Natural Lawn
Tips For Getting A Green Lawn Naturally
We all aspire to have a beautiful, green lawn that looks great and feels lush to the touch. While fertilizers and other products are often the go-to in helping a lawn grow green and strong – and the first line of defense against pets and disease – not everyone wants to introduce chemicals or synthetic materials into their backyard. Increasingly, people are turning to natural ways of doing things, including to care for their lawn.
Luckily, when it comes to lawn care, there are many ways you can grow and maintain a green yard without using chemicals. Below we share a few all-natural ways to achieve a great lawn without any sort of chemical treatments.
Take Care of the Soil
Healthy grass grows from healthy and nutrient-rich soil, so if you want to grow a strong, green lawn without chemicals be sure to pay the soil some attention. By ensuring a good base, your grass can grow strong and more resilient to damage or pests. To care for the soil, you should follow best practices like aeration and topdressing with compost.
It’s also important that the soil’s pH balance is right. You can check your grass’s pH (the optimal level is 6.5-7). If it’s off, as one source suggests you can use natural methods like lime (if it’s too acidic) or sulfur (if it’s too basic), or even epsom salts to adjust it.
Core aeration also helps you maintain healthy soil. Aeration works by removing “plugs” of soil from the ground. In doing so, aeration helps decompress the soil and allows the soil more access to air, water, and nutrients, all of which are beneficial for it.
Get the Right Grass
It’s hugely important that your grass, and what seed you choose to plant or the turf you choose to lay down, is correct for your climate and the type of soil in your geographical area. Grasses vary in terms of where they thrive, how much water or light they need (or how little they can tolerate), as well as the regions they do best. If you’re not sure which type of grass seed to buy, you can always consult your lawn care professional.
Mow Properly
In order to achieve a green lawn, you need to keep your grass trimmed. Sounds simple, right? It’s not quite as straightforward as it sounds! Cutting your grass too short will be detrimental to your lawn, causing it stress and leaving it vulnerable to disease and pesky insects. If you don’t feel compelled to use chemicals, you’ll want to reduce the instances of diseases and bugs in the first place. To cut your lawn properly ensure your mower is set at the correct height, and that mower blades are sharp enough to get the job done right rather than damaging or tearing the blades of grass.
Mowing properly and with a sharp blade is also important because pests like fungi do well in uneahlthy grass, and, as explained by Plant Naturals, “many such pathogens enter grass blades through damaged spots.”
Leave Lawn Clippings
Leaving cut grass, or clippings, on your lawn is actually beneficial for it. This organic matter provides positives for any type of soil, and helps soil hold nutrients and water that are so important for its survival. The same goes for leaves. Rather than taking them up in the fall, run them over with your mower to chop them into small pieces. The leaves will compost as organic matter, too, providing all natural (and convenient) benefits for your grass.
Lawn clippings can also help “shade out” weeds, and may slow the evaporation of water from the soil which can be especially beneficial in hot places – like Texas.
Choose Natural Products
Just because you don’t want to introduce chemicals into your lawn doesn’t mean you need to avoid “products” entirely. There are a wide variety of all-natural products on the market today, making it possible to treat, feed, and even kill pests on your lawn without the harmful synthetic substances. Organic fertilizers are made from all natural materials, including animal manure, seaweed, and bone compound can get the job
These are just a few tips to get you started. Other methods like watering properly and Integrated Pest Management can help, too. If you need some help getting your lawn into shape, we’re here! We offer several services and natural treatments for all your lawn care needs.
Ferris MyCue is the founder and owner of Grass Works Lawn Care, LLC located in Leander, TX. As a former firefighter who maintained yards on his days off, he saw a need for a dependable, local maintenance company that knew the hill country climate and could deliver quality landscaping services for a reasonable price. Since 2007 he has used his leadership to grow the company into one of the top landscape maintenance companies in Austin and surrounding areas offering landscape maintenance, design, and irrigation services to both residential and commercial clients. Ferris is also a member of the Seasonal Employment Alliance (SEA) and an active participant in advocacy efforts to help promote cap relief.