Let’s Talk About Organic Lawns
Everyone wants a greener lawn. Getting it done in a green fashion will definitely take a little bit of know how but it’s actually quite simple. There are many products available that will help each of us in our quest for a nice green organic yard.
I’ve been trying for quite a while to move away from chemically treated lawns. I started giving it serious thought years ago when my children were very small and loved to play in our yard. Organic lawn care is much safer for your family and pets and safer for the environment.
None of us want our children playing in a yard where poisonous fertilizers have been spread or sprayed. Our pets, especially dogs will eat the grass in the yard. Studies have shown that dogs suffer from serious illness as a result from eating, playing and rolling around in a lawn that has been treated with chemicals.
As far as the environment goes, it’s much safer because it does not pose a threat to our water systems. By creating an organic lawn, you will still experience a lush green lawn that everyone wants.
There are a number of products on the market that will help us achieve an organic yard. Choose a grass seed that is adapted to the climate where you live. By choosing the correct grass seed, it will grow with less effort from you. Your local home improvement store will carry grass seed that will do well in your part of the country. If you live in the south, you will be planting a warm season seed. The north will do better with cool season grass seed.
If you have a chemically treated lawn right now, do you need to tear it up and restart your lawn? The answer is no. You can begin to over seed your existing grass and over time, the new seed will overtake the old grass.
Every lawn needs fertilizer. I recommend an organic fertilizer. If you see the word “urea” on a bag of fertilizer, do not purchase this fertilizer because it is a chemical. You are looking for a slow release fertilizer. The chemical fertilizers will give you a fast green up of your lawn but over time it’s not sustainable. A slow release is like eating good healthy food for your lawn. It will continue to nourish your lawn as it grows.
Some people do not believe that you can control weeds in your organic yard by using organic fertilizer. That is simply not true. There is a great product available called corn gluten meal. It’s a byproduct of corn processing and it’s perfectly safe for your lawn. It’s actually used as livestock feed. It was discovered a few years ago that corn gluten meal has a unique property that it keeps seeds from germinating. If you spread gluten meal on your lawn early in the spring or in the fall it will keep the weeds from coming up. You have to be careful not to use it when you have just spread grass seed. It is so safe that you could eat it.
Ok, now you have done the work and you have this green lush yard that is grown organically. What do you do when the time comes to cut your grass? The best way to keep your lawn looking thick as possible and to keep your soil as fertile as possible is to do 2 simple things.
1. Raise the wheels on your lawnmower. 3 inches is a good level to cut your grass. It makes your lawn look thicker because the grass is longer. If your grass is longer, it helps to shade out the weeds and it helps to keep moisture in the soil.
2. Let the grass clippings stay on the lawn. The clippings will decompose over time and turn into fertilizer. This will help greatly to produce a beautiful organic lawn.
I hope that these tips will help you become the envy of your neighborhood as you grow an environment, pet and child friendly organic lawn.
