Who doesn’t like a lush and green lawn! If you could opt for a weed-free and healthy lawn, as a homeowner, you’d surely jump on that offer. But is your green lawn really “green”? i.e. Is it earth friendly ? Is it in harmony with nature?
You can have a green lawn and still be “green” or “eco-friendly”. Here are some ideas for lawncare and ideal of the green lawn .
Select the grass that is right for your lawn
Start with the kind of grass in your lawn. It is important to choose grass that will thrive in your climate. People living in the North and Pacific Northwest, who deal with cool and humid climates, should plant fescue and Kentucky bluegrass. For those living in the warm and humid South or Southwest, zoysia, Bermuda and St. Augustine grasses are the best choices. In the semi-arid plains or other cool areas, your best best is Buffalo grass.
Get your soil nourished
After finding the best grass for your area, it’s time to make sure your soil is nutrient rich and healthy. Use organic products instead of synthetic fertilizers to feed your lawn. Though more expensive in the beginning, organic products will pay off over the long haul. Synthetic fertilizers do not last as long as organic ones, which means you have to reapply a synthetic fertilizer more often. Important note: Just because you are using an organic fertilizer, it doesn’t mean you can be careless with its usage. Organic fertlizers can cause water pollution just as synthetics can. So be sure to sweep the fertilizer off sidewalks or driveways back onto your lawn to prevent water pollution.
Control the weeds
Pests are pesky. But before you reach for the toxic synthetic pest control product, give an organic, non-toxic pest control product a try. Today, there are plenty of safe pest control alternatives in the market. So you have no excuse to choose to add more toxic chemicals to your lawns to control weeds and increase pollution to our streams, rivers and the ground water. This helps maintain an organic lawn.
Improve your watering habits
Most people over-water their lawns. If you have moss growing on your driveway, or sidewalk edges, then it is a sure sign that you are over-watering your lawn. A cheap solution is to use an inexpensive lawn moisture meter to know for sure how much water you are giving your lawn. If you can afford it, an intelligent lawn irrigation system may be your best bet.
Are you tapping into a free source of water in your home? Think rain water! You can collect and reuse rain water. You can easily harvest rain water by placing a barrel under your gutter’s downspout. With that, you’ll have plenty of rain water for free. Nature’s own gift to you!
Next, do you hose your driveway every so often? If you, its time to kick that habit now. . When you hose your driveway, not only are you using valuable water, but you are also washing away oils and other toxic chemicals into the drain which ends up polluting rivers and other water sources.
Be smart about mowing your lawn
Who knew that the exhaust from lawn mowers is a major contributor to air pollution? Now that you do, it’s time to choose a push mower. For health or other reasons if you can’t pick a push mower, you can do well to choose a plugin mower. It has a better (smaller) carbon footprint compared to gas-driven mowers.
Are you throwing away those grass clippings from your lawn mower? Most people do! But that is a fantastic resource you are wasting. Choose a mulching lawn mower instead. Crushed grass clippings left on the grass by a mulching lawn mower provides food the grass, and conserves the amount of water needed for the grass to grow. Amazing isn’t it?
Eliminate your gas-powered blowers
Gas-powered blowers have a major carbon footprint. Use old-fashioned rakes and brooms instead. If that seems daunting and too much work, you might want to consider that the raking activity will give you plenty of exercise easily. That’s a win-win. You help yourself while choosing a method that is earth-friendly.
Reuse your yard waste
If your city doesn’t collect yard waste (and even if they do), you can collect your yard waste and use it for composting. Composting is a simple way to convert yard waste, and other organic household waste like vegetable and animal product waste into a nutrient-rich compost for your soil.
And one real good reason to choose “synthetic” to go “green” …
What? How can choosing synthetic anything be compatible with going “green”? Consider this. Let’s say you are living in a high drought area, but have a serious addiction to lush, green grass in your lawn. Going about it the conventional way, you will be consuming large amount of water, a scarce commodity in your region – that is certainly not friendly to the place you live in. What choices do you have if you still wanted to be “green” in this situation ? One suggestion : Choose synthetic grass. Synthetic grass looks lush and can bring the green you wish to your yard. It can last for over ten years , and uses no water whatsoever . And it does look amazingly real ! Imagine that! Finally! A synthetic solution that is actually “green”!
All in all, these are sensible ways for ensuring that your lush, green lawn is also “green”, and friendly to the environment of which we are a part .
