Everyone is going green tomorrow for St. Patrick’s Day! This is typically the time of year when our lawns green up too. If 2010 is your year for going a bit more earth-friendly, start with an environmentally safe way to grow and maintain a greener, healthier lawn. And celebrate your hard work with some organic green beer! Luck of the Irish.
This Old House shows us how to go organic outdoors:
1. Start by mowing the lawn very short.
2. Next, use a gas-powered aerator to punch air holes into the lawn.
3. Use a shovel to broadcast ½ to 1 inch of compost over the lawn.
4. Rake the compost into lawn using a garden rake.
5. Check the health of the soil with a test kit; for acidic soil, add pelletized limestone with a broadcast spreader.
6. Add chicken-manure fertilizer to the lawn with broadcast spreader.
7. Spread grass seed over the lawn using broadcast spreader.
8. Use the back of a leaf rake to work the grass seed into the lawn.
9. Lightly water the lawn two or three times per day.
10. Once grass germinates, return to normal watering: irrigate the lawn with 1 inch of water per week.
However, if you lead a busy life, hate yard work, or need a complete landscape overhaul and would rather leave it to a really good landscape company here in the Washington, DC area, call my friends at Wheat’s Landscape.