Sustainable lawn care doesn’t mean you have to get rid of your lawn.
I crank on lawns plenty. They’re a massive use of water, fertilizer, chemicals, time and energy for something that doesn’t give much back to our local ecosystems.
But lawns are also useful. We play on them. The dog runs around on them. They give us a place for the graduation party.
So if we’re going to have some lawn, let’s make it a good enough lawn without all the unnecessary stuff we’ve been told it needs.
Here are three places to start.
1. Mow Your Lawn Higher
This might be the easiest sustainable lawn care change you can make.
Raise your mower to its highest setting—ideally around four inches. Taller grass shades the soil, reduces water loss and supports a larger root system.
It might look a little shaggy compared to the neighbor’s golf course.
That’s okay.
2. Fertilize Less
Your lawn doesn’t need to be constantly fed.
For cool-season lawns here in the Upper Midwest, fall is the most important time to fertilize because the grass is naturally growing aggressively again after the stress of summer.
For most lawns, I recommend one light application around Labor Day. If your lawn is thin and struggling in spring, you can consider another light application then.
We’re not trying to create Target Field.
We’re trying to maintain enough healthy turf to cover the soil, reduce runoff and give our families a place to use.
3. Stop Using Weed-and-Feed
If there’s one lawn product I’d love to make disappear, it’s weed-and-feed.
Instead of treating an actual weed problem, we’re spreading herbicide across the entire lawn whether it needs it or not.
Skip it.
If you have a weed that truly needs to be controlled, deal with that specific weed. I’m not a purist about this. I’ll spot-treat something like thistle when necessary.
But there’s no reason to treat thousands of square feet because you found three weeds.
Sustainable Lawn Care Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated
Mow higher. Fertilize less. Stop blanket-applying pesticides.
Three pretty small changes.
But they can mean less water, fewer chemicals, less work and a healthier lawn.
And that’s a pretty good place to start.
This is Part I of a three-part podcast series on nine simple actions you can take to build a healthier yard. Listen to the episode for a deeper dive into these three sustainable lawn care practices.
- Part I: Sustainable Lawn Care: Three Ways to Build a Healthier Lawn
- Part II: Environmentally Friendly Landscape: Three Easy Changes
- Part III: Keystone Plants
Click play above to listen to go deeper on this post. Listen and subscribe to A Better Yard: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon Music | iHeartRadio | Pandora