It's a pretty safe bet that I have few friends in the lawn maintenance industry, especially with a nickname like "turf killer," which I have been called regularly over the years.
My lifetime running total for killing, I mean, transforming lawn into something more useful is roughly 725,510 square feet. A miniscule amount when you consider there are millions of square feet of lawn around. The mentors who taught me always said some lawn is valuable in creating a void space to set off the solid space of planting beds. Normal lawns are not damaging to the environment. It is the lawn of perfection, standing tall in all of its green glistening glory, addicted to chemicals with nary a weed to be seen across its perfectly groomed surface, that is damaging to the environment and no longer sustainable or healthy for our families. However, there are ways to grow a healthy lawn that is sustainable and complimentary to the landscape. And since spring is here and the lawn is growing, here are some sustainable methods for growing a healthy lawn this year.
To feed or not to feed
More fertilizer, more lime and even liquid feeding to grow a chemically addicted lawn, is that all we can come up with? Surely we are smarter and more sensitive to our environment than that. I am not against the judicious and intelligent use of chemical fertilizer, but in an age when chemical fertilizer amounts for residential lawns is measured in the millions of tonnes range, we have to choose another way.
My recommendation for lawn fertilization is none, but knowing that people are still addicted to feeding lawns, my suggestion is to feed once a year only, applied in late May or June, which is more than a healthy lawn needs.
Is it snowing? The lawn turned white
The annual liming ritual that so many people seem to prefer is more about marketing than growing. We live in a high rainfall region and therefore our soils can be acidic, which lawns do not like. However, liming to raise the soil's pH should never be done without first knowing the soil's pH. More lime is not better, it's worse for lawn health. Soil acidification does not happen rapidly, it takes time. Lawns do not require annual liming unless a soil pH test indicates acidity below tolerable levels. My recommendation is to lime your lawn once every three to five years depending on pH test results.
Grass cycling for everyone
Buzzwords like grass cycling have been coined to help people learn to grow healthier, more sustainable lawns that follow nature's time-proven method of recycling nutrients and withstanding lean times. Firstly, cut the grass longer, which means less light for weeds and moss. Longer grass grows deeper roots allowing the grass to withstand drought stress.
Secondly, cut regularly with a mulching mower and leave the grass clippings on the lawn where microbial life in the soil will decompose and recycle the clippings into nutrients for the grass, which cuts down on the need for fertilizer and clipping disposal.
Thirdly, let the grass go dormant and turn brown during summer drought so it can rest and wait out the drought. Grass is not harmed by the practice.
Weeds are frustrating
I changed my perspective on weeds years ago and learned to be more tolerant, primarily so I did not expose my children to poisonous substances like fertilizer, lime, moss killer and herbicides. Ninety-five per cent of all weed growth in lawns can be controlled using holistic growing methods. Start by grass cycling to grow grass instead of weeds. Restrict or avoid the use of chemical fertilizer, which grows soft grass and robust weeds. Grow grass where it makes sense, out in the sun in free draining soil, not in the shade in damp soil. Hand-pull the nasty weeds or spray with vinegar solution.
Punch holes and fill them up Core aeration is one of the best lawn-growing practises available to improve rooting and turf thickness. But core aeration without topdressing causes more damage to the lawn because the holes in the lawn inflict air-pruning on the exposed roots. Topdressing is supposed to be applied right after the aeration to fill in the core holes to protect the roots from air-pruning. If you use an organic topdress like manure, compost or turf soil blend, then chemical fertilization is not generally needed. Dethatching is usually done in tandem with aeration and topdressing but it is not always needed and excessive dethatching rips out more lawn than it grows.
Remember that the normalization of unhealthy lawn growing practises like chemical fertilization, moss killing and over-liming does not make them safe or without consequence.
Todd Major is a journeyman horticulturist, garden designer and builder, and organic advocate. [email protected]
