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Seems you can’t avoid the smell of freshly cut grass each spring. And it’s like that’s the alert to begin your summer long battle against nature using your mower, your spreader, plus a raft of lawn care chemicals as your weapons of choice.

But you don’t have to continue your annual chemically focused lawn care routine. And you really can help your lawn kick the performance-enhancing drugs. Going with more eco friendly, sustainable methods that will still give you a verdant, emerald green lawn.

One key to going organic is the grass you plant. Then too you have to mow more frequently so you can water less plus take a different approach to feeding. Not to mention approach weeds and insects differently as well. To help you understand what’s involved let’s briefly take each of these one at a time.

Going Native When Picking Your Grass Seed

Planting indigenous varieties means you can get away with watering, feeding and treating for pests less often – if at all. Since any species of grass suited to thrive in your local conditions is more apt to make it on it’s own naturally. That means you want to stick with grasses adapted to cool seasons across the northern tier, warm season grasses across the southern tier and more transitional strains if you live in-between.

Feeding Your Lawn the Organic Way

After picking an appropriate grass strain you want to attend to your plant’s macro and micro nutritional needs. Spreading compost is a no brainer. Compost teas are another approach. While things like blood meal, liquid fish fertilizer, and various seaweed fertilizers can help fill in the gaps.

To pull that off, you want to get an idea of the soil’s pH. That will tell you want it needs to best support the grass. Because if your soil is anything other than a pH of 6.5 (just slightly acidic) to 7 the grass will have trouble absorbing nutrients. To fix that you’d use either sulfur or limestone depending on whether it’s too alkaline or acidic.

Turf Truth: American’s take their lawns seriously. As a result about 40 million acres of this country is covered by grass. Or an amount of acreage roughly the size of the state of Washington.

Be Smart When Watering

Grass that has a strong root system doesn’t need to be watered as often. Which is good since too much rain or watering can leach out vital nutrients needed for healthy growth. Yet as you know it’s best, if you have to water, to do so in the morning. That way diseases won’t gain a foot hold plus the least amount of water will be lost to evaporation.

Mowing More Often

When you mow you want to cut off no more than a third of the grass blade – so don’t let it grow too long. Frequent mowing promotes a healthy root structure which can supply the water your grass requires. And you want to use a mulching mower. Think of these clippings as slow release fertilizer. Which can account to up 50% of your lawn’s nitrogen needs. They also tend to reduce water loss.

Dealing with Weeds and Pests Organically

If you’ve got a lush lawn you’ve got a natural leg up on weeds. As that doesn’t allow them either the light or moisture needed to germinate. To take it the next step you’d want to apply corn gluten over the course of several years. The affects are cumulative. Not like the instant impact of a chemical but certainly more eco-friendly.

See, nothing totally radical in that list of organic options? So if another year of chemical warfare isn’t something you are looking forward to, maybe it’s time for a different tact. Because in the long run organic is not only more sustainable, it’s simply better for your yard, your pets and your family. Why not give it a chance?

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