Tips for growing a healthy lawn

If you use a garden service, call the company to find out what types of products workers apply to your lawn. Not everything that is applied is good for the long-term health of your lawn or the environment. The following tips will introduce you to sustainable practices:

• Encourage your roots to grow deep and strong by paying attention to water. Buy a rain gauge, or if you have a child who likes science projects, find out how to make a simple one online. Each week, see if it has rained at least one inch. If it has, you do not need to water. If not, give the lawn a good, long drink, early one
  morning. Deep, infrequent watering encourages deep root growth.
• Mow high - This means setting your mower to three inches or higher. The taller plants shade out weeds and retain moisture.
• Mulch - When your lawn is about four-and-a-half-inches high, cut off the top third. Leave the clippings on the lawn; they will decompose and feed the grass.

A word about fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides:

• Wait until fall for nitrogen. When you apply a nitrogen fertilizer in the spring, it greens up the leaves, but the roots remain undernourished.
• Use organic fertilizers. They condition the soil, enabling it to naturally support healthy plant growth without regular fertilizer feedings. Ideally, rake about one inch of
  compost into your lawn each spring and fall.
• Fertilize and apply pesticides and herbicides only when you need to. Inspect for problems before you apply. You will reduce pollution and save money.
• Water after fertilizing. Do not water after applying pest or weed killers, and do not apply them before a rainstorm. Make sure not to spill chemicals (organic or synthetic) onto the surrounding pavement. Never blow or sweep grass cuttings or leaves onto pavement where they can be washed into drains.

This is part of the May 15, 2008 online edition of The Riverdale Press.

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