Are you interested in switching to organic lawn care or do you care for your lawn using organic practices? These organic lawn care tips for Green Bay and Appleton, WI will help you have a beautiful, healthy lawn without having to use synthetic fertilizers. At first, I thought I would order these organic lawn care tips by importance. Then as I was writing, I realized they are all important so don’t see any one of these as greater than the other.
Organic Lawn Care Tip # 1
Reduce your lawn size. At first this may be confusing to you but let me explain myself. Why are interested in organic lawn care tips? I would guess that you are trying to be more sustainable, find organic lawn care tips that are safer for your family and pets, or you are concerned about the environment and the impact of synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides. If you want to be more sustainable, convert some lawn space into a low maintenance landscape planting. Landscape plantings can create a habitat for pollinators and butterflies so replace some lawn with plantings.
Organic Lawn Care Tip # 2
Start with good soil. Are you building a new home? Make sure to work with your builder to make sure the top soil stays on site so it can be used for the final grade of your lawn. Sometimes, I see the top soil is stripped away by the builder so you are only left with a rough grade of clay soil. The better your soil base is for your organic lawn, the easier and less expensive it will be to care for in the future. You should work with your landscaper to make sure they are properly preparing the soil. Topsoil and compost may be needed to give your soil a boost in organic matter. These soil amendments will cost you more up front but will save you in the long term.
Organic Lawn Care Tip # 3
Mowing. I have a neighbor that mows his lawn on what must be the lowest setting on his lawn mower. He has been doing this for 3 years now and I have watched as his lawn slowly thins out and looks sicker in the heat of summer. I was talking to him one day about how he mows and why I suggest he changes how he mows. He told me that he likes to mow the lawn shorter because then he has to mow it less often. Every week, we are still mowing our lawns at the same intervals. Even though he mows his lawn much shorter than mine, we have to mow our lawns the same amount. Actually, I probably mow my lawn less often than he does. I have been practicing organic lawn care for 5 years now and my lawn is thick with green and his looks thin all the time and browns in the summer because he is mowing too low. I have a push mower and I use the highest setting on my lawn mower. Of all of my organic lawn care tips, this is the easiest to practice to change.
Organic Lawn Care Tip #4
Compost Tea. Synthetic pesticides kill all the living organisms in the soil that help your lawn take up nutrients from the soil. Compost tea is a liquid that is filled with millions (if not billions) of these organisms that is sprayed onto the lawn. Applying a compost tea will rejuvenate or add to the life in your soil. There is too much science that goes into compost tea so I’m not going to elaborate here but you can read more about it here. What you need to know, is that using compost tea on your lawn is important and should be part of your organic lawn care.
Organic Lawn Care Tip #5
Aeration. The last of my organic lawn care tips is to aerate your lawn every fall. My turf instructor once told me that if he was only able to a pay a professional for one lawn care service, it would be aeration. Air is needed in the soil by your lawn’s roots, the microorganisms in the soil, and all the good bugs that keep damaging pests under control. Over time, your lawn’s soil becomes compacted so there is less room for air in the soil.
I decided to stop at 5 so this article wouldn’t get any longer so sign up for our free newsletter and keep an eye for 5 more organic lawn care tips.
Nathan Mueller.
Landscape Designer.
nate@landscape-associates.com