Using natural lawn products seems like a simple switch: they’re better for the environment and safer for your family. But many people wonder: do natural lawn care products and techniques really work?
In fact: yes! Natural lawn care products are effective fertilizing your lawn, conditioning your soil and creating a healthier overall landscape. At Lawnbright, our Ingredient Promise ensures that there are never any harsh chemicals and that you can feel good about what you’re putting on your lawn. So let’s dig into a few of our featured Lawnbright ingredients to understand a bit more about why they’re so effective for natural lawn care:
- North Atlantic Sea Kelp: Rich in minerals, kelp stimulates root growth while protecting grass from drought and heat stress. (Find it in Lawnbright RootRx.)
- Corn Gluten: Weed pre-emergents are known for containing some pretty nasty chemicals, but organic corn gluten works quite effectively to inhibit root growth during seed germination and should be applied in early spring, and again several times throughout the season. (Corn gluten features in Lawnbright Weed Wipeout, which can be bought as its own subscription or as part of our Lawn Plans.)
- Cedar Oil: Keeping mosquitoes and ticks out of your yard does not mean you have to spray harmful chemicals. Cedar