If your community is anything like ours, spring is a time that is brimming with excitement. Everyone is beginning to spend more and more time in the great outdoors, enjoying the warm weather. With that comes the task (and pressure) of maintaining a perfectly groomed, barbeque-ready lawn. Perfection, however, comes at a cost.
All the pampering, weeding, watering, and fertilizing has a huge impact on the environment. What would you say if we told you that growing that luscious, green grass doesn't take as much work (or resources) as you'd think? Here are a few ways you can conserve resources and help the environment all while still having a beautifully manicured lawn.
1. The first mistake that people often make is fertilizing too early in the season. If the weather isn’t warm enough, it’s not only a waste of money, but also wastes additional resources. If you choose to fertilize your lawn early on, you will then need to mow and water more frequently than your neighbors who let their lawns green up naturally.
2. Many people see the results that fertilization yields and go a bit overboard. Lawns can grow dependent on fertilizer and need more and more of it over time. Correspondingly, the lawn will then grow faster requiring even more mowing which leads us to tip number 3.
3. Try not to over-mow your lawn. Yes, some lawn activities like horseshoes or golf require shorter, more primped lawns but in most cases, the constant cutting actually demands more watering. Shorter grass means shallow roots. Shallow roots require more water at more frequent intervals.
4. Less (work) is usually more. This is good news for you! Next time you mow your lawn, do your best to practice restraint and leave the left-behind grass clippings right where they are. They will decompose naturally and go straight to work as an organic and pet/child-safe fertilizer.
5. Lastly, give this weed a chance. Although weeds usually get a pretty bad wrap, often times some of them can work miracles for your grass! One of our favorites is clover. It’s not only pretty, but also fights off other weeds while producing nitrogen which is great for grass.
We at Eldorado Springs, of course, have a huge passion for conserving and protecting our earth’s natural resources, especially water! We will definitely be using these tips in our own yards here and we hope you do too! So step away from the mower, light the barbeque, grab a refreshing glass or bottle of Eldorado Natural Spring Water, and unfold that lawn chair. This summer is going to be a relaxing one.
