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By Lisa Loy
It never occurred to me how wonderful a lawn is to a child until the day I took my five year old son to Washington, DC in 1989 to introduce him to our nation’s history. He could have cared less about the Lincoln Memorial. My boy only had eyes for those big expanses of luscious green grass, and he threw himself down on it and started rolling around like a puppy. In an instant I realized my idle days enjoying our indigenous beach lawn (aka scrub) were over, and the countdown to pulling the chain on a lawnmower had begun. When we returned to the beach, we planted a lawn.
Because many residential lawns are an extension of the living room, a place to play or savor the sunshine, we want our lawns to look good. But we also want to be cognizant of the potential harm some of the products we use can do to our health – the use of pesticides numero unoamong them. Children and pets are at risk when lawns are treated, especially when excessive quantities of those chemicals are used. When you read the precautions on the labels of these products, you’ll see that pesticides are meant to be applied with great care – wear gloves, avoid windy days, no sewer runoff. Now think about that stuff getting into your home through the air, or by being brushed onto your clothing, or on pets. How about on the bottom of your shoes?
There are alternatives that can help you minimize the need for chemicals and petrochemical fertilizers.
To reduce weeds, set your mower to 3 or 4 inches to “choke out” the weeds. Consider the use of lime and practice over-seeding. Keep your lawn mower blades sharp and rotate your mowing pattern. Learn about the “weeds” that are growing; some are beneficial. Clover for example fixes the nitrogen in soil. You can buy a fishtale weeder to help remove weeds. For the diabolical sand spur, we found that pulling them up by the roots cured the problem, and it was a fairly easy process because of our sandy soil.
Look around your yard. Is there enough sunlight? Is there evidence of disease or pests? Is there proper sloping and drainage? Treat only the problems that exist where they exist.
What are your lawn’s nutritional needs? If you do a pH test every few years, you can address your lawn’s nutritional needs. And it will help you figure out what type of lawn will grow best on your property. Fescue needs a pH of 6.5 to 7.0 while bluegrass, rye, and bermuda require a pH of 7.0 to 8.0. Apply lime or compost to adjust fertility and pH. Aerate your soil to reduce compaction making for less water runoff and to increase the health of the grassroots and soil.
Call a lawn care specialist or the county cooperative extension agent to learn about the most suitable varieties of grass and plants for your soil and light conditions. If you decide to use a lawn service, ask them to use safe biological methods and find out exactly what they will use to treat your lawn.
Look for worms. If you don’t have enough, introduce some to your yard. Attract birds to naturally eliminate pests and introduce beneficial insects to reduce unwanted species.
When you water, water for a longer period of time but less often. If you water early in the morning before the sun is up, you’ll have better absorption. And, if you are using well water that happens to have a high iron content, as so many homeowners here have learned, watering in the dark helps prevent rust stains on driveways and buildings. And by all means, install a timer and set your sprinklers so you can get some sleep.
Fertilize once in the spring, about half the recommended amount, and once in the fall at the full amount. Use organic fertilizer. You should also over-seed in the fall.
Now when you go out of doors to enjoy your yard, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you not only have a healthy green lawn, you’re practicing green methods too.
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