The Lazy Way to Natural Lawn Care

By: Christopher Williams
Submitted: 2008-06-04 11:32:56
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Fast and easy lawn care means hiring someone else to do the work. Cheap lawn care means ignoring the lawn. How do you ensure that you are using safe lawn care practices? If you hire someone to do the work for you, do you know what they are putting on your lawn? Chances are, if you hire a “conventional” lawn service, they use synthetic fertilizers that take years to break down and, when over-applied, leach into groundwater, streams and lakes, causing algal blooms and other detrimental environmental effects. There are alternatives to synthetic fertilizers and pesticides that achieve great results, and fluffy, plush lawns that are safe to walk, play and roll around on.

Who Needs Grass?

One way to dispense with lawn care altogether is to dispense with the lawn. If you enjoy sitting, entertaining and napping in your yard more than playing catch or other active sports, consider planting a garden instead. The trend in gardening is to plant large sweeps of low-maintenance plants. The easiest plants to maintain are plants native to your region of the country. The bonus to planting natives is that they practically take care of themselves, and they attract birds and wildlife to your yard, making it a more interesting place to sit. 

Ground covers make good alternatives to grass, as well. The main issue to consider with ground covers is their potential to become invasive. By their nature, ground covers spread quickly and thoroughly. That is why they are called ground covers! There are plants that are aggressive but not invasive. Creeping phlox, candytuft, thyme, heuchera, pachysandra, cotoneaster, blue rug juniper and other low-growing perennials and shrubs make great non-invasive ground covers. Once established, ground covers or native plant gardens need little water and even less maintenance, meaning more time for relaxing!

If you insist on Grass

Some people (and homeowner’s associations) can’t live without grass. If grass is a must, there are some practices that make lawn care faster, safer, cheaper and easier. First, choose a turf that performs well in your area without large inputs of nitrogen. Depending on where you live, the type of turf that is most desirable will differ. Another cheap and easy lawn care tip is to grow a blend of turf and clover. Clover is a legume. Legumes have natural processes to free nitrogen in the soil and make it available for other plants. A grass/clover blend is essentially a self-feeding lawn.

Lawn maintenance practices also make a difference. Many lawn problems can be avoided with proper lawn care techniques. When mowing, never remove more than 1/3 of the grass blade at a time. Removing more than 1/3 of the blade will cause the grass, which is a plant, after all, to go into shock. It will need more water and more food to come out of shock. Leave the grass clippings on the lawn—use the mulch setting on the mower. Grass clippings will break down and provide natural fertilizer. Water deeply and infrequently. You can avoid many insect and fungal problems by watering properly. Watering deeply and infrequently encourages deep root growth. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of the lawn to dry out, prohibiting fungi from growing.

Use Seaweed to Stop Seeing Weeds

Healthy, vigorous lawns have fewer weed problems, leading to less need for herbicide. If weeds do appear, spot treating with vinegar solutions zaps weeds quickly. (A gallon of vinegar is cheap!) Use a paint brush or roller to apply vinegar to weed leaves during hot, sunny days.    Natural herbicides made from corn gluten also do the trick, without releasing harmful chemicals. Once weeds are eradicated, the turf can take over. To encourage healthy turf to grow and fill in bare areas, use a natural fertilizer made from seaweed. Strange, but true! Seaweed is a tremendous source of naturally occurring nutrients. Several companies make safe fertilizers for the lawn out of seaweed. While there is an initial investment in the product, once the lawn becomes established, it will need much less care.

Cheap, Safe, Fast and Easy Recap

For easy, safe and luxurious lawn care remember to: Choose grass that is well-acclimated to your area, consider a clover/turf blend, practice proper lawn maintenance, and fertilize with a natural fertilizer product that is safe and non-polluting. It is that simple!

Article source: Expert Articles