THE NOT-SO-SECRET SECRETS TO A NATURAL LAWN
- Get a soil test done in the area you are going to plant
- View the soil as a living organism
- Organic matters. The single most beneficial thing you can do to improve the soil is to add organic matter
- Make the lawn part of the landscape, not the whole thing
- Plant the right grass in the right spot
- Mow high and often. Minimum of 2 ½ inches on non-irrigated lawns during the heat of the summer. Try not to remove any more than a third of the leaf surface at any one point.
- Leave the grass clippings on the lawn. Clippings can provide as much as 50% of the lawn's nitrogen requirements.
- Water wisdom says less frequent, deeper waterings encourage deeper roots and healthier plants. A lawn needs a minimum of 1" - 2" a week during the growing season.
- Use slow release Organic amendments. Organics will encourage diverse microbial activity and promote sustainability.
- The best defense against a weedy lawn is a vigorous healthy turf.
- Create a natural buffer between the managed lawn and resource areas.
- Lighten up - it's only a lawn!