Should You Reduce / Eliminate Your Grass Lawn?

Well kept lawns increase the value your home, enhance your neighborhood, and help the environment by moderating temperatures and purifying air.

If your lawn doesn't look its best, decide what you want it to look like, how much maintenance you're willing to do or hire someone else to do. There are hundreds of grass seeds to choose from and each one has special qualities.

Most grasses have a preference for specific climates such as humid, coastal, dry, and cool. Some grass species can tolerate drought conditions better than others. And grasses are classified by how much or how little sunlight they need.

If your lawn is more than half weeds (and this is unacceptable to you), then you should consider a complete lawn reconstruction. Older varieties of lawn grasses may not have the vigor and resistance to pests that newer varieties do.

For a reconstruction, rent a sod cutter--a machine that literally slices off the existing weeds and inadequate grasses. Afterwards, build up the soil with lots of organic material: leaf mold, compost, peat moss, green manures, etc. Test the soil's pH, and, if necessary, adjust to between 6.5 and 7.0, the range best suited for most grasses.

Then take advantage of the new grass varieties available. They require lower levels of care, and provide much greater resistance to pests and weeds.

Click here to view various types of lawn grasses

For more durable grass and less weeds, set your lawnmower blades higher. Longer grass has deeper roots, is more drought resistant, and shades the ground, decreasing the amount of weed seeds that can germinate. Different types of grasses have different cutting height requirements, so try to stay within the cutting range recommended for your type of grass.

Cutting too low can weaken grass plants. The grass blades are where the plant makes its food and if they're too small the grass will grow faster to compensate. This fast growth uses up resources the plant could be using to make new plants.

Early evening is the best time to mow, after the heat of the day but before dew settles. High heat can make for already strained grass, and wet grass will lead to clogged mowers.

Grass grows at different rates depending on the time of year, so there's no rules on how often it should be cut. Mow it when you think it needs it to maintain a steady height.

Grass clippings can be used in your compost pile or just left on top of the lawn. Because the grass clippings will be pulled into the soil and decomposed by soil organisms, you will need much less fertilizer. You should only need to collect your grass clippings if there are so many that they cover the lawn and obscure it from the sun.

It is a myth that grass clippings cause thatch. Thatch is caused by improper lawn care and chemical fertilizers.

If you let your grass get high, don't cut your lawn down all at once. Work gradually down to the regular height to reduce the chances of traumatizing your grass. Grass actually gets used to being a certain height, so if you change how much you cut off suddenly, you can actually damage it. Never cut more than 1/3 of your grass height at once. The lower portion of the grass, closest to the soil, is a lot more sensitive than the darker grass on top. If you cut it right back to expose the lowest parts to the sun it may scorch and die. Longer grass will grow longer roots.

Alternate mowing direction. One week mow north to south, the next week mow east to west. Grass that gets run over repeatedly by the lawn mower wheel can lie at an angle and be exposed to too much sun. Grass that is pushed over will have stunted growth and can create brown lines or ruts in your lawn.

GAS MOWERS

Gas powered mowers are best for large lawns or lawns that have difficult grass areas. They are also quicker to use and typically cut grass on the first pass.

However, according to the EPA, gas lawn mowers and other lawn equipment contribute approximately 10% of the nation's air pollution. They are also noisy to run and can be dangerous if not operated properly. You must make certain children do not have access to gas that is stored for use in the mower.

How to Convert a Gas Mower to a Solar Charged Mower

ELECTRIC MOWERS

Electric mowers reduce pollution, are about 50% quieter than gas mowers, and are less expensive to fuel. Electric mowers also start automatically with the push of a button.

Mowing a 10,000-square-foot lawn 20 times a year with an electric mower uses less than $5 of electricity. If you use a gas mower, the cost is $50 to $75 - plus the required oil changes or, in some cases, the two-stroke oil required to be mixed with the gas.

Electric mowers and trimmers now come with more powerful batteries that allow them to go virtually anywhere and do any lawn and garden job that required a gas machine in the past.

Electric mowers generally cost about half the price of a gas mower. Cordless models can run a bit more, but have an added advantage of no cord to watch over. Electric mowers are about 30 percent lighter than gasoline models. If you have a corded model, your limit is the length of the cord, usually a 100 foot cord is provided with your purchase.

Battery-powered electric mowers now come in 24-volt models, giving them power comparable to a four-horsepower engine. Corded mowers can generally mow anything a five-horsepower mower can cut through.

Most electric mowers on the market today come with a mulching blade, which is better for the lawn and soil. Grass is cut into fine pieces and nutrients are returned to the soil, minimizing need for fertilizer.

