3 Tips You Can Do to Reduce Chemical Use on Your Lawn

3 Tips You Can Do to Reduce Chemical Use on Your Lawn

Lawnmark Plus Serving All of Southern New Hampshire & Merrimack Valley

Do you worry about your lawn? More specifically, do you worry every time you let your kids and the dog out to play in your backyard? Perhaps you want to have a beautiful carpet of grass, and you believe that the only way you can have that type of lawn is through chemical use.

Not true.

You can have a gorgeous lawn without using a lot of chemicals—or any chemicals at all.

It All Starts with the Soil

Believe it or not, but the soil that houses your lawn is where all of the action takes place. If you’ve been using a lot weed and pest control on your lawn, you’re killing those beneficial critters in the soil from doing their job. Nematodes, earthworms, spiders and a whole host of micro-organisms eat the decaying plant material and recycle it—providing the perfect environment for your grass to grow on.

If you want to rehabilitate your soil, you need to cutback on your use of chemicals. You first need to repair the soil so these critters can begin to live in it again. Please keep in mind, changing your lawn care service from a traditional one to a more natural one will take time—some say up to two years. So you need a healthy dose of patience to go along with your resolution for a more sustainable lawn care.

Read how Dover, NH is working to use less chemicals on their playgrounds and ball fields.

Good Lawn Care Practices

Did you know that you have a lot of control in regard to the health of your soil and yard grass? Mowing, irrigation and how much product you use on your yard determines the health of your soil and lawn. And you’re in charge of these three practices.

Here are three tips you can employ to rehabilitate your lawn and soil:

• Cut your lawn high. You only need to cut off a third of the blade. When your lawn goes dormant during a drought, don’t cut it at all. And remember, you need to mow your lawn well into the fall before the ground freezes to avoid snow molds.
• Water your lawn deeply once or twice a week. You should water your lawn in the early morning hours—between 4 a.m. and 9 a.m. Use a soaker hose so the water percolates deep into the soil or invest in an irrigation system to save money on your water bills.
• Limit the amount of pesticides you use on your lawn. You’ll have less insect and weed problems when your lawn is healthy.

Read our pesticide cheat sheet!

How an Optimized Lawn Care Program Fixes Your Soil

At Lawnmark, we call our conventional lawn care program—optimized lawn care. We may use some weed control or insect prevention—but only as a last resort.

Instead, we focus on rehabilitating your soil, using only those natural products that feed your soil rather than deplete it. Here are some remedial tools we use to restore your soil:

• A soil test to analyze your soil’s pH balance and see what nutrients and minerals are missing.
• Core aeration to loosen up compacted soil, allowing it to breathe as well as take in more nutrients and water.
• Natural fertilizers and soil conditioners such as compost teas, top dressing and lime to balance the pH and feed the soil.
• Overseeding—using the right type of grass seed for your property.

Keep in mind that it takes time to rehabilitate your lawn. You may see a few weeds, but your neighbor probably has them too.

Got dandelions? Watch this video showing how a dandelion withered away with our safe weed control product.

Are you ready to take the next step and use less chemicals on your lawn this year? Then call us today at 603-262-1215 or fill out our contact form.