How to Build a Healthy Lawn

Building up your soil naturally is the key to healthy lawn care. Following these lawn care tips will provide you with the information to build a healthy lawn that is not only a maintenance free lawn, but a safe lawn for your family, pets and the environment.

Whether you refer to it as natural or organic, it really comes down to the fact that so many of us just want to participate in healthy lawn care. In order to get the desired results, it takes up front dedication, time and knowledge. Much like when someone must change their diet to become healthier, not only do they change what they eat, but there are other alterations within their lifestyle that are made and it takes dedication and time for the change to take place.

We know that we are going to make the change to healthy lawn care, so where do we start?

Improve Your Soil - Healthy soil contains everything needed to grow healthy grass and, as an added bonus, weed seeds don't germinate as well, so less weeds. A soil test can give you a starting point. This can be arranged through your local conservation district office or local agricultural extension agent's office. The results of the test should give you needed amendments to put your soil back into a neutral pH.

Select the Proper Grass for Your Area- Once your soil has been amended, you are ready to sow the seed. A visit to your local hardware store is needed here and should be educational. Visit one of the locally owned stores such as Ace Hardware or True Value Hardware or even your local Farmer's Co-op as these stores typically have staff that is knowledgeable about these things. If you have shaded areas, you need to let them know as they will need to help you select a seed blend especially for that area. After sowing the grass seed, covering the newly sown area with a light layer of straw can prove beneficial as it will help to keep birds from eating the grass seeds, protect the area from washing should there be heavy rainfall before the seed can germinate, provide light shade and keep the soil moist. All of these factors, including warm weather, will help to speed the germination of the grass and it decomposes into the soil.

Mow less with taller grass- Allow the grass to grow a bit more before mowing. Set your mower blades for 3 inches and let the grass grow to 4 or 5 inches before mowing. Cutting grass down much lower can damage the roots and dry out the soil.

There are many organic lawn care products on the market that will naturally help your plants grow, keep weeds down and assist in building up the soil. Calcium, specifically, helps to energize plants and reduce weeds. Soil Conditioners helps to percolate and aerate the soil. Some are also available that contain biological components that can help to detoxify chemical applications from fertilizers and other products as well as help to keep flying insects at bay.

Now that you have healthy soil and grass is growing, how often do we water? Well, that will vary, but the University of Missouri Extension will help guide you through that process and give you tips on watering your lawn:

Home Lawn Watering Guide

Natural or organic lawn care isn't completely without work, but it is certainly worth the initial effort to know that your lawn is healthy naturally and safe for humans, animals and the environment.

8 Gardening Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Do you realize that gardening mistakes happen right in your front yard? Whether you think that your garden looks good or not, if everything doesn't work together, the entire garden doesn’t work. Let’s talk about the most common gardening mistakes and how to fix them.

Lawn&Garden (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1. Grass is not greener. This ranks number 1. Why? Most gardens and yards have lawn, but one may be slightly greener than the other. If your lawn looks browner than the soil underneath, it is time to reassess your watering, fertilizing and mowing schedule. Think where you may have gone wrong and make the necessary lawn care adjustments. Tired of lawn care? Consider other lawn substitute options such as ground covers such as periwinkle. Visit Greenwood Nursery for more on lawn substitutes.

2. Tools and clutter are everywhere. They may be useful objects, but if they are just stacked in your garage or tossed in a box, then you think they are not worth the storage. At that point, they don't just look like junk; they are junk. Sort through them one by one and determine whether you want to keep them or not. Your criteria when deciding if they deserve the trip to dump or not is simple: Ask yourself, do you specific plans for them?

3. Your house and garden can be seen from the road. There are several short- and long-term solutions to using plants to create privacy. One quick-fix solution is to build a concrete wall that would separate your garden from the sidewalk view. For a longer, much appealing look, planting fast growing shrubs is a good idea.

4. Weed invasion. Keeping your lawn regularly maintained can solve weed problems. Do a regular walk through to check for weeds about twice a week during the growing season. Dig the weeds out by hand to keep them from re-growing by seeding the empty areas of your lawn.

5. Limited space. If your problem is space, then here's one idea that can definitely help you maximize every square inch of your garden: think vertical gardens. With vertical gardening, you can create a sense of lush greenery by using wall space, arbors and trellises to allow plants to climb upwards.

6. Where's your house? If shrubs have swallowed your house, then hedge clippers comes in handy. You don’t want plants blocking the way from your drive to the front door so some serious pruning may be in order. You want landscaping, not a house in the middle of the forest. Also, tall and over grown shrubs are a security hazard providing a burglar with the protection and opportunity that they would need to break into your home. It's time to select curb appeal plants.

7. Selection and winter care. Some garden plants will not survive winter temperatures without proper care. When planning your garden, be sure to select the majority of your plant that will grow year round and always include a few evergreens and plants with winter interest. In fall be sure to provide your garden plants with a good thick layer (approximately 3 inches) of shredded bark mulch to insulate and provide moisture over the winter months.

8. Fences are falling apart. Fences are not just to separate your property from your neighbor's. They also add to the overall look of your garden. Make sure that you maintain your fences like the way you keep your plants. Use fences as backdrops for your landscaping projects.

8 Gardening Mistakes and How to Correct Them by Greenwood Nursery