Replacing your lawn with a intercellular substance of native plant might not be an selection for you , but you’re able to still move the ecological acerate leaf in the correct direction in your backyard . If you are ready to raise a lawn that supports life history in every time of year , start out pocket-sized but start somewhere ! Here are a few ideas to seek .
Best Practices for Eco-Friendly Lawn Care
boil down or eradicate the use of pesticide and fertilizerson your lawn . This go along chemicals out of waterways and limits the substantiative harm to wildlife . Using weed killer to eliminate plants like dandelion and white trefoil does more harm than good .
Leave your lawn a second longer . countersink your lawn mower deck of cards height to at least 3 inch marvelous ( 4 is even safe ) . If you must water , water deep and as infrequently as potential , since shallow watering promotes shallow rooting .
Add diversity to your lawn with nonaged bulbslike crocus ( Crocusspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–8 ) , snowdrops ( Galanthusspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) , or species tulips ( Tulipaspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–8 ) . There are many choices available ; get originative and have fun design your lightbulb lawn !
Introduce low - growing nativessuch as violets ( Violaspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) , bluets ( Houstoniaspp . , Zones 3–8 ) , pussytoes ( Antennariaspp . and cvs . , Zones 5–8 ) , or wild strawberries ( Fragaria virginianaand cvs . , Zones 5–9 ) . Using topically accommodate aboriginal plant helps support specialist pollinator .
Reduce the size of it of your lawn , lead off with steep slopes , narrow pathways , and odd - shaped , heavy - to - mow areas . These are idealistic for lawn alternatives like sedges or other ground covers . Conversely , consider expanding planting beds with an heart toward more time - efficient and good mop . transition an entire lawn to a lawn alternative can be pricey , so start with edges and tract is better .
Increase diversity in non - lawn areas . Planting bottom , container , trees , and shrubs should declare oneself a kind of floral resources throughout the growing season to support as many species of insects and other wildlife as potential . subject area betoken thou with at least 70 % native industrial plant support a utmost of dirt ball and songbird multifariousness .
These legal action items are easy to follow and will ensure that your lawn unceasingly provides positive , year - beat benefits for humans and wildlife likewise , not just for one month in spring . The spirit of No Mow May is to promote worm diversity and feed pollinators , and we can still achieve these worthy goal by making impertinent planting choices and incremental shifts in our lawn attention habit .
Ulrich Lorimer is the film director of horticulture at the Native Plant Trust in Framingham , Massachusetts .
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Some sections of your lawn may need less mowing than others. If you have attractive native wildflowers like fleabane (Erigeron spp. and cvs., Zones 3–11) growing in your turf, you can probably get away with mowing around them until they start going to seed.
