Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Sustainable Lawn Care

Tips for Sustainable Lawn Care from UGA:
How to spend less on fertilizer, pesticides and water, and save energy and time on lawn maintenance.
• Water early in the morning.
Much of the water from daytime watering is lost to evaporation. Avoid overwatering your lawn - it's more damaging than underwatering.

• Leave clippings on the lawn.
Sometimes referred to as "grass-cycling", this provides nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, water) equivalent to one application of fertilizer. Clippings do not cause thatch. Mulching mowers are also available which help the clippings hide in the grass. For effective grass cycling, wait until the lawn is 3" tall, then set the mower height to remove 1". The clippings left on the lawn will quickly disappear from view. Of course this technique also saves hauling yard waste to the landfill - some states have banned yard waste from landfills.

• Know your weeds.
Dandelions thrive at a pH level of about 7.5, and are a sign to add gardeners sulfur to lower the pH. Clover and medic are sign that your lawn may be nitrogen poor, and needs compost or a nitrogen-weighted fertilizer. ( Read on to find a home grown weed control spray recipe. )

• Sharpen mower blades at least once a year.
You can tell when your mower blades are dull by looking at the grass tips. If they are brown and ragged, your blades are dull. Sharp mower blades not only make your lawn look greener, they help develop a healthier lawn.

• Fertilize once or twice a year.
This is sufficient for an attractive lawn.Cool season grasses are semi-dormant in the summer; fertilizing during summer will be ineffective. Fertilizing in early fall promotes vigorous lawn growth the next spring.
Use a fertilizer with time-released, water insoluble nitrogen.
These fertilizers are less likely to burn your lawn with excess nitrogen, and slow-release allows the roots to absorb the nutrients as needed. In most instances, choose fertilizers containing at least 35% - 50% of their nitrogen supply in the "slow-release" form, such as sulfur-coated urea, methylene urea or various natural organic products. With fast-acting fertilizers, some nutrients are washed away with watering or rain, and the wasted fertilizer pollutes ground water supplies. Cotton seed meal and / or coffee grounds are a good slow release nitrogen source, too.

• Convert your lawn to a drought-resistant, low-maintenance eco-lawn.
Convential lawn seed was originally developed to be fast-growing for the purpose of feeding livestock. "Eco-lawn" grass seed is a drought-resistant blend of grasses that requires little or no mowing and no fertilizer. To switch to this kind of lawn, simply cut your existing lawn as short as possible and overseed with eco-lawn seed.

• Control lawn weeds with corn gluten.
A nontoxic byproduct of corn processing, corn gluten kills weed seedlings within days of application. It also adds nitrogen to your soil. Just one application, before weeds emerge, reduced weed survival by 60%, according to research at Iowa State University. After several years, this method provides as much as 90% weed control.

• Keep pesticide/herbicide use to a minimum.
Commercial pesticides kill the soil organisms / microbiotic life which contribute to a healthy lawn. It will take at least a season, for the soil to begin to recover from chemicals. ( If commercial chemicals have been used in your sprayers, clean them out on the lawn, where the residue will be utilized. Do not clean out on sidewalks or driveways, or residue will go directly into water supplies. )

• 'Spot-treat' weeds with vinegar to minimize herbicide use.
Where only a few scattered broadleaf weeds such as dandelions or plantain are present, consider spot-treating individual weeds with household vinegar rather than applying a broadcast treatment of an herbicide over the entire lawn. Mix 5 parts white vinegar, 2 parts water, 1 part dish soap, and apply with a pump sprayer. (Vinegar treatment is non-selective and will burn grass and garden plants, so be sure to spot treat weeds only.)
Physically pulling or cutting weeds is also effective; remove as much of the root system as possible to reduce the chance of regrowth.


• Problem with lawn grubs?
For lawn grubs, there is a natural remedy called milky spore. The granules are spread on the soil and cause the grubs to contract a disease that kills them. Only the grubs are affected, leaving beneficial organisms unharmed. Milky spore multiplies over time and will sit inactive, waiting for grubs to infect. One treatment is said to last 40 years. The grubs are actually the larvae of Japanese beetles. So, when you kill the grubs you kill the beetle.

• Hand raking.
If the clippings are too long and must be raked, try hand raking. If you have fallen leaves to rake, they can be used as a mulch / compost, where they'll be converted to organic humus for the garden.


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