How to grow a green lawn organically

Everyone wants a greener lawn, but getting it in a greener way takes some know-how.  Scott Meyer, expert gardener and editor for Organic Gardening magazine share tips for why the extra effort is worth it.

An organic lawn is a safer lawn!  
Lawns that are fertilized with chemicals leach those chemicals onto the skin and clothing of humans.  Also, many studies show that dogs suffer from serious illnesses as a result of playing and rolling around on a lawn that is treated with chemicals.  An organic lawn is safer for the environment.  Lawn chemicals can pose a serious threat to the fresh water supply.

Choosing the right products for an organic lawn

Grass Seed
•    Choose a grass seed that is native to your region or adapted to your climate.  This helps the grass grow naturally with less effort and intervention from you.   Cool season grasses will look great in the spring and fall and more brown or dormant in the summer, while warm season grasses tend to look their best in summertime.
•    If you have a lawn that already has seed or has been fertilized, there’s no need to tear it up and start over again.  You want to over-seed, which means to spread the new seed over the old lawn.  Over time, the new seed will take over the older grass.

Organic Fertilizer
•    Avoid any products that contain “urea”.  Urea is a chemical fertilizer.
•    What you are looking for is a slow-release fertilizer. A chemical fertilizer is a bit like steroids in that you will see results fast – your lawn will be get green quickly, but the color and lushness is not sustainable.  An organic fertilizer is like good food; it nourishes the lawn as it grows.

Weed control without chemicals
•    Corn gluten meal is a great product, which is a byproduct of corn processing that has been found to keep seeds from germinating.  Spreading this on your lawn in the spring and fall will help suppress pesky weeds. However, you must be careful not to use this product after you seed your lawn, otherwise the grass seeds will not grow.

Trimming Your Lawn
•    Raise the blade on your lawn mower to the height of 3 inches.  This is an easy trick to make your lawn look lush because the blades of grass are longer.
•    The long blades of glass help to shade out the weeds that thrive in the sun and also help retain moisture in the soil.
•    Here’s the kicker:  let the grass clippings stay on the lawn.  The grass clippings decompose over time and act as fertilizer that helps your grass grow thicker and lusher.