The recent surge of long-awaited warm weather has brought some of us back to a long lost, yet oh so familiar place… Our yard! In the weeks ahead, spring will surrender to summer, and we’ll savor the sunlight as we spin towards the longest day of the year and maximize more yard time.
This sacred space surrounding our home hopefully brings feelings of comfort, relaxation, pride and security.
Whether we are lounging with a book in the hammock, playing ball with our kids or fetch with the dogs, enjoying a cookout with friends or tending to a flowerbed, our lawn is an essential space to our family and an extension of our home.
Love for lawns
We love our lawns. Oh, those great swaths of luxuriant green! We love them so much, in fact, that today, the United States is covered with approximately 40 million acres of turf, making grass our largest irrigated crop. And our love of green brings in the green, as lawn care is now a lucrative multibillion-dollar industry.
The green is here, indeed. Since the average size of a home lawn is 1/3 of an acre, all of that yearly mowing, blowing, watering, weeding and fertilizing requires resources and creates consequences. Since the post-war era, the notion of the perfect lawn became an integral part of our suburban status and thousands of new chemicals, including synthetic lawn care products, entered our stores, our homes, our yards, and inadvertently, our waterways.
Over the last 50 years, the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus entering our waters has escalated dramatically, and nutrient pollution has become one of America’s most pervasive and costly environmental problems.
This pollution continues to threaten our drinking water, fishing and tourism industries, in addition to property values, freshwater habitats, aquatic ecosystems and our health.
Detriment
Large-scale algal blooms fed by the increased presence of nutrients have become an annual dreaded occurrence in Lake Erie and nearby waterways.
Though these harmful algal blooms are the cumulative effect of many different sources, we cannot overlook the 90 million pounds of synthetic lawn fertilizers Americans apply each year to our beloved green lawns, now feeding and fueling these toxic green waters.
Perhaps these longer days can shine some light on more effective ways to build organic matter and improve soil health in our own backyards.
By examining organic lawn care options and benefits, Geauga Soil and Water Conservation District is promoting ways to reduce our lawn chemical use for less pollution, leaving our yards.
This year, especially, we have felt the strain of the wallet drain with the rise of so many costs now passed on to consumers. The massive spike in fuel prices has subsequently caused a surge in fertilizer costs. Now is the perfect time to reduce the cost of synthetic fertilizers and try a new, more natural lawn care approach.
Go organic
Throughout the years and just this week, Geauga SWCD has partnered with Good Nature Organic Lawn Care to hold workshops and offer resources that help residents evaluate their old habits, assess the needs of their lawn and apply newly learned natural lawn care practices that build organic matter, improve soil health and create a self-sustaining, low-maintenance lawn.
With a little research, we can dig deeper into organic lawn care topics and methods, including soil health, grass types, organic versus synthetic fertilizers, proper mowing and watering techniques, and ways to control weeds and pests.
An easy and essential first step to any lawn care program is to test your soil. Just like us, soil needs adequate food, air and water to function properly and stay healthy. Soil should be considered a living, dynamic body and only healthy soil can produce healthy plants. Anything done to the yard or plants that does not consider the needs of the soil is simply a waste of time and can often cause more harm than good.
In fact, many synthetic fertilizers and pesticides actually destroy the beneficial organisms in a lawn’s ecosystem. Organic lawn care focuses instead on soil management techniques by building up the nutrients, organisms and life in the soil over time.
These long-term results ultimately improve the quality of the soil and increase its ability to hold water and nutrients while reducing yard maintenance as well as the money and resources needed for it — like fuel, water, fertilizer, products and time.
If you haven’t already, contact your local soil and water conservation district or Ohio State University Extension office to obtain a soil testing kit. Test results will provide solid, scientific and reliable guidance for improving your soil and greening your lawn.
Small steps
No matter the season and no matter the reason, it’s always the right time to lean into natural lawn care.
Every small step will bring you closer to the benefits and peace of mind from growing a healthy, safe lawn, building rich soil, nurturing biodiversity, protecting water quality and saving your hard-earned money and valuable time.
And with those few remaining hours of daylight … Croquet anyone?
