It is only natural that you want your lawn to look its absolute best. It long been tradition in America to compete with the neighbors for the best looking yard, but only recently did it become apparent that doing so could have some serious negative consequences for the surrounding environment as well as the health of those that enjoy the yard. Fortunately, it is more than possible to keep your family and neighborhood free from toxins while still having the best looking yard around.
The first thing that you will want to do is take stock of the products that you are already using for your lawn care. There are many products on the market that have been proven to result in an increased risk of cancer for those that apply them as well as for pets and people that come in contact with the surface in which they are applied. By taking the time to do some serious research you will learn about the products that you absolutely must stop using. While they may be extremely effective at killing invasive plants or increasing the lush appearance of your yard, the fact that they can be dangerous is a good enough reason to cease utilizing them in your lawn care regimen. Getting rid of those harmful chemicals is just the first step towards being more environmentally friendly.
Another step that you can take, which is often overlooked, is to switch to an electric lawnmower and change how you look at mowing your lawn. An electric mower uses less energy than a gas powered one, naturally reducing its carbon footprint. It also eliminates the risk of gasoline entering the lawn and ground water that lies below. This not only helps the environment, but it will also help your grass to grow stronger and healthier. You can also change the height at which you cut your grass each time. Many assume that keeping their grass extremely short is ideal, but that really is not the case. By setting the mower to cut at about 2 1/2 to 3 inches is best for the grass and it allows the grass to absorb the greatest amount of natural nutrients from the sun. It will also lead to a lusher, stronger grass as the roots will be deeper into the soil and less vulnerable to outside conditions.
According to the folks at www.ziehlerlawncare.com, it will also be important for you to change how you look at a lawn in determining whether or not it is at its best. People tend to believe that a healthy lawn will be a dark shade of green. However, that shade is mostly the result of using chemical fertilizers that impact the grass’ natural color. Healthy grass that has not been touched by chemical fertilizers will be a lighter shade of green. It is still appealing, it just takes understanding what has caused the difference. There are still things that you can do to feed your grass without chemicals, fortunately. There are a number of organic lawn fertilizers that are on the market that are completely free from harmful chemicals and do a great job at giving your grass and plants the nutrients that they need to look their absolute best. In fact, many of them are extremely low maintenance and only require being applied a couple of times each year. Just be sure to follow the instructions on the packaging to be sure that you do not apply too much or too little and do so at the right times of year.
When it comes to pest control there are a couple of ways in which you can avoid using chemicals all together. If you find that you begin to have a week issue the first thing you will want to do is consider whether or not it really affects the appearance of your lawn. Many plants that can take root in your lawn but are completely harmless and do not affect the appearance of your lawn. Of course, there are ones that you will want to get rid of immediately, such as the weeds that are prickly, as those can spread very quickly if left unaddressed. The best way to remove them is to simply dig them out, being sure that you get the entire root. If you find that you have invasive pests, such as grubs, you can simply introduce nematoads to your lawn. They will reduce the population of a large variety of pests and even help to keep your lawn fertilized.
Thinking about the amount of water that you use on your lawn is also important when you are transitioning towards becoming more eco friendly. It has been shown that people use far more water than is necessary in an attempt to keep their lawn looking great. This is largely due to the misconception that grass needs a great deal of water to remain healthy. The truth is that the vast majority of types of grass are rather drought resistant. In most cases they will remain healthy simply with the water they are given with rain through the year. If you do find that your grass begins to appear to be affected by an extended period without rain, you can apply some water yourself. The key is to water the grass either after the sun has gone down or early in the morning. This ensures that the grass will get the most from the water that you use. Be sure not to overwater out of concern that you are losing your lawn. Less water is more when it comes to having a lush and healthy lawn.
Making the transition towards being more environmentally friendly can be difficult at first. The key is to want to make this move to ensure the health of your environment and family. From there you simply need to do your own research and apply the things you learn so that you can have a great looking lawn while you are taking steps to reduce the footprint that you leave on the earth.
