These Elements Are The Keys To Organic Lawn Care

Spring arrives and the smell of freshly mown grass fills the air. Which is your signal to begin the annual rituals of spreading synthetic lawn care products, firing up the mower and having at it against nature.

Or not. Because if you’re tired of your chemical-saturated lawn maintenance routine maybe it’s time to get your grass off performance-enhancing drugs. Turning instead to more sustainable methods to achieve a lawn that’s still perfect, the envy of the neighborhood, yet eco-friendly too.

Now organic lawn care begins with the grasses you plant. It also involves watering wisely, feeding sustainably, mowing right, while dealing with weeds or pests organically. Let’s briefly learn what each entails and then some.

Going Native When Picking Your Grass Seed

How much you have to water, feed and treat depends in large part on the seed you plant. Grass species known to thrive in your local climate are more likely to fend off pests naturally without much help from you. So plant cool season grasses in the north, warm season grasses down south or transitional strains if you’re in-between.

Feeding Your Lawn the Organic Way

We’re so used to getting out the spreader, cutting open the bad and applying the product to the grass. But if you’ve got a decent strain of grass you may just need to do things like spray compost tea or spread compost to improve the soil. While attending to the plant’s macro and micro nutritional needs by turning to non traditional applications of cotton seed meal, blood meal, or various seaweed fertilizers to fill in the gaps.

To pull that off, you want to get an idea of the soil’s pH. That will tell you want it needs to best support the grass. Because if your soil is anything other than a pH of 6.5 (just slightly acidic) to 7 the grass will have trouble absorbing nutrients. To fix that you’d use either sulfur or limestone depending on whether it’s too alkaline or acidic.

Turf Truth: A green lawn in an integral part of home ownership. Americans have roughly 40 million acres with sod under cultivation. That comes down to an area equal to about the state of Washington covered in grass.

Be Smart When Watering

Grass that has a strong root system doesn’t need to be watered as often. Which is good since too much rain or watering can leach out vital nutrients needed for healthy growth. Yet as you know it’s best, if you have to water, to do so in the morning. That way diseases won’t gain a foot hold plus the least amount of water will be lost to evaporation.

Why Mow More Frequently

When you mow you want to cut off no more than a third of the grass blade - so don’t let it grow too long. Frequent mowing promotes a healthy root structure which can supply the water your grass requires. And you want to use a mulching mower. Think of these clippings as slow release fertilizer. Which can account to up 50% of your lawn’s nitrogen needs. They also tend to reduce water loss.

Dealing with Weeds and Pests Organically

A lush lawn naturally crowds out the weeds. While corn gluten can be used to keep weeds from sprouting. Up to 90% control takes a couple two three years to achieve but it’s an earth friendlier way to keep weeds at bay.

As you can see those five tricks are all that involved. And if you’re devoting more time to your lawn and enjoying it less maybe it’s time to switch gears. Rethinking your approach to lawn care and giving some organic approaches a fair shot. It’s not only better for the environment, it may be a more sustainable approach in the long run to a greener healthier lawn.

As an admitted lawnologist, author Dewey J Capasso has written articles about more than organic lawn care. He’s looked at the latest cordless electric lawn mowers, offered insights about zero turn mowers and the top rated riding lawn mowers plus weighed in on a variety of lawn care topics.

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