Top 12 Easy Steps to Get Your Natural Lawn Off Drugs
Be a good neighbor! Don’t poison the soil, natural lawn, water, or the people in your neighborhood with chemicals. Weed & Feed and other chemical fertilizers and pesticides are not necessary and there are natural lawn care steps you can take to reduce your weeds and pest problems!
1. TOLERATE SOME WEEDS
Tolerate some weeds and allow beneficial plants to exist such as clover in your lawn for its nitrogen-fixing magic.
2. HAND-DIGGING WEEDS
Hand Digging Weeds is the best method of weed control. More than 80% of all weeds are annuals. Hand remove annual weeds before they seed, and remember to remove the roots of perennials. But don’t give up! An old knife or fork will do or dandelion weeders are inexpensive.
3. RESEED BARE SPOTS
Before weeds fill them in. The most important is to plant a mixture rather than a single variety (e.g. 60% fescue mix, 10% Perennial Ryegrass, 30% Kentucky Bluegrass + 2-3% Dutch White Clover). Diseases can be quite selective. A mixture of grasses will prevent the destruction of your lawn.
4. TEST YOUR SOIL
Purchase a soil test kit. Such a test will give your soil’s pH, organic matter content, and nutrients needed to balance it. Organic matter increases nutrient-holding capacity and improves aeration and water retention. Don’t underestimate the importance of knowing your soil’s condition!
5. REMOVE THATCH
Remove Thatch, the matted layer of clippings and debris on top of the soil, if it is more than 1/2″ thick. Thatch chokes out grass plants, prevents air, water and nutrients from reaching the soil, and promotes almost every possible lawn problem. Aeration and a brisk raking should remove much of the thatch.
6. AERATE THE LAWN
Aerate the Lawn to break through the deep thatch and reduce soil compaction. This encourages deeper rooting and allows water, nutrients, and organic matter to feed the soil. Earthworms are terrific aerators. Lots of wormholes in the lawn mean the job is being done for you.
7. FERTILIZE NATURALLY
If your soil test results show the need, add organic fertilizers. Natural fertilizers are more desirable because of their long-term benefits…and are needed less frequently. They improve the soil’s ability to retain and release nutrients and they are alive with beneficial micro-organisms that speed up the decomposition of clippings and thatch. And if the soil test says the pH is low, add a natural source of ground limestone when you fertilize (as long as you aren’t seeding at the same time).
8. MOW AT THE PROPER HEIGHT
Keep grass 2 1/2 to 3″ high. Never cut off more than 1/3 of the height at a time or your grass will shock! Keep the mower blades sharp so you don’t damage the grass. Taller grass will crowd out weeds, grow longer roots, and shade the soil.
9. LEAVE GRASS CLIPPINGS
Less raking! Once the grass is no longer coated in chemicals, the clippings are a free and natural fertilizer for your lawn, as long as they aren’t too long or lying in huge clumps. Grass clippings begin to decompose almost immediately. They provide a 4-1-3 fertilizer, which is about as perfect a combination as a lawn needs.
10. WATER MORE DEEPLY & LESS FREQUENTLY
Water only when the soil has dried out well into the root zone. Northern lawns may need watering only in dry summers. Frequent light watering encourages shallow rooting and leaves the grass vulnerable to insects and disease. When run-off occurs, the soil has absorbed as much water as possible. But, water that is not absorbed quickly may also be a sign that the soil needs aeration. Water slowly for better absorption.
LONGER GRASS = DEEPER ROOTS = LESS WATERING!
11. CONTROL PESTS NATURALLY
Chemical pesticides are indiscriminate, killing beneficial insects and earthworms and deterring birds. Practicing natural lawn care will create a healthy lawn that is unattractive to pests. Get rid of thatch to get rid of pests. Just don’t use pesticides! (This is inconsistent with #9 – I think it best to come clean and say tolerate a higher level of pest damage).
12. ENCOURAGE Earthworms and Micro-Organisms
Encourage earthworms and microorganisms through these organic gardening steps. Welcome birds and beneficial insects (e.g. ladybugs, spiders, dragonflies). Above and below the soil, these are the keys to unlocking your soil’s potential.
Bounce Tips to Create a Flowered Lawn
Becoming more and more fashionable, mixtures of flower seeds make it possible to create a flowered lawn and to render large surfaces more beautiful at little cost.
The decorative effects are wonderful and produce a magnificent sight that changes naturally over weeks.
The soil must be well prepared for maximal results and the seeds should be carefully chosen. Here are the main points to follow:
- Work the soil well, the earth should be finely turned over.
- If there are a lot of weeds, do ‘false’ sowing – that is, let the weeds develop for around ten days, then rip them out, then sow your mixture of flowers two or three days afterward.
- The doses of seeds are very small (2 to 3 grams per sq. meter), which makes sowing difficult. It is best to calculate the weight of seeds for the surface, then sow them with a mixture of sand, very fine compost, or even buckwheat hulls. Sowing in large doses doesn’t give good results.
- Sow in reheated soil: ideally from March to May depending on the regions, or in Autumn for certain perennial mixtures.
- There’s no need to water, except if there’s a dry period, and then only at the moment of sowing.
- Don’t use fertilizer: this encourages growth and abundance of vegetation, which isn’t good for flowering.
- At the end of Autumn, mow the lawn with a flail mower – this allows the grains to show themselves again naturally.
Yearly mixtures re-sow naturally but since the composition evolves it is recommended to re-sow yourself every two years, or even every year. However, perennial mixtures (rustic, wildflowers) composed of a mix of years, biennials, and hardy perennials can be left for several seasons.
What we call “Japanese Lawns” are in fact mixtures of flower seeds combined with grass seeds. Mowing is done only after the flowers have wilted – apart from the lovely visual effect of the flowery lawn, the land will keep a pleasant aspect in Winter.
