Green Up Your Lawn Naturally

With early spring everyone is anxious to get the outside projects going. Before you get all excited about colorful flowers, think about your lawn. It is the foundation of your landscape and if it is healthy it can provide months of enjoyment.  

Your lawn is like any other living plant, it needs sun, water and food. Having a lush, green lawn does not mean you have to give up all of your time and money, it just takes a few basic elements to achieve the desired results. You want to consider the environment when you care for your lawn. Remember, what you put on your grass goes into the soil or runs off into the storm sewer. The storm sewer drains right into the watershed — that water run off is not treated or purified — it just heads down river. Ever wonder why our collection ponds get all green and slimy in summer? A lot of it has to do with run-off from our lawns. Green algae may be a future solution to our fuel problems, but it is smelly, yucky and kills the balance in these ponds. Chemicals are not always the best solution especially when there is a natural and organic solution.  

In the 90's at the University of Iowa, it was discovered that a corn by-product, corn gluten meal, worked as a great fertilizer and weed controller on lawns. It is now available as an organic fertilizer to the general public. A few advantages include:  

- It's organic

- It works

- It's sustainable

- It is easy to apply (no HAZMAT suit required)

- It is safe for kids, pets, worms, wildlife

- It's affordable and economical

If your lawn service puts little signs on your lawn after they treat it that say 'Caution," or "Stay Off - Chemically Treated," do you really want your pets and kids playing outside on the grass?

Just remember to consider the environment when you feed your lawn. I recommend Schulz Organic Fertilizer now available to home owners. Information is avialable on my website at www.greenlawnlady.com.