Is it possible to have a chemical free lawn your neighbours will be envious of?
Here are 10 great tips to ensure your lawn is weed free, without using any chemicals!
1. PROPER FERTILIZATION: with a high slow release content, and a proper balance of nutrients for your specific soil and grass types. No, fertilizers are not all the same, and the cheap ones do give you cheap results that can stress the turf-grass plant even more!
2. PROPER MOWING FREQUENCY: Frequent mowing is key, especially during high growth months (may-June, Sept-Oct). Grass wasn’t created to fit into everyone’s weekend availability, or a 7 day schedule. Mow every 4-5 days and you will have a thicker lawn with fewer weeds!
3. PROPER MOWING HEIGHT: Mow at the top or 2nd highest setting on your lawn mower and sharpen your blade frequently- 2x /year for every 5000 sq. ft. of lawn.
4. BAG YOUR CLIPPINGS: I know it goes against what you heard, but bag your clippings IF you have a high amount of weeds, and they are in flower. This will prevent you from spreading the seeds throughout your thin sparse lawn. (You can stop bagging once you have the weeds in check, or they stopped flowering/seeding).
5. WATER PROPERLY: Water once a week for 1.5 hours in each area – give the lawn a deep soaking and let it dry out in between watering’s. This will give you a healthier lawn that has less stress.
6. AERATE: Aeration is great, but NOT when you have a weed infested lawn. You might as well be planting little weeds all over your lawn. Get the weeds under control first by following steps 1-4.
7. OVER-SEED PROPERLY: this helps to thicken your lawn. But make sure you use high quality varieties of grass seed that will thicken your lawn, and have better disease, insect and drought resistance. Use “Certified Seed” that is 99.9% pure. Usually, the more you pay – the better the seed! Don’t fall victim to fast growing grass marketing, they are just quick germinating cheap fescues that are not right for most yards. Seed must be in contact with the existing soil, so scratch up, rake, or aerateetc. the top 1″ of your existing soil first to ensure success. Keep it moist, it will grow.
8. DON’T TOPDRESS (old-School): at least not the traditional way. Dumping a bunch of “dirt” on top of your lawn isn’t going to do anything, except cause back pain. Use a “dry granular compost” that has been heat treated (pasteurized) to kill weed and weed-grass seeds – otherwise you are compounding your weed problems. But definitely DO top-dress with the correct dry granular compost material for a healthy soil to support your lawn.
9. MANAGE GRUBS AND CHINCH BUGS: apply nematodes for grubs at the right time of the year for the best chance at control (you can ONLY apply them effectively during Late August and September). Make sure the nematodes are fresh, the correct species and you MUST make sure the soil is wet before and after application to have any chance at success. Check with a professional for the bestchinch bug management options for your area.
10. DON’T GIVE UP: Lawns are alive, and Lawns are always “on”. They are made up of millions of constantly growing, living, breathing turf-grass plants that are constantly cleaning air, filtering water and producing oxygen. If you follow these rules every year, you will enjoy a green and healthy lawn.
*Courtesy of Frankie Flowers (@FrankFerragine) and Lawnsavers.com