Organic Lawn

FWIW, after we bought our house and I spent a couple years paying for a lawn service, but getting crabgrass anyway, I decided I could grow crabgrass myself without all those chemicals!

So now I have an organic lawn. I use a series of products that I think make the whole thing work pretty well, now that I have developed a fondness for clover. There is this corn gluten stuff that you spread at the beginning of spring to inhibit germination of weeds. After a couple years of use, this actually seems to more or less work. I use “Plant Tone” fertilizer a couple times a year, and (this is important) I mow high, regularly, and leave the clipped grass on the lawn to mulch. (Just to complete the “green” scenario, I use an old-fashioned mower, so I am not polluting the air nor am I worrying about whether I need gas to mow the lawn.) I also reseed pretty regularly when it’s cooler in the spring and fall.

I do have a lot of clover, which actually pulls nitrogen into the soil and so in the long run is supposedly improving it. I notice my lawn stays greener at this time of summer than many of my neighbors and I don’t have to water it as much. If my composter ever produces compost, I’ll spread some of that around too!

Last note, I am thinking next year I will order some nemotodes. I am noticing an uptick in Japanese beetles.

Good luck.