How To Have A Healthy Lawn Without Pesticides Or Herbicides

Everyone wants to have a thriving green lawn that looks amazing and that makes their neighbors envious. To this end, many homeowners use a lot of pesticides and herbicides. However, while these chemicals can lead to your turf looking great, they have their drawbacks as well. They can harm the environment, including bees and other beneficial insects, and can also make their way into streams and bodies of water, damaging fish and various animals. These chemicals could potentially contaminate drinking water as well. 

If you want to avoid these negative effects, you may want to look for other ways to ensure a healthy lawn. Fortunately, herbicides and pesticides aren't mandatory for keeping a lawn healthy. Monitoring soil conditions closely, mowing regularly, watering correctly, and using a few other best practices can help you keep your lawn in tip-top shape.

To keep healthy grass, focus on the soil first and foremost. You'll want to test your soil regularly and ensure it stays at a healthy pH. In general, grass looks best when the soil is slightly acidic, maintaining a pH between 6.5 and 7.0. There are various ways to adjust soil pH over time. For example, you can apply Espoma organic garden lime to raise soil pH or Earth Science fast-acting sulfur to lower it. Aerating your lawn in the spring is also beneficial for avoiding soil compaction and keeping your lawn healthy.

In addition to maintaining healthy soil, water your lawn in the correct way and with the appropriate frequency. Generally, you should water a lawn deeply but not too often. Only water the lawn again once you notice the top two inches of soil are dry. In addition to this, mow your lawn regularly, keeping the blades on the higher side. This usually means keeping a lawn no shorter than 2 inches high, but this will vary depending on the type of grass you have.

Also, take steps to control weeds in your front yard, backyard, and all around your property. Hand pulling is often all that's needed, but you can use something like the Walensee weed puller tool as necessary to control common lawn weeds as well. Proper mowing will also help reduce the number of weeds in your yard. 

Of course, if you feel like you must use pesticides and herbicides, you can choose natural options instead of harmful chemicals. Ensure that any natural products you use are certified for use in organic gardening by the USDA, suited for any specific pests you're dealing with. Organic herbicides with citrus oil or neem oil, like Natria neem oil spray, are usually great choices for the lawn. Products that contain pyrethrin or azadirachtin are great choices if you're buying natural pesticides. Consider Pyganic botanical insecticide made with pyrethrin concentrate.