There is hardly a feature of your home that gives a better first impression than a beautiful green lawn. It’s a living, breathing, and picturesque masterpiece that highlight the beauty of your home in and out.
Apart from its aesthetic qualities, a lush lawn can also serve some social purpose such as a place for kids to play or even space where you can entertain guests. Although, having a quality lawn does come with a price, but it’s worth the value.
More than 3 million tons of synthetic fertilizers are applied on American lawns each year. Expectedly, this exposes our children as well as the environment to chemical hazards in the form of pesticides and other harmful agents.
By using the tips below, you can switch over to a more natural lawn which can be maintained at a far cheaper cost.
Choose the Perfect Grass
This is a problem that is common for most homeowners. To determine the best type of grass for your lawn, first, you have to consider the climate. For example, some grasses are suitable for cool climates, and these include Kentucky bluegrass as well as Bent grass.
They do not flourish in summer or in temperatures in the region of 80ºF and must be watered constantly. The best time to apply natural plant fertilizer on cool climate grasses is during fall and around late spring.
On the other hand, warm climate grasses such as the Bermuda and Zoysia thrive during the hot summer season but lose their vibrancy during the cold of winter. To encourage good and steady growth, it is best to apply natural plant fertilizer in little quantities throughout the beginning of spring up to the end of summer.
Applying fertilizer at any other time will encourage the growth of weeds on your lawn.
Apply Organic Fertilizers
A healthy lawn or soil has no need for supplemental fertilizers. Yet, to have a soil that is well improved, it is advisable to apply organic fertilizer annually or bi-annually. Remember the different fertilizing schedules for the warm or cool climate types of grasses as this will aid their growth.
Grasses are often called heavy feeders, but this is only true for soil with little or no organic matter. Organic fertilizers are known to provide nutrition longer than chemical fertilizers while boosting the soil with trace nutrients.
You can also use the grass clipping as compost and then, later on, use them as fertilizer for your lawn.
Proper Mowing
Mowing the lawn at the right time also helps in growing a healthy lawn. It is better to mow the lawn frequently rather than waiting for the grass to grow longer.
This is because energy is stored in the soil. Hence, allowing the grass to grow longer enables it to consume more nutrients from the soil, thus further depleting the soil’s nutrients unnecessarily.
Applying the right amount of water also works hand in glove with excellent mowing techniques as this will give the soil the right moisture content to facilitate growth.