Taking Care of Your Lawn Without Chemicals

If you have your own yard with lots of nice grass, then you probably want to keep that grass nice, green and healthy. However, the way that a lot of yard owners treat their grass is to put on a lot of harsh chemicals or fertilizers instead of employing some simple and natural methods of yard care.

Tips for Chemical Free Yard Care:

Pick the Right Variety

One of the first steps to having a healthy lawn is to plant the correct variety of grass for the area in which you live. For example, if you live in the northern region of the U.S., then you need to buy what is considered a cool season grass seed. These types of grass stay lush and green over the winter, but tend to get brown or go dormant if you get a very hot and very dry summer season. However, if t cools down again, the grass will also get nice and green once again.

If instead you live in the southern part of the U.S., then you need a type of grass seed that is meant to be grown in warmer weather. This type of grass seed grows a lawn that remains all nice and green all through the summer, although when winter hits it tends to get brown and dormant. Once spring hits, it gets nice and green and lush again.

Anyone living in-between these areas can buy either of these types of grass seed, depending on what dormant season you would rather the grass experience. Another possible choice is for these in-between areas to mix the two kinds of grass seeds together to get a lawn that should remain nice and green all the time, with proper care.

Plant Grass at the Right Time

Another thing to do in order to have a nice looking yard all year long is to be sure to plant your grass seed at the correct time of the year for where you live. If you live in the north, then you need to plant your grass seeds in August, otherwise it will just burn up if you plant it in the spring like you might first think you should do.

If the grass is meant to be planted in a warmer part of the U.S., then sow those seeds in the spring and it will do nicely. Just make sure that the dirt is warm and the threat of frost is past for the year.

Lawn Care: Fertilizing Your Lawn

After countless days and arduous task of completing your dream garden, now it’s time to maintain the luscious green on your lawn. Lawn care is an important task to maintain the aesthetic appearance of your garden. One of the main lawn care method that comes to mind is fertilization. Fertilization provides the proper nutrients to keep your lawn healthy and green, however it’s possible to overdo it. Lawns that are over-fertilized have overgrowth of grass and weeds that destroys the health of your garden that is why it’s important to understand the proper way of fertilizing your lawn.

Before you begin fertilizing your lawn, dig a sample of your soil, place it in a soil test kit, and send them to an agricultural lab for analysis. The lab results will show you if there’s any pest issues or infectious agent present in your lawn. It also reveals the pH of your soils, and if the pH is between the range of 6.0-7.0, then you have a well-balanced lawn. In order to balance the pH of your lawn, apply lime to acidic soils and sulfur to alkaline soils. Once you ensure that your lawn is fully healthy, it’s time to begin the fertilization process. The first step is to purchase a drop spreader to apply one pound of nitrogen fertilizer per 1,000 square feet to your lawn. In addition, you should also try using a slow-release law fertilizer, even though it’s more expensive, but it provides proper nutrients and is less likely to burn your plants or pollute the ground water. Afterwards, water your lawn for thirty minutes to prevent root burn and to activate the fertilizers.

One of the many mistakes that gardeners make is fertilizing the lawns in early spring. This is a major problem because it would stimulate the lush top growth at the expense of root development. In addition, many beginners tend to use manure as fertilizer, this could be a problem because manure tends to burn grass root if it’s not decomposed properly. If you follow these instructions carefully and avoid all the common mistakes, you will be able to maintain a lush green lawn for your garden throughout the year.