An organic lawn grows beautifully, is safe for you and your
family (pets and wildlife included) and needs minimal care.
By Paul Sachs
Growing a healthy and safe lawn is as simple as using common sense—organic
common sense, that is. If you build the soil and use a few basic cultural
techniques, you'll have a lush stand of turfgrass without harming kids, pets,
wildlife, the water supply, and the rest of the environment. Here are three easy
steps to get started on a thick, green organic lawn.
Mow High
The simplest way to help your organic lawn grow up healthy and dense is to
adjust your mower's cutting height to its highest setting. Why? Tall blades of
grass have more surface area exposed to the sun, enabling them to
photosynthesize more sugars and starches for greater root growth. Greater root
mass means better access to water and nutrients, so plants are more tolerant of
drought and can recover more rapidly from dormancy.
 Cut grass to 3 to 4 inches tall. Most grasses can be
mowed to a height of 3 to 4 inches. Some varieties, particularly fine fescues
and centipede grass, fall over at that height and should be mowed a half inch to
an inch shorter than other grasses.
Remove just one-third of the blade. No matter how tall
the turf, refrain from cutting off more than one-third of each grass blade in
any single mowing, or you risk stressing the grass. And cutting off just
one-third will produce small clippings, which you should leave on your lawn
right where they fall.
Keep the mower blade sharp. A dull lawn-mower blade will
tear grass, and the jagged wounds make the plants susceptible to infection and
allow for more rapid evaporation. I recommend sharpening the mower blade after
every 8 hours or so of cutting. Most hardware stores and any power-equipment
dealer will sharpen your blade quickly and inexpensively.
Leave the Clippings on the Lawn
As grass clippings decompose, they contribute valuable nitrogen to the
soilalmost 2 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet of soil each season or
about half of the lawn's annual fertilizer needs. They also add organic matter
and provide a variety of other benefits to the soil and grass. Many people
believe, however, that clippings left on the lawn contribute to thatchdead or
dying grass parts (such as stems, stolons, crowns, and roots) that form a layer
on top of the soil and obstruct moisture and oxygen from reaching plant roots.
But just the opposite is true: Fresh clippings stimulate earthworm activity,
which breaks down thatch.
Fear No Weeds
You'll leave no room for weeds if you mow your grass often (but not too low)
with a sharp blade and grow it in soil that's rich in organic matter and
biological activity. Researchers at the University of Maryland confirmed that
mowing cool-season turfgrasses to 3 inches high works as well as or better than
herbicides for suppressing crabgrass. In my experience, dandelions, common
purslane, and other low-growing annual weeds also do not survive in a lawn
that's cut high.
Paul Sachs is the author of
Handbook of Successful Ecological Lawn
Care (The Edaphic Press, 1996).
Find more tips on OrganicGardening.com
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