Your lawn will improve dramatically if your grass is in need of certain nutrients or a different pH. Alternately, broadcast natural fertilizer after aerating or before watering.Īdd the necessary nutrients determined by soil testing. Scatter 1/2 inch compost or natural fertilizer over the grass and rake in. Natural solutions also nourish the soil over time, not just feed the grass from the top. Natural fertilizers like compost work just as well! There is really no need for expensive chemical fertilizers.
Cutting grass below 2 inches can stress the plant and expose the roots. We think that shorter is better, but it isn’t! It is much better to mow often but not as short. Why all that extra work for no good reason? Cut grass to about 2-2.5 inches before seeding for optimal growth. Overseeding is spreading 3-4 pounds of grass seed per 1000 feet of lawn. Choose a grass that matches your yard conditions (shade/sun, etc.) and that won’t require much watering.Find out which varieties of grass grow best in your area.If you have the ability, converting part of your lawn to a wildflower growth area for local flowers is a great way to improve soil and make pollinators happy. This increases the chance of disease and nutrient demand.Īdd a crop like white clover to grass to improve the nitrogen content of the soil and keep a thick, lush lawn. You may not love to hear this, but growing a single plant (like one type of grass) over a large area is unnatural. These times are a good measure of a grass that grows well in your area and a helpful metric in selecting a grass. Augustine grass, Centipede grassĨ – 12 days: Carpet grass, Fine fescue, Kikuyu grass, Seashore paspalum, Tall fescue, Zoysiaĥ – 7 days: Ryegrass, Kentucky Bluegrass, Bentgrass The University of Georgia- College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences suggests these as the max times to wait between waterings for different types of grass:ġ2 – 21 days: Bahia grass, Buffalo gass, Bermuda grass, St. Choose one that is hardy and doesn’t need a lot of extra water.Īlso consider sun and shade requirements, how much traffic your lawn gets and how much rain your area gets when choosing a grass. Finally, add pH adjusters if needed to get the pH in optimal range.Īsk a local 4-H office or lawn care expert what grasses are native to the area.This is called topdressing and is done by adding up to an inch of compost or topsoil and raking into the grass. Then, fertilize once per year with compost.First, aerate in the spring if needed to improve soil texture.Good soil for grass also has a pH that is slightly acidic and just under 7. It is certainly an easier process than things like improving the water in your home or even overhauling your meals with meal planning (though I recommend those too!). Making the switch to natural lawn care may be one of the easies and cheapest switches you can make. With droughts in many areas, this is a substantial water burden. 25-60% of residential water usage (depending on location) goes to watering lawns.Lawn equipment like mowers and weedeaters (or weedwackers, depending on where you’re from), emit much more waste into the air than cars and trucks.This is very detrimental for the soil over time.
When these chemicals are used as much as 90% of the earthworm population in a lawn is killed.(Obviously, this isn’t great for pets either!) The average lawn gets up to 10x as much chemical pesticide and herbicide use as commercial farmland! This means that the grass your children are running on barefoot probably contains more chemicals than commercially sprayed wheat, corn, and soybean crops.The US Wildlife Federation also reports these environmental effects of our lawn care practices:
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