<span style="font-weight: 400;">Just like any house that requires a sturdy foundation to withstand rain, wind, and other external pressures, your lawn needs healthy, organic matter to breathe, hold nutrients and water, and grow.  Top-dressing your lawn with a thin layer of compost this June best provides that foundation. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Composting refers to</span><a href="http://sarasota.ifas.ufl.edu/compost/what-is-composting.shtml"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">the regulated disintegration of organic waste</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by microbes. By recycling natural nutrients from unused vegetable parts, grass clippings, leaves, and other plant waste into the soil,</span><a href="https://www.cias.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/artofcompost.pdf"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> compost dramatically </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">improves soil structural and chemical quality</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">All this organic matter creates a soil foundation similar to that of a sponge. Well-groomed compost has porous holes and abundant biotic life that absorbs extra air, water, and nutrients.  Soil scientists theorize that every 1% of added organic matter to an acre of soil that extends one foot deep, can </span><a href="http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/compost_increases_the_water_holding_capacity_of_droughty_soils"><span style="font-weight: 400;">increase the soil’s water holding capacity by 16,500 gallons</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.  This mitigates lawn problems associated with poor drainage, including pests and weeds attracted to flooded areas. </span><a href="https://web.extension.illinois.edu/homecompost/benefits.cfm"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Evidence suggests turf treated with compost experience less pest and fungus epidemics. </span></a>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Finally, composting reduces greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Compostable materials decompose anaerobically at dump sites </span><a href="http://makedirtnotwaste.org/sites/default/files/composting_factsheet_0.pdf"><span style="font-weight: 400;">producing the highly potent GHG methane</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">In 2014 the EPA found that diverting 89 million tons of recycled/composted waste from the dump caused an annual reduction in greenhouse gases </span><a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-11/documents/2014_smmfactsheet_508.pdf"><span style="font-weight: 400;">equivalent to the annual emissions of over 38 million passenger cars</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> With all these benefits, no wonder some refer to compost as “brown gold”! </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">For creating your own compost mix, focus on compiling ingredients with an</span><a href="https://web.extension.illinois.edu/homecompost/building.cfm"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">appropriate carbon-to-nitrogen ratio</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. “Green” inputs of grass clippings, vegetable peels, and plant waste will contain nitrogen. Meanwhile, “brown” organic materials of hay, twigs, and sawdust provide high concentrations of carbon. After decomposition these ingredients form into a balanced, nutrient-rich mixture for your lawn. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Compost with particle sizes smaller than ⅜ inches in diameter will benefit any lawn whether recently-seeded or established.  Start by </span><a href="http://midwestpesticideaction.org/tough-mudder/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">aerating your lawn</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to ensure the compost infiltrates the soil properly. Then,</span><a href="http://www.dummies.com/home-garden/green-living/how-to-top-dress-lawns-with-compost/"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">top-dress with a ¼ inch layer of compost</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Following top-dressing, water your lawn immediately so that the mix spreads evenly between grass blades. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Composting has several indirect benefits that allow for </span><a href="http://midwestpesticideaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/MidwestGrowsGreenGuideUpdated.pdf"><span style="font-weight: 400;">an eco-friendly and strong lawn</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. The next time in the kitchen, think twice before tossing your vegetable scraps in the garbage. Consider the compost bin instead.  Those “scraps” might create the lush, green lawn you’ve always dreamed</span>