Natural Green Lawn

Wow, what a boring title right? But trust me, after reading this, you will understand the single most important part of piece of the natural lawn care regimen.  Is that too dramatic? Well, lawns are important… at least to me!

How Often Should I Aerate My Lawn?

Aerating your lawn is the single most beneficial thing you can do every season. That’s right, I said “every season.” Some folks have taught that aerating the lawn only needs to be done every couple years, but for grass that is treated naturally, we need to give it that healthy boost every spring and every fall if we can. And honestly, even if you do use commercially available synthetic fertilizers and weed and feed products, aerating your turf twice a year is still a very good cultural practice. So, not to belabor this point, but PLEASE aerate your lawn every spring and every fall without fail.

What Exactly Is Lawn Aeration?

Glad you asked! Aeration is the process whereby a machine that is a little larger than a lawn mower is fun over the lawn and cores of soil are actually removed from the ground. These cores are about the size of a half-roll of dimes, or about 2″ long. By removing cores of soil, we very effectively relieve soil compaction, allowing the turf roots to expand and thicken. In case you didn’t know, a thicker lawn root system reveals a thicker top grass plant… and a thick lawn is what we want guys!

You have to be sure that when you either rent an aerator or have your landscaper do it, that you actually get a “core aerator.” So many times I have come across people who rent machines or buy tools that only poke holes in the soil. While this is going to be helpful, there is a lot more to aeration than just “poking holes.” Removing cores is what truly relieves compaction.

In addition, removed cores are deposited back on the soil surface where soil organisms are redistributed throughout the turf area. These organism feed on thatch layers in the lawn, helping to control it!

Can I Overseed With Aeration?

yes yes yes you can! In fact, it is a great idea to overseed your lawn just before you aerate. Take your regular lawn fertilizer spreader and fill it full of fresh seed mix. (I usually recommend a mix of perennial rye and KY bluegrass). For an existing lawn, you should apply between 3 and 4 lbs of grass seed for every 1,000 square feet of lawn space. Once you have spread the seed, run the core aerator over the lawn and keep it all wet for about 7 days with light and frequent waterings. This process included with the overseeding is best done in the fall time.

That’s really it guys, that simple. There are many advantages of natural lawns, but if you don’t aerate, you will be hard pressed to experience them. So when you set off to take on your organic or natural lawn program, be sure to include aeration in the mix, without fail! Of course, if you want to know how I treat my own grass naturally, step-by-step, you can pick up my e-book right here, right now for just $7. yep, cheap but full of info… it gives you a complete lawn care program for the entire year. Check it out will ya?

It seems that these days all the buzz is around “being green” and of course what better way to do that than through your lawn care practices. But what is “green” lawn care anyway?

Well guys, I gotta be honest and tell you that there is no clear definition of green, responsible lawn care. It really depends on who you are talking to, what their experiences are, and where they learned turf care. But since this is my lawn care tips blog, I figure I will give you my own opinions which have been formulated over nearly 20 years of turf care experience.

Integrated Pest Management And Natural Lawn Care

First off, there is no way to go 100% organic or natural in you lawn care regimen and expect to get top results. (by top results I mean a thick, green, weed free lawn). There is NO ORGANIC WEED KILLER! If anyone tells you that, they are flat out selling you snake oil! In addition, there is no such thing as a 100% weed free lawn! Weeds will always come back into your grass during any given year because of factors out of your control; ie: that neighbor that does nothing at all for his grass.

So this brings us to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and your lawn care regimen. Basically, IPM is a thought process whereby we only use chemical control (non natural) when pest pressure (in this case the best is weeds) exceeds amounts that we are “willing to deal with.” Now, farmers will use IPM in a different way that you and me as homeowners, but that is not the point here.

The point is that if you are going to “go green” with your lawn, you will need to be willing to accept “some” weeds in your lawn. In addition, when you do spray those weeds with a herbicide, you don’t use a blanket application, rather a targeted, or spot-sprayed application. This is the essence of IPM when it comes to erradcating weeds in your lawn: SPOT SPRAY ONLY!

This also means that you don’t have to break out the pump sprayer every time a dandelion or thistle pops up either. If you want to be natural in your lawn care, who says you can’t pull weeds by hand? Afterall, it doesn’t take that much effort to do so, and pulling weeds is very environmentally friendly! Get your hands dirty guys!

Lawn Fertilization; natural and organic

There is a lot that I could ramble about when it comes to properly using fertilizer on your lawn with an eye on the environmental angle. In short, if you choose to use 100% natural or organically derived fertilizers, you should expect to get very slow, yet sustainable results. What I mean by that is organic fertilizers will NOT release nutrients in colder temperatures, and even so, they release slowly when it is hot.

In addition, when you use an organic fertilizer like Milorganite, you have to put down heavy amounts to make any difference. Personally, I am fine with putting down 15 lbs per 1,000 sq feet of lawn space when using Milorganite, but to the average homeowner, it will feel like you are applying it with a snow shovel!

This is, in fact, the biggest problem most homeowners encounter when applying natural or organic lawn fertilizers: that bein they don’t put down enough. You guys are so worried about burning your lawn, so you dial back the amounts not realizing organics won’t burn anyway.

I guess that is all I have to say today, but the key is following along with my program and understanding the organic lawn care takes time, hard work and most of all, patience! If you do that, you will eventually have a lawn just like mine pictured here: 99% organic!