As more and more attention is given to the environment and the steps we can take to protect it, homeowners strong in numbers continue to do their fair share. The recycling of glass, paper, aluminum, and plastic continues to be on the rise in homes across the country; and now, families are even turning to ways to make their homes “green” – using solar power, natural fibers, energy saving light bulbs, and water reducing faucets. There has even been attention given to the upkeep of the suburban lawn, as homeowners make an effort to practice only organic lawn care.

Organic lawn care is any practice that nurtures a lawn within the guidelines of that which is good for the environment. In essence, this means the elimination of chemical weed killers and pesticides. Practicing organic lawn care simply means the avoidance of any chemical product that can in any way harm the environment – including animal life.

Instead, those interested in organic lawn care can use organic fertilizer – found in most home and garden stores – mixed with compost for an environmentally friendly lawn; use mulch in landscaped areas; and use only herbal pest repellants when necessary.

When mowing your lawn, organic lawn care stipulates the leaving of grass clippings directly on the lawn where they can break into compost and regenerate the soil. You may even want to think about limiting the size of your lawn, thus conserving a tremendous amount of water.

When choosing plants for landscaping, choose those plants indigenous to your area, thus reducing the amount of water and fertilizer they will need.

A visit to your local home and garden store will yield an enormous amount of information about organic lawn care, including what products are acceptable to use and what alternatives there are to rid your lawn of weeds, rodents, and other undesirables that won’t compromise the environment.

Or, you can find quite a bit of reading material at your local library or bookstore that offers tips on maintaining a green home including the implementation of organic lawn care. The Internet can also be a comprehensive resource on organic lawn care and the steps you can take to keep your property within environmental guidelines.

Nothing can look more beautiful, yet be more frustrating, then our lawns. For those suburban dwellers among us, the upkeep of our home’s lawn can be tantamount to a full time job. And the appearance of said lawn can be an exercise in social domination. There are no shortages of neighborhood competitions regarding the color, thickness, and texture of our lawns. And even if the only pressure we feel is that which we put on ourselves, lawn care can still be incredibly overwhelming. Luckily, with the mastering of a few fundamentals of lawn care we can be well on our way to achieving a lush and healthy lawn.

When examining proper lawn care, you should start at the beginning. If you have the opportunity to choose the type of grass that is planted around your home then you can begin the proper care from the ground up; some research will yield the type of grass that will grow the best in your particular climate.

Going forward, successful lawn care means a regular system of maintenance that revolves around the seasons. Applying fertilizer in the fall and essential nutrients in the winter will allow your lawn to be healthy all year.

Additionally, weekly maintenance during growing season should be included in a lawn care system. Be sure to mow your lawn on a weekly basis and remove grass clippings to ensure that the roots of your lawn are not blocked from receiving proper water and sunlight. To this end, frequent aeration of your lawn will loosen soil and keep water and nutrients moving freely, thus allowing your grass to grow without hindrance. Further, if there is insufficient water from rain, then be sure to supplement with frequent watering of your grass.

Consistent and dedicated lawn care all year will reward you with a beautiful and healthy lawn to be envied by all.

Home lawn care could be as complex or simple as you make it. Before you decide to put in different colors and varieties of exotic plants it is important to figure out just how much weekend time you have to spend taking care of these unusual plants, or in lieu of your own loving care, if you can afford to hire a professional landscape team come around to take regular care of your plants.

Lawn Tip 1

Some of the most valuable nutrients can be added to your lawn by letting it reclaim these same nutrients from the clipped grass pieces. While many people worry that adding grass clippings or mulched leaves and branches will add or promote thatch to the lawn, but this is not true. The more nutrients the better; for the most part, and lawn clippings are best suited to nourish the living lawn.

Lawn Tip 2

When mowing your grass, try not to mow the entire yard, but rather 1/3 of the overall yard. Also, each time you mow, cover a different 1/3 of the yard. For example, if you begin at a 3 o’clock position in your yard and go to a 7 o’clock position one time, start at 5 or 6 and go to 11. Keep the mowing pattern varied and you’ll have a healthier lawn.

Lawn Tip 3

It’s much easier to get a handle on new weeds than when they’re older, more established and just plain harder to remove.

Lawn Tip 4

Most lawns need about 1-2 inches of water each week. By watering the lawn early in the morning (4-9AM) it doesn’t have a chance to encourage mold or fungus like like it does when you water it at nightfall. This also keeps the sun from burning up all the dampness, thus robbing your lawn and your pocketbook.

