Top Tips for a ‘Green’ Lawn

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

 

You may have a green lawn, but is your lawn environmentally green?

If you’re concerned about the effects of your lawn on the environment, you can keep it weed-free and reduce water use with a little planning.

A scraggly, weedy lawn is definitely unattractive. However, drenching it with weed killer can harm beneficial pollinators and contribute to runoff that harms waterways.

You don’t have to let weeds grow to feed pollinators. Consider planting butterfly bush, a wildflower area and other plants that attract pollinators.

As for weeds, Jim Sollecito, owner of Sollecito Landscaping Nursery in Syracuse and the state’s first lifetime senior certified landscape professional, prefers to address weed issues only as they arise.

“If you do find a weed here or there, using a ready-to-use spot product, either organic or conventional, should clear things up,” Sollecito said. “But remember, these products work best on a sunny day in the heat of the day when plant growth is most active.”

Some areas of the country struggle with a low water table and must institute watering bans to make it through the summer. Typically, CNY is cool and rainy enough during the summer that watering isn’t a big issue. But drought years sometimes can mean watering is necessary to keep the grass green.

“A lawn can be kept very acceptably green looking by just making sure it gets one inch of water twice a week throughout the growing season,” Sollecito said. “I overlap my oscillating sprinkler so it also irrigates my landscape and everything is much happier when hydrated.”

Timing matters when it comes to watering the lawn. Mike Nolan, owner of Green Acres Garden Center in Liverpool, advising watering during the first part of the day so that the lawn isn’t wet overnight.

“You can get more diseases that way, especially when it’s in the heat of summer,” he said. “If it gets a disease, you may need to treat it with chemicals.”

Watering early enough also prevents excessive evaporation, which wastes water.

If you’re starting a new lawn, select grass varieties that resist drought. Nolan suggested Black Beauty, a fescue variety “which can get really deep roots. It’s the one of most drought resistant varieties.”

The roots can reach up to four feet deep, although in harder soil types, the roots may not go that deep. Typically, Black Beauty reaches deep enough into the soil that the grass can survive without much rain or watering.

How much grass seed you sow can also make a difference in how many weeds grow in your lawn. Nolan said that the thicker the lawn, the more likely it will choke out weeds and crabgrass. Err on the generous side when planting grass seed.

Mowing the lawn too short is not good for the environment. It requires more frequent mowing and thus more opportunities to generate lawnmower emissions. If yours is a small plot, consider investing in a reel mower.

Frequent mowing also means the grass is so short that it requires more watering.

“Try keeping it at 3.5” to 4” long,” Nolan said.

At that length, the grass can hold moisture better.

Using fertilizer can help feed a fledgling lawn. Nolan recommends Milorganite, an organic fertilizer that “works well to get the lawn thick,” he said. “You need to use a decent amount of it. It won’t burn like other fertilizers.”

Always follow package directions when using any lawn amendments.