Green Lawn Care
We spend lots of time, energy and money making our lawns look good and user-friendly. Here are some tips for making them environmentally friendly as well.
1. Mulch Your Grass Clippings when possible – Grass clippings contain valuable nutrients taken right out of your soil. So isn’t it odd that we gather our grass clippings in bags and haul them off to a land fill somewhere on the other side of town?
Did you know that mulching your grass and leaves can save you as many as two fertilizer applications every year? Most lawn mowers come with a mulching blade that chops grass and leaves into small pieces and deposits them right back into the lawn.
Mulched leaves – especially sugar and red maple leaves – provide a degree of natural weed control when mulched into the lawn. Sometimes it is not practical to mulch your leaves because you have too many of them. But often it is – and it helps your lawn too!
2. Plant trees, shrubs and flowers – You know that trees are good for the environment. They help clean the air, return moisture to the air and provide shade from the hot sun. Shrubs, flowers and bushes also have many benefits other than just adding beauty. They help stimulate the soil, add bio-diversity to your yard, and attract birds and other wildlife.
3. Use Fertilizer Wisely – Synthetic fertilizers almost always contain nitrogen and phosphorous. Nitrogen is what your grass needs for healthy growth. Much of your lawn’s nitrogen requirements can be supplied by mulching your grass each time you mow it as described above.
Phosophorous (the second number) is usually unnecessary for healthy lawns, and it has some negative effects on the environment. Phosphorous that ends up in our rivers, lakes and ponds stimulates plant growth which disrupts the habitat of fish and other water life. Look for a fertilizer than has “0? phosphorous.
Organic fertilizers may actually contain more phosphorus than synthetic ones, so read the label carefully.