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12871 Industrial Park Drive, #16
Granger, IN 46530
574.277.LAWN
Hrs: M-F 8-5, Wknd. by appt.
Voice mail routinely checked!
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Child's Play Organic Lawns services South Bend, Elkhart, Granger and Mishawaka, Indiana. We also work in Southwest Michigan. We specialize in organic based fertilizers and lawn care programs. Organic based lawns are maintained using natural, non-toxic lawn products wherever possible. Organic based lawncare emphasizes fertilization and proper maintenance techniques to minimize weeds, fungus, and insect damage. Natural, organic based lawn care leads to a yard that is safe for kids and pets. Organic based fertilizers help protect our environment and promote ecological sustainability.
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Spreader Settings
Download this document: How to spread fertilizer on your lawn.
 Child's Play products are best applied using a rotary type spreader. A drop spreader will work; however, you may find the granules clog or don't fall evenly. It's very important to maintain uniform distribution and application rate. The two factors that dictate how evenly the products are applied are walking speed and gate setting. The faster you walk, the lower the application rate and wider the gate should be open. The slower the walking speed, the less distance the particles travel and the smaller the gate opening.
Corn gluten is applied at 15 lbs. per 1,000 square feet. All other products are applied at 5 lbs. per 1,000 square feet. All bags have suggested spreader settings, but for best results you should calibrate your spreader by doing the following:
- Mark out a 240 square foot area (about 8 feet by 30 feet works pretty well, since most spreaders throw about an 8 feet width).
- Weigh out 10 lbs. of product and pour it in the spreader.
- Push the spreader, at your intended walking rate, with the gate open, across the marked out area.
- Weigh how much product is left in the spreader. Evaluate how much product was applied to the 240 sq. ft. area. You should have about 6 lbs. of corn gluten, or 8-9 lbs. of the others.
- If you have less than that, either walk faster or move to a smaller gate setting.
- If you have more than that, slow down or move the gate to a wider setting.
- You've now calibrated the spreader based on 1/4 scale. Load the spreader and make a perimeter pass around the edge of your yard. Make sure you walk at the same rate you did during your calibration!
- Identify the longest stretches of the lawn and begin pushing from one end to the other. Make sure fertilizer is being thrown back to the tire tracks of your last pass. That will insure you do not "stripe" the yard.
- For more detailed instructions, see Purdue University's web site on spreaders and calibration.
*Granular fertilizers are available in many sizes, each produced to fill a specific need within the fertilizer marketplace. With the use of Size Guide Numbering (SGN), it's easy to understand how to select the particle size that's just right for your application. SGN is simply the average millimeter diameter of a granule multiplied by 100. Therefore, a granule with an average size of 2mm has an SGN of 200 -- a 1.5 mm granule is 150 and so on. The lower the number, the finer the grade.
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