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Lawn Care Without Chemicals

see also Living without Pesticides fact sheet (233k pdf)

A natural lawn is maintained without chemicals and the results are rewarding: a healthy, beautiful lawn that’s easier on you and the environment. Following natural lawn care practices makes it easy to reduce the use of pesticides and fertilizers while saving time, water, money and our waterways.

Mow high and mow often. Never cut more than 1/3 of the blade. A good grass length is 2-3”. Longer grass will develop deeper roots and crowd out weeds.

Leave the clippings on the lawn. It’s called grass-cycling! Clippings provide free fertilizer and will break down quickly. You can grass-cycle with your existing mower, or use a mulching mower.

Water deeply but infrequently. 1” of water per week (1 hour of watering) is all that is needed to encourage deep rooting and to crowd out weeds.
 

Take a second look at weeds. Weeds or moss in your lawn are a sign of poor growing conditions. However, moss and many lawn weeds such as clover and English daisy are beautiful. The best way to deal with unwanted weeds is to dig them out by hand. Avoid weed and feed type products. They spread toxic herbicides over entire lawn areas whether weeds are present or not.

Fertilizers - Feed the Soil, Not the Plant

Healthy soil leads to healthy soil organisms and an ecological balance in your garden. The best way to enrich your garden’s soil is to add organic matter. Compost is the best source of organic matter you can add and probably the most convenient. If you don’t already have a home compost bin, start one now. In the meantime you can purchase finished compost from the Vancouver landfill.

If you have to buy a fertilizer, choose organic fertilizers, such as bone meal, blood meal and kelp meal, which contain slow releasing, insoluble nutrients. This means the nutrients promote slow, steady growth while reducing the possibility of run-off.

Chemical fertilizers may keep the garden looking healthy in the short term, but they do not promote the long-term health of plants. Excess nutrients are washed away in heavy rainfalls. They end up polluting our waterways by causing algae blooms, reducing aquatic oxygen levels and suffocating fish and other aquatic life.

Chemical fertilizers also kill soil organisms, such as earthworms. Healthy soil is home to a variety of organisms busy at work aerating the soil, breaking down debris and making organic matter and nutrients available to plants. Soil organisms are the life force of the Earth. Without them, your garden will not be able to follow a natural cycle of growth and decay and you will be forced to follow a chemical regime