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 Tips for a Healthy Lawn
Our Water - Our World Fact Sheet (www.ourwaterourworld.org)
Lawns can look beautiful without using pesticides and fertilizers that may contribute to water quality problems in a local creek, the Bay or Delta. The tips below will help you maintain a healthy and beautiful lawn that can out-compete weeds and other lawn pests.
Irrigate An Established Lawn Properly
• Before you irrigate, check the soil moisture with a soil probe or trowel. The top 2-3 inches should feel almost dry before you add more water.
• After watering, test for water penetration again with the soil probe or trowel. Push a trowel into the soil and tilt it forward. If the soil isn't wet 4-6 inches down, continue watering until it is. Grass roots will grow deeper and the lawn will be healthier. Track the watering time so you know about how long to water.
• Irrigate slowly so that water doesn't run off. Over watering is wasteful and can wash pesticides and fertilizers into the storm drains.
• If water runs off or pools even with slow irrigation, soil compaction may be a problem.
• Clay soils hold more moisture and dry out more slowly, thus they may need less frequent irrigation.
• Sandy soils dry out more quickly and may need more frequent irrigation.
Feed Your Soil By Leaving Grass Clippings on the Lawn
• Grass clippings can provide most of the nutrients needed by a lawn if the clippings are small enough to decompose quickly without forming mats on top of the living grass. Remove only 1/3 of the blade at any one time.
• To decompose clippings, soil must be biologically active, i.e., contain bacteria, fungi, insects, worms, and oxygen. Soil under a lawn that has been heavily fertilized or frequently treated with pesticides may be deficient in these elements.
Mow the Right Way
• Remove no more than 1/3 of the leaf blade at one cutting. Removing more can be very stressful for the plant and increase pest and disease problems.
• Mow when the grass is dry.
• During the summer months, cut the grass higher to help retain soil moisture.
• Keep mower blades sharp. Dull blades wound the grass and make it more vulnerable to pests and diseases.
• Alternate your mowing pattern frequently to avoid compacted ruts.
• If rust disease is present in your lawn, clean your mower between mowings to prevent spreading the disease.
Deal Sensibly with Weeds
• Decide how many weeds you can tolerate. It is not realistic to expect a completely weed-free lawn.
• Dig up weeds by hand and sprinkle grass seed on any bare spots so weeds can't fill in. Water regularly with a fine spray until the grass sprouts.
• Keep grass growing vigorously to crowd out weeds. Don't mow grass too short; taller blades can shade the soil enough to prevent some weed seeds from germinating.
• Use corn gluten meal to prevent certain broad leaf weeds from germinating. Apply in spring or fall a few weeks before annual weeds begin to germinate.
Lawn Aeration
• Aerate spots where you can't push a screwdriver five to six inches into the soil, where water pools, where grass looks thin, or where there is heavy traffic.
• Use a hollow-tined aerator that removes plugs of soil, either a foot operated or motorized model.
• Irrigate deeply (soil should be moist 5-6 inches down) so you can push the aerator into the soil as far as possible. Allow soil to dry slightly before you begin.
• Leave the plugs on the lawn and break them up with a garden rake.
Dethatching Lawns
• Thatch is dead and dying, matted grass parts that accumulate on top of the soil. Thatch prevents air, water, and fertilizer from reaching the soil.
• Remove thatch with a rake if more than 1/2 inch thick.
• Aeration can help prevent thatch buildup.
• When soil is biologically active, grass clippings decompose and do not contribute to thatch buildup. This is a good reason to minimize or eliminate the use of broad-spectrum pesticides that can destroy soil organisms.
Fertilizing
• Unless the soil texture is sandy, nutrient deficiencies are unlikely and you may not need to fertilize at all. If in doubt, have your soil professionally tested.
• Grass clippings left on the lawn can provide most of the fertilizer.
• If you need to fertilize, use organic lawn fertilizers or slow-release fertilizers, such as sulfur- or polymer-coated urea. These products release nutrients slowly over a longer period, allowing the grass to absorb nutrients more efficiently.
• Fertilizers, if misapplied, can kill soil life and ruin soil structure in even the best soils.
Lawn Substitutes
Americans spend a great deal of time on their lawns, using an abundance of water, fertilizer, pesticides, and time. If a grass surface is not required, consider replacing all or some of your lawn with an attractive alternative. The following plants require little water and will accept occasional foot traffic:
• Woolly Yarrow (Achillea tomentosa) - Plant from flats or small pots, 6 inches apart; mow in March and July to a height of 2 inches. Yellow flowers. Keep soil on the dry side.
• Caraway-Scented Thyme (Thymus herba-barona) - Plant all thymes from flats or small pots, 6-8 inches apart. Mowing is not necessary. Rose-pink flowers in early summer attract bees.
• Creeping Thyme (Thymus praecoxarcticus) - Mow to 1-1/2 inches in July and fertilize; purple flowers in summer attract bees.
• Strawberry Clover (Trifolium fragiferum) - Plant from seed in fall; mow to 2 inches in April, June, August; white to pink flowers in summer attract bees.
• Garden Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) combined with strawberry clover - Plant chamomile from flats or from small pots, 6-8 inches apart. Plant strawberry clover as noted above and mow both ground covers to 2 inches in April, June, and August. In areas with serious drainage problems, chamomile may not grow. In those spots, combine the clover with either of the thymes listed above.
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