How to have the perfect lawn

An hour was long enough. I believe in building up slowly to the mammoth days of gardening that will soon be upon us. During April, May and June we’ll be busy weeding, pruning, fertilizing, separating and setting out transplants.

For now, the lawns appreciate the attention. It’s nice to see that the organic approach is being adopted by many more homeowners. Distributors have really come on board to support this movement and carry a wide variety of organic lawn care products.

As mentioned, a gentle raking of the lawn to remove dead grass, twigs and aerate matted areas can be accomplished on these warm spring days. Top dressing with compost and overseeding bare sections can also be done if dry weather continues. This is also a good time of the year to roam your lawn in search of those pesky tap-rooted dandelions and thistles. Dig them out with a single bladed tool designed specifically for their removal.

Meanwhile, sharpen your lawn mower blade in preparation for May and examine the lawn for frost heaved rocks that could throw a kink into your trimming real quick. Raise the mower height to 3” for the start of the season.

You’ll find grass quick to green up as the weather warms and that will be the signal to apply an organic fertilizer. One of the best is kelp meal because of its high potassium content. Potassium helps plants to cope with stresses like disease, insect infestations and drought. This year I plan on using a liquid kelp product.

One of the most important cultural practices when it comes to organic lawn care is mowing. Ideally, you should never be removing more than 1/3 of the blade at one time, so that sometimes means mowing once every four to five days during the “lush” months.

By mowing this often, you can leave cuttings on the lawn to decompose into a rich source of nitrogen. The cut grass forms a light layer of thatch that helps to cushion regular use of the lawn while feeding it at the same time.