PUSH REEL MOWERS

The push reel mowers, constructed of lightweight metals and heavy-duty plastics, are easy to push and require no fuel. It is the most environmentally friendly mower on the market, as it works with your brute strength instead of using gas or electric resources. This type of lawn mower allows you to get out in the fresh air without worrying about pollutants or noise. Push lawn mowers also have fewer moving parts, thus requiring less frequent trips to the repair shop.

If you buy a push mower, make sure you keep the blades sharpened, as dull blades can seize up and cause you to come to an abrupt halt. The only solution is to back up and try again. A push mower is suitable for just about anyone who lives on a half acre lot or smaller.

SOIL COMPACTION is a term applied to soil which suffers from excessive water runoff and poor conditions for plant rooting. It's caused by lawn traffic, like walking and mowing. To maintain a healthy lawn through periods of stress, your lawn soil needs water, air, and nutrients in the top 6" to 10". Soils that are hard and compacted have no nooks and crannies to hold the water, air, or nutrients. If your lawn's roots aren't growing, the grass won't develop the root system that is essential to survive in hot/dry or harsh/cold periods

Soil compaction and the thatch layer are reduced through lawn aeration, requiring less water and fertilizer. Lawn aeration also exposes cranefly larvae to birds and other predators. Earthworms do a good job of working against soil compaction, but you can also do it mechanically through aeration.

NEW LAWNS

Most developers scrape off the topsoil when they build a new home and it can take years before that soil can be naturally healthy again. Newly constructed housing developments often lay as little as 2" of soil over hardpan clay or site compacted soil.

HOW DO YOU AERATE A LAWN?

Lawn aeration involves the removal of small soil plugs less than an inch in diameter. Typically these plugs go from one to six inches deep and are from two to six inches apart. The breakdown of those plugs encourages small micro-organisms to start eating the thatch layer. When thatch, disease and pests are discouraged, the result is a thicker, greener, healthier lawn. The roots of your grass will grow deeper, require less watering, and will save you money in the long term. Lawn aeration also helps speed up the repair of winter injury and drought damage. If the plugs lying on your lawn appear unsightly, a mulching mower can be used to break them up.

Many homeowners choose to also apply mulch directly after they aerate their lawn. Apply 1/3" of fine mulch with organic material, to improve your soil profile and break up the thatch even more. Rake the mulch across your lawn and get as much as you possibly can into the aeration holes. Compost is easiest to spread when it is dry, so keep it covered with a tarp to prevent excess water weight. Water your lawn before you aerate it, but only make it moist, not wet.

WHEN SHOULD YOU AERATE?

The best time to aerate is during the peak growing period for the type of grass you have.

For cool season lawns it is best to aerate lawns between August and early October. The next best time is in the spring. Wait until you have mowed the grass twice before aerating. Your lawn must be actively growing and the temperature should be at least 55°F. If you aerate in the fall, aerate at least 30 days before the ground freezes. This will ensure your lawn has the opportunity to recover before winter dormancy.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU AERATE?

Most experts recommend you should aerate lawns every 1-3 years. If you have hills, pets, or active outdoor children, you may even need it twice a year.

If you maintain your lawn to a high standard or if your soil is heavy and tends to compact, you may need aerating twice per year.

Sandy soils do not become compacted as easily and may only need aerating every few years.

WHERE TO FIND AN AERATOR

This will depend on how you choose to aerate your lawn. You can hire a professional to do the job for you, or rent an aerator and do it yourself.

The articles I've read recommend core or plug aerators rather than spike aerators. Spikes do not penetrate deeply enough nor are the holes they make wide enough to allow oxygen to penetrate the soil.

WATERING

If you've just laid new turf, it will require watering right away, twice a day for the first week, then a few times a week, then just once a week after about 6 weeks. Your turf will become more established and watering will be less necessary as it can get more nutrients from the soil. To find out if you're watering correctly, dig a small hole in the turf and examine the soil. It shouldn't be soaking, but should be cool and moist.

Water lawns separately from other plantings. If your grass holds onto your footprints after you walk across it, it is time to water. Give your soil some time to soak up water. If the water puddles, stop and wait for it to be absorbed.

The early morning is the best time to water as evaporation increases throughout the afternoon, and evening watering could lead to mold or plant diseases.

When using a sprinkler to water your lawn, watch that the water doesn't go into your driveway and into the street. Soaker hoses offer a great alternative to sprinklers and can conserve up to 50% more water. Consider using an outdoor water timer to ensure that you are watering correctly and only when necessary.

Take advantage of the rain! Try to direct the run-off from gutters into your lawn so it will be absorbed rather than streaming into other water supplies.

Watering infrequently and deeply actually makes stronger grass plants. The plants are forced to grow their roots in search of water, and dig down deeper than most weeds can manage, leaving the weeds more vulnerable to a dry spell than your grass.