Lawn Tip 5

While more natural nutrients like those from compost or grass clippings really can’t be overdone, the use of commercial fertilizer certainly can be overdone. You run the risk of poisoning your lawn in the long term if you overdo the recommended doses of fertilizer for your lawn.

Lawn Tip 6

Not only do powerful and efficient lawn mowers cut grass better and more consistently, but they have lower emissions which is better for the environment. Of course a manual or electric mower is even better for the environment, but there are other performance issues that come along with these other mower types that you must consider yourself before making those decisions.

An herbal lawn is only what it sounds like, a lawn that is composed of an herb instead of a sort of grass. You can produce an herbal lawn out of many different kinds of herbs. The challenge really is to find an herb that tolerates heavy foot traffic at the same time that it is still comfortable if you like to play or sit on the lawn. There are many varieties of chamomile and creeping thyme that fall into this perfect middles ground.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to this issue – neither of which is definitive.

Some people say leave the clippings on the lawn after you mow. This not only saves time and energy, but the clippings decompose quickly and add vital nutrients back into the soil.

In fact, recycling grass clippings has recently taken on a movement of its own. Proponents call this practice “grass-cycling” and advocate that leaving those clipping where they lay saves time, landfill space and nurtures the soil.

The Professional Lawn Care Association says that About 20 percent of all waste that goes into a landfill is landscape debris and about half of that is simply grass clippings. With yard waste bans in place in many areas of the country, “grass-cycling” offers you an alternative, and at the same time increases the health and beauty of your lawn.

Grass clippings are 85 percent water, decompose rapidly, and return nutrients to the soil with no thatch buildup. They actually return 20 percent of their nitrogen to the soil to feed the lawn’s root system. And grass-cycling can be practiced year-round with most mowers.

On the other side of the spectrum, others say that leaving clippings on your lawn is not only unsightly, but it can cause damage to your lawn as well. Leaving grass clippings on the lawn becomes a problem only if they are too thick. If you mow the lawn before it gets overly tall, the mass of the grass clippings will not be sufficient to warrant raking.

When cut grass lays in large clumps, it could be preventing the grass below it from getting the sunshine and water that it needs to grow. This could leave behind unsightly brown patches of dead grass.

A good way to obviate having to rake grass clippings is to mow with mulching lawn mowers. When you have a mulching mower, the clippings are gathered in a bag and can be used in compost piles for fertilization.

Using mulching mowers can not only cut down on your yard maintenance, but also makes your grass greener. Otherwise, you may end up either raking or bagging your grass clippings — which in turn mean disposing of those grass clippings or recycling them – all of which means extra work.

The bottom line is that as long as you are mowing on a regular basis and you don’t leave behind clumps of clippings, it won’t cause any harm leaving those clipping right where they are.

Fall leaf removal is not only necessary from an aesthetic perspective but also from an agronomic perspective. Although turf grass growth slows or ceases this time of the year, the plant will continue to photosynthesize as long as the turf is green.

Energy in the form of carbohydrates captured and stored from photosynthesis will go to enhance root growth and accumulate in the storage compartments (nodes, crowns, etc) to be used the following year. Leaves left on the turf grass shade the turf grass leaves reducing the turf plants ability to photosynthesize. Thus, the full potential to capture sunlight is greatly diminished when leaves are left on the turf. Additionally, if the leaves get wet, a microclimate under these leaves promote disease development.

The primary diseases that are favored by this environment are (also known as pink snow mold or fusarium patch) and powdery mildew. Thus, blowing or raking those leaves off the turf is an important fall agronomic practice. Owning and taking care of a lawn mower is similar to owning and taking care of a car. If it is neglected, performance will suffer.

It doesn’t matter that you’ve neglected your lawn mower well into the season. Start caring for it now! First, install fresh spark plugs. They’re inexpensive enough to replace rather than clean or gap.

If your mower has a paper air filter, give that a complete replacement, too. For foam air filters, buy new mower replacement foam and soak it oil before installing.

Dull blades harm lawns. Ripped out chunks of grass are highly vulnerable to a myriad of lawn diseases. Either remove the blade with a socket wrench, hone it with a file (following the existing cutting angle), or take it to a lawn-care shop for professional sharpening.

It’s just good sense before doing any of this work to run the mower until it runs completely out of gas. Turn the mower filter-side up (to prevent clogging) and drain the oil. Be sure to remove the plug or plug wire to keep the mower from firing up while you’re up to your elbows in machinery. Be sure the tires are fully inflated – especially with riding mowers. Under-inflated tires on a riding mower can cause what we, in our family, usually refer to as crop circles – unevenly mowed patches that resemble that otherworld phenomenon that some people think exist.