If you enjoy having a nice green lawn but worry it doesn’t lend itself to a green lifestyle, have no fear. You don’t have to sacrifice an attractive yard to help the environment.
Leave the Leaves
Instead of raking them, mulch them by mowing over them. Not only does this save on removal costs and unsightly decomposing piles, but it also ensures the nutrients in those leaves return to the ground and the trees that made them.
Say No To Pesticides
When you use pesticides you’re not just getting rid of aphids and invasive beetles, you’re harming local pollinators. Mixing 4 cups of water with 1 tablespoon of dish soap and then spraying the mixture directly on the problem pests will eradicate them while leaving the helpful fauna unpoisoned.
Weed Out Weed Spray
If you have something like a prickly thistle menacing the bare feet of you and your family, try removing it by hand. But being at peace with indigenous plant life and letting things like dandelions take root will help your local pollinators such as butterflies, moths and bees. If you want to give them an extra boost, try planting a bed of meadow flowers and grasses indigenous to your area.
Pamper Wisely
If you’ve had construction recently with a lot of heavy machinery or people walking through, the ground is probably hard and compact and stressing out your lawn. Before breaking out the chemical-laden fertilizer and non-indigenous seeds, you should try aeration Fairfax Station VA as it may be the only boost your grass needs. Speaking of fertilizer…
Fertilize Sparingly
It may be marketed as plant food, and therefore more might seem merrier, but overdoing it can have disastrous effects. Too much fertilizer not only harms your lawn by depleting oxygen in the soil but can contaminate groundwater. It can also be toxic to people and pets walking on your lawn as well as local flora.
Even just one of these steps will give a boost to your local ecosystem—not to mention save you time and money.