Overwatering can lead to soil becoming saturated, and the grass could suffocate. This is because grass needs to be able to breath and soggy soil stops this from happening. In hot weather this is especially dangerous as grass suffocates more quickly. The only part of the lawn which must be wet are the roots, so if the grass itself is flooded, you've overwatered it.

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FERTILIZING

When you first lay a lawn, you should fertilize your soil so that the new turf can find everything it needs to become established. Brand new turf is the most vulnerable during the first few weeks.

It's difficult to measure the levels of nutrients in the soil, so ask your turf provider for some guidelines and use visual clues to tell you when you need to fertilize. Generally, you should fertilize when the grass starts to grow in springtime.

NOTE: Many pesticides have never been adequately tested for toxicity to humans or wildlife. Pesticides are often misused by homeowners.

Fertilizer packages have numbers on them which tell you the percentage of different substances in them. N stands for Nitrogen, P for Phosphorus and K for Potassium. The other elements are gained from the soil and air. Adding a little lime to the mixture makes it visible so you can check that it's being spread evenly. The best fertilizer for your lawn is an organic fertilizer with a ration of approximately N-P-K: 3-1-2 (3 % nitrogen, 1% phosphorous, and 2% potassium).

As an alternative, organic fish emulsion or compost tea will be a healthy treat for your lawn because they both add live microforms to your soil. You can find fish emulsion at your local gardening center, but may have to purchase compost tea on the Internet or make your own. Compost tea is water that has been soaked in compost.

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After years of research and testing, SOIL LOGIC® introduces a unique line of environmentally friendly, non-toxic lawn and garden products to solve some of gardeners' most common challenges: Liquid "Gypsum"® to improve soil and planting conditions; Drought Defense to reduce watering by up to half; and ReGreen to green-up lawn brown spots, including those caused by pets.

Grass uses photosynthesis to turn sunlight into food. If your lawn is shaded for part of the day, it won't get a full amount of food. Usually shaded grass grows more slowly and may not reproduce.

Another downside of having a shaded lawn is that it may stay cool and wet for long periods of time after it rains. This is the perfect environment for fungi to grow. If your shaded lawn catches a disease like leaf blight, it will be harder to get rid of than on a sunny lawn. Your turf will also be in a weaker condition to fight back with new growth. You may also need to water your lawn less, because the moisture won't evaporate very quickly. Also, if your lawn becomes waterlogged the grass may suffocate and be damaged beyond repair.

If the shade is created by tall trees, you could solve the problem by cutting the trees back. Regular pruning will stop them overhanging your lawn. It's possible to replace dense shade with dappled light through judicious tree pruning. Don't prune more than one-third of a tree's branches in 1 year, and focus on smaller branches.

If your lawn is growing very slowly, only mow occasionally. Mowing is good for the plant but it causes stress in the short term, so you don't want to mow too much and cause undue damage.

There are numerous options for creating eye-catching shade gardens. Determine the various degrees of shade in your yard; how much sunlight areas receive and when they receive it dictates what kind of plants will thrive there. Dew dries faster in areas that receive morning sunlight, so use plants there that require moderate or drier conditions.

Poor soil often hampers shade gardens more than lack of sunlight, so liberally add organic matter in spring, fall or whenever preparing a new garden. Be careful not to disturb tree roots. Do not bury tree roots with soil when adding shade plants beneath their canopy. As little as 1 inch of soil can kill some species of trees.

Under deciduous trees, plant bulbs that will bloom before shady canopies develop. Smaller bulbs that naturalize, or spread on their own work best, such as crocuses, daffodils, grape hyacinths and winter aconite.

When you lay out new flower beds, take heed of the shadows thrown off by nearby buildings, shrubs and trees.

Use shade-loving shrubs to anchor beds, add height and structure, and provide a dark backdrop off which bright blooms visually pop.

Water only as needed, and thoroughly and deeply when you do. Pick plants that match your soil's pH, rather than trying to change the soil.

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If you want to convert part of your lawn into a planting bed, you can do it without using herbicides or digging sod out by hand. Newspapers and mulch will smother your grass if you give it a little time.

First, you should mow the grass. It will be easier to get the newspapers to lie flat on shorter grass. Then gather a lot of newspapers (ask your neighbors for their old papers).

The layer of newspapers must be thick: about 10 sheets. Overlap each 10-sheet stack of newspapers with adjacent stacks by a few inches, in both directions, north-to-south and east-to-west (or something similar).

Don't bother counting newspaper pages each time you place them down. You can go through your paper ahead of time and see how many pages each section has, such as the sports section, business sections, etc. Then, just plop down that section without even opening it to spread it out.

Don't spray water on the newspapers to keep them from blowing around; they're harder to work with and break up too much.

Keep a bucket of mulch handy and apply some each time you add a section of newspapers. When you're finished laying all the newspapers, go back and spread a 6 inch layer of mulch over the whole area. Then you can spray water over the area and further pack down the mulch.

You're done! Now you just wait (at least several months) for the layer of newspapers and mulch to kill the grass. Sod, newspapers and mulch will eventually all break down, adding nutrients to your soil.

Is the ink on newspapers safe to use?

Old newspapers are not safe for mulch or compost, because of the composition of their ink. But most newspaper inks of the 21st century are soy-based and regarded as safe. To make sure, call up the newspapers in question and find out if they use a soy-based ink. Ask a separate question regarding the ink they use in their colored pages.

Water is an increasingly valuable resource, and is becoming more and more expensive.

Even if you don't live in an arid region, using plants that don't need more water than the natural plants in your area do to thrive is a good way to ensure your landscape plan does not create a stress on the natural environment.

Xeriscaping not only protects a valuable natural resource, but also allows for a beautiful garden while still maintaining the integrity of the surrounding natural environment. It enhances what nature has given you without looking artificial and man-made.

Drought-tolerant plants can go for long periods with little to no water, but that doesn't mean they never need to be watered. You will need to monitor the health of your plants and give them a little extra moisture from time to time, especially new plants that have not yet established themselves yet.

When you first install a drought-tolerant plant, you must still water it to begin with. The planting process is stressful to all plants, which are going from a nice, safe container into the wild outdoors.

Some of the factors influencing how long it takes a plant to acclimate are the time of year you install the plant, where it is in its growth cycle, and the type of soil it's in. For instance, a plant that generally exhibits new growth in the spring won't root as quickly in fall or winter as it will in spring. And all plants need some time to adjust to their new soil homes.

Use drip irrigation and water after sunset once the heat of day has passed. Watering at night helps cut evaporation and gives plants longer to absorb moisture before the heat of day burns it away.

Mulch helps cut both evaporation and weeds. Plus it looks fabulous in most Mediterranean gardens and gives a well-manicured appearance.

Add organic matter (ie. compost, manure mixes, sphagnum/peat moss) to the soil. If you have acid-loving plants, pine needles also make a great planting material and are very easy to come by, if you live in an area with a lot of pine trees. Sphagnum can also acidify the soil, so check your garden book to find out which of your plants like or will tolerate acidic soil.

Plant trees and larger shrubs to create shade.

Use dense plantings and decorative walls to break up airflow/wind.

Large lawns are beautiful, but the cost is high. Fuel for power mowers, toxic emissions, fertilizers and pesticides, water consumption and your weekend time are all part of the cost of lawn maintenance. Hiring a lawn care service will save you the time and energy, but the environmental costs remain.

If your property might be placed on the real estate market at some point in the near future, it might be safer for you to stick with lawn and more conservative plantings. Potential buyers are more likely to go for a formal design than for "natural landscape."

If saving time on maintenance is your goal, you can achieve a clean, crisp look through a generous use of mulching and hardscape features on your landscape. Instead of a hedge, use stone walls. Build an extended brick patio or flagstone patio to take up space that would otherwise have to be maintained. Use ground covers instead of grass, and link the sections of your landscape with broad masonry paths. You can find many ideas in landscaping books or at local plant nurseries.

GROUNDCOVER
These are plants which spread across the ground but do not grow tall, so no cutting is required. Groundcovers are usually chosen for texture, density and how well they spread and choke out the weeds. They enhance the soil by acting as a mulch, and some groundcovers are nitrogen-fixing.

Many varieties are available, including flowering groundcovers which offer color and add emphasis to the seasons. Although groundcovers are usually perennials and evergreens, annuals make excellent groundcovers as well, but do require more work each spring.

During the first year, new plantings of groundcover will require weeding and mulching, but once established, little care is needed. Groundcovers need an edge barrier to contain them. A low brick or wood edging, or any lawn edging which cuts down a few inches into the soil will work.

ORNAMENTAL GRASSES
You can convert part of your lawn to a display of ornamental grasses. These grasses are low maintenance and grow well in most soils. They seldom require fertilizer, and have few pest and disease problems. Ornamental grasses are also drought-resistant and low maintenance. When choosing ornamental grasses for your yard, consider the characteristics of each variety.

CLOVER
Dutch White clover is an effective alternative to lawns because:
- it is relatively low-growing, at about 4 - 8" high
- tolerates low mowing well
- stays green through dry periods of summer
- tolerates dog urine

Clover is not durable enough for playing surfaces or high use areas.

FLOWER & SHRUB BEDS
Flower and shrub beds can add color and interest while expanding the "low maintenance" areas of your yard. Terraced beds are a good solution for sloped areas which are difficult to mow. Beds of shade-loving varieties can be planted beneath trees with low-hanging branches or protruding roots which cause mowing problems.

Ecology & Alternative Lawn Mixes

Groundcover Recommendations

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