The Benefits of Natural Lawn Care
Contrary to popular belief, natural lawn care is just as effective in growing a beautiful lawn as using products with chemicals. What’s more, there is a growing interest in incorporating eco-friendly and sustainable lawn practices into regular lawn maintenance routines. A lawn is more than just a decorative piece to your home. It’s your families hang out spot and Fido’s playground. This is why it’s important to use natural lawn products that keep your family safe and your lawn looking great.
Natural lawn care involves the practice of using products that contain natural ingredients, avoiding synthetic chemicals, and using organic methods, such as making compost, to maintain your lawn. If you’ve been thinking about making the switch to a natural lawn care routine, but you’re skeptical about its effectiveness, read on for more information on the benefits of natural lawn care and tips for getting started.
What is Natural Lawn Care?
Natural lawn care is the practice of using environmentally-friendly methods to maintain a healthy lawn. Some examples of natural lawn care include using natural lawn products, such as organic fertilizers, weed preventers, and insect controls, using sustainable watering practices and creating compost.
The key principle of natural lawn care is to work with ingredients that occur in nature, not against them. Using products that contain food-grade ingredients and are pollinator-friendly are a few ways you can ensure that your lawn products are chemical-free and won’t disturb plant and animal life.
Benefits of Natural Lawn Care
Still wondering why natural lawn care is worth it? Here are a few reasons why it’s a smart choice for long-term lawn health.
Safer for Kids and Pets
Lawns are more than just the welcome mat to your home. It is a playground where your kids and pets can and should be able to run around carefree. Using natural lawn care products grants you an unmatched peace of mind that your family is safe when applying them to your lawn. Practicing natural lawn care also reduces their risk of harmful exposure to chemicals.
Protects Local Ecosystems
Natural lawn care practices also help protect your local communities and ecosystems. Using natural lawn products prevents your local water supply from being contaminated from runoff compared to synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. It also supports biodiversity by encouraging beneficial birds, microorganisms and insects.
Improves Soil Structure
Using a natural soil food that contains ingredients like gypsum, such as Love Your Soil, provides long-term improvement to soil structure. While synthetic soil foods put a band-aid over soil issues like compaction and pH imbalance, natural soil foods provide your soil with an extended supply of essential nutrients without depleting resources.
Practices for Natural Lawn Care
Using Natural Lawn Products
Switching to an all-natural lawn care routine can be seamlessly done with the right products. Jonathan Green natural lawn products contain organic and natural ingredients, such as corn gluten in Corn Gluten Weed Preventer plus Lawn Food for lawn weed prevention and natural plant oils in Natural Grub & Insect Control to repel leaf-damaging insects.
Composting and Mulching Grass
You can also use elements found right in your own home to practice natural lawn care, such as creating compost from organic matter and mulching grass clippings into your lawn after mowing. Fall is an especially great time to create leaf compost for an all-natural product that nourishes your lawn and helps improve the health of your soil.
Sustainable Watering Practices
Watering your lawn is an important part of lawn care, but it can be viewed as wasteful to those trying to incorporate it into a natural lawn care routine. You can still properly hydrate your lawn by implementing deep, infrequent waterings to promote strong root growth and increase drought resistance.
Mentioned Products
How to Transition to Caring for Your Lawn Naturally
1. Start Small
If you’re not comfortable with making a drastic change to your current lawn care routine, don’t sweat it! You can start small by focusing on one area of improvement, such as introducing compost or swapping out one product for a natural one, such as natural lawn fertilizer. You can gradually expand your natural lawn care practices as you become more comfortable with the process.
2. Test Your Soil
Before making any large changes, test your soil to understand its current pH level, nutrient content, and organic matter. You can use a soil pH test kit or send a sample to your local extension office for analysis. Knowing the health of your soil helps you determine the exact natural amendments you’ll need for your lawn’s specific needs.
3. Exercise Patience
The most important thing to remember about natural lawn care is that it takes time. Natural lawn care is all about the long-term gains, such as an overall improvement of soil health and grass growth. While it may take a period of several months or a growing season to see results, the long-term benefits outweigh short-term gratification.
The Big Takeaway
You don’t have to compromise on having a beautiful lawn when you practice natural lawn care.
By adopting a natural lawn care routine, you can help both the planet and your surrounding communities all while growing the lawn of your dreams.