain- both are giving to, and receiving from each other.

Have You Hugged a Tree Today?

According to the USDA Forest Service, “Trees properly placed around buildings can reduce air conditioning needs by 30% and save 20-50 percent in energy used for heating.”

Trees produce oxygen through photosynthesis. In the Amazonian rainforest, vegetative growth generates 20% of the world’s atmospheric oxygen.

NutriBlend® Organic Soil Reform

Manufactured fertilizers are very popular with homeowners because they are readily available, inexpensive, and generally provide a quick release of nutrients for fast plant growth. The down side is that excess plant growth, encourages insects and disease, and it increases stress on the already struggling plants.

In addition, nitrogen based fertilizers add salt that can have high impact on the soil pH, kill off beneficial fungi and bacteria in the soil and restrict the uptake of essential minerals by plant roots. The presence of salt will also lower the soil pH. In highly acid soils (very low pH), aluminum and manganese can become more available and toxic to the plant.

Although a synthetic nitrogen based fertilized lawn may appear a little greener and may look healthy, its internal systems and relationship with the soil may be at a high risk of collapse. Applying synthetic, manufactured fertilizers is comparable to us taking steroids to speed muscle growth.

Organic Soil Reform involves the reconstruction of microbial life within the soil, replicating natural conditions by adding organic matter, micronutrients, and living microbes to the soil. Our custom formulated NutriBlend® contains a mix of worm extracts, Black sea kelp, hummates, amino acids, and essential foods and sugars. In addition, this custom blended mixture is formulated for our North and South Carolina “red clay “ to help naturally aerate and de-compact the soil the natural way using microbiology much like that found in our thriving forest. I don’t know about you, but I have never seen anyone fertilize our forest… because “Mother Nature” does it all naturally.