Lawn looking a little patchy or dry? Maybe it’s time to ditch conventional methods and look into organic lawn care. More than just a buzzword, environmentally responsible lawn care is beneficial to everyone involved — the environment at large, your surrounding neighbors and you. It uses tried-and-true techniques that have been around for ages, eschewing harmful chemicals and frustrating methods in favor of simplicity that works. If you’re looking to pick up a few tips on lawn care services and basic everyday touch-ups, take a glance at the list below to get started on the healthy green lawn you’ve always wanted.
Did You Know?
You’ll want to start taking notes on these common pitfalls! A whopping 70 million pounds of pesticides (which also includes herbicides) are applied to American lawns every single year — compare this to American farmland, which sees ten times less on a yearly basis. Over 70 million birds die from pesticide poisoning every year in the United States alone and the Virginia Cooperative Extension in its publication “Nutrient Management For Lawn Service Companies” has recently stated that fungicides and pesticides alike can kill up to 90% of the earthworms where they’re applied. Whew! How do you reverse all this?
General Environmental Impact
Taking good care of your lawn and general plant life goes a long way in supporting the environment and your wallet in the long run. The front lawns of eight average American houses has the combined cooling effect of an impressive 70 tons (that’s nearly 68 metric tons) of air conditioning — compare this to home-size central air conditioning which only reaches about a three to four ton capacity. Trees have also been found to have a notable impact on the cooling and heating containment on a home, the shade as well as the leaves providing everything from a more comfortable environment to reduced noise pollution.
Simple Everyday Tips
Now that you’re caught up on the harmful nature of pesticides and herbicides, how can you get more invested in organic lawn care? It’s all in the technique. A soil test can tell you what the pH level is and whether or not your soil is in dire need of extra nutrients — for example, most grasses do their best in soil with a pH between 6.5 and 7.0. Keep in mind that anywhere from 40% to 60% of nitrogen from fertilizer runs off or leeches away over time, ending up in ground and surface water as a common contaminant.
Additional Green Tips
Keep these in mind and your organic lawn care will go far. While it can be tempting to constantly mow your lawn and keep it nice and short, leaving your grass a little longer (anywhere from two to three and a half inches) can actually improve your lawn’s health. Be careful not to walk on your lawn when it’s frozen from the morning chill, to boot, as this can break the brittle stems and leave them more prone to damage once spring and summer rolls around. Last, but not least, brown patches suggest a lack of even watering or fertilizer.
Using Organic Lawn Care
When it comes down to it, organic lawn care works because it gets rid of the excess and goes for the most simple solution. Even better? It’s a solution that helps all parts of the equation. Part of a well-designed and maintained landscape involves turfgrass, that of which can increase a home’s property value by 15% to 20%. Turfgrass can also control pollution, trapping much of an estimated 12 million tons of dust and dirt circulating year after year. Want a beautiful lawn? Give these methods a try and watch it bloom almost overnight.