Here are the steps to transitioning to organic.

1. Stop using synthetic chemical fertilizer, herbicide, insecticide, and fungicide.

Okay. What else is there?

The normal accepted practices for lawn care, if you believe everything you read on the GardenWeb Lawn and Organic Lawn forums, are these.

1. Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an inch and all at one time. Infrequently means monthly in the off season and working your way up to weekly in the hottest heat of summer. There are a few exceptions to this if you live in the Rockies or in the SW desert.

2. Mulch mow at your mower's highest setting. The exceptions to this rule include bermuda, bentgrass, centipede, and sometimes zoysia. Tall grass makes a healthier turf more resistant to drought and better able to fend off weeds.

3. Fertilize regularly with the fertilizer of your choice. Whether you choose synthetic fertilizer or organic doesn't seem to make much difference at all compared to the collective effects of following 1 and 2 above. I fertilize with ordinary corn meal at a rate of 10-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet on the federal holidays. If you use synthetic fertilizer you can follow the same schedule and do the Memorial Day app but skip the 4th of July app and wait until Labor Day. Synthetic fertilizers don't always do good things in the hottest heat of summer.

There are a few rules of thumb with organic fertilizers.

1. Don't think in terms of pounds of NPK with organic fertilizers. Organic fertilizers contain protein as the key ingredient. They also contain carbohydrates, vitamins, and enzymes. Sounds like food doesn't it.

2. Organic fertilizers can be applied any day of the year, rain or shine.

3. Organic fertilizer take about 3 full weeks to green up the lawn so if the wedding reception is scheduled for June 15, plan to fertilize in early May. The federal holiday schedule seems to keep you on track for a green lawn all season.

4. Organic fertilizers do not attract bunnies, insects, skunks, squirrels, or any other feared creatures. It will not attract birds, lizards, and toads, but these creatures will come to your lawn because the insects they normally eat will be more healthy. It is these three classes of hunters that do your insect control for you. You won't need insecticide.

5. Organic fertilizers don't have to smell bad. If you are thinking of manure, forget about it. Manure is not fertilizer. If you are thinking about fish emulsion, you can use it but it stinks. Plus it costs a lot more than most of us want to spend. That's why I use corn meal. If you think the price of corn will keep you out of this market, look at the price of synthetic fertilizers this year.

6. Compost is not an organic fertilizer. While it is the single most expensive material you can put on your lawn, and it is organic, it is a horrible fertilizer when compared to real fertilizers containing corn meal, soy bean meal, cotton seed meal, flax, wheat, and/or animal byproducts. Even the free coffee grounds you can get from Starbucks are much better as a direct fertilizer than compost. You may already have guessed that I don't think you need to use compost in any way to "transition" to an organic program. In my opinion, and in contrast with just about every other resource you will read, the only reason you "need" compost is when you absolutely cannot grow anything in a spot. For example if you spilled some sort of chemicals or if you have a low area that floods for a week at a time. Then you need compost in those areas to reestablish the population of microbes in your soil. Beyond that, if you have soil that supports plant life, then all you have to do is apply organic fertilizer. It is much less expensive than compost and actually helps a LOT more.