Natural Green Lawn

Every year at this time you guys start blasting me emails wondering when your lawn will turn green, and if this area is dead or that area needs new seed, etc. I have to laugh, because you guys act like your grass is dead after winter even though it has recovered every winter for the past 30 years!
Ok, ok, so I am done having fun with you!
Your lawn will green up, I promise! I took these pictures a few years ago, but you can still get the point… my lawn looked like crap, but it did green up!

But there are a few things you can do in order to speed up the greening process and also reduce the number of small spots that do tend to die off after the long harsh winter.
Best Early Spring Lawn Tips

Don’t Walk On The Lawn

I know you have seen the signs that read “please keep off the grass” and there is never a more important time to heed this warning than in the early spring. This is because the grass crowns (the part of the plant that the grass blades grow out of) are still fragile due to night time freezing /cold temps. If you walk on them when they are frozen or cold, you can crack them. A cracked crown means no grass blades being shot out… ie: DEAD GRASS!

You also have to be careful getting in and out of the car in the driveway. When you park, don’t get out and step directly onto the grass. This can smash it down in spring and kill it quickly.

Light Lawn Raking

I very rarely recommend power raking your lawn, but I do think it’s a good idea to rake certain areas by hand in the early spring. I want you to rake out any areas where there are fallen leaves leftover from last winter. We have to get that pack outta there! I also want you to rake any areas that did get walked on over winter. If you and the kids built a snowman in the front yard, those areas will be packed down and need some air! You also should look for areas where snow mold may have developed.

Snow mold is identified by areas of the lawn that are severely matted, slightly whitish-gray in color and are sticky. Snow mold is not a big deal really, and it will grow out with proper fertilization. But you definitely need to rake it out also.

Spring Aeration

Lastly, I want you to aerate your lawn in the spring to help open up the soil and breakdown the thatch layer. Aeration does so many good things for the lawn, and it is a non-chemical process, so it is a very important part of your natural lawn care program!

Spring Fertilizing

Now I know you are wonder why I left out the spring fertilization info right? That is because you need to get on an entire lawn care program, not just a spring lawn program. You can get my step-by-step lawn treatment program for just $7. yep, cheap… it’s an ebook.

Earthworm castings, basically worm manure, have become a popular natural fertilizer among gardeners who want to be eco-friendly. Harvested by worm growers who practice vermiculture (raising worms scientifically and according to professional standards), worm castings are either bagged as they are straight from the worm or made into a tea (liquid form of castings) for use in the garden or on the lawn.

Worm castings provide a completely natural, organic, slow release of nitrogen and phosphorous to garden soil. Unlike synthetic chemical fertilizers, worm castings contain living microbials, bacteria and minerals beneficial to plants and lawns. Worm castings are fairly odor-free and safe for child and pet contact. The actual ratio of nitrogen:phosphorous and bacteria/microbials varies according to what the worm is fed and other environmental factors (soil, water, compost, temperature) in which the worms are raised.

The earthworm’s digestive tract processes the nutrients, trace minerals available in the soil (in which the worms are raised), and reduces them into chemically simple molecules, which are then easily available for plants to feed upon. This is a very important point to remember: Earthworm manure makes a great lawn fertilizer because the nutrients are readily availble, meaning RIGHT AWAY! This means a quicker green up when compared to other slow releasing natural fertilizers. But there still is no concern with burning the lawn either… it is a win-win situation!

In addition to naturally occurring nitrogen, worm castings contain small amounts of phosphorus and potassium and the trace minerals iron, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, boron, copper, zinc and manganese. Like other organic fertilizers, worm castings also naturally contain auxins and cytokinins, which are plant growth hormones that encourage root development and more fibrous roots.

Given the slow release of nitrogen and other plant nutrients in worm castings, there is no danger of over-fertilizing or burning the fertilized plants. A related benefit is that worm castings are cylindrically shaped and will not compact into solid, airless masses under normal conditions, something synthetic chemical fertilizers are prone to do with run-off and puddling after watering in. This characteristic of worm castings creates a fertile, healthy and highly aerated growing environment for plants.

The nutrients in worm castings are enclosed in mucus membranes secreted by the earthworms, which dissolve very slowly and have good water retention capability. If applied heavily to the soil, the castings can protect plant roots from extreme temperatures, minimize surface erosion and even help to control weeds to a small degree.

Worm castings would have great benefit to lawns as a natural organic fertilizer, but the relative expense of worm castings compared to other organic fertilizers such as Milorganite and Ringer is a significant drawback to their widespread use on lawns. The normal recommended application of worm castings for both established and new lawns is 10 pounds per 100 square feet. (Milorganite fertilizer is 18 lbs per 1,000 sq feet for a comparison) This means that if you use worm castings on your lawn, you will feel like you are literally shoveling the stuff into the turf.

With worm castings at retail outlets usually selling for a dollar or more a pound, application of worm castings to even a small lawn is expensive compared to the other organic options currently available. However, even applied at a lower rate, the worm manure can have a nice summer greening effect that does not push growth. I also want you to think of worm castings more like a general soil conditioner, rather than an overall full-on fertilizer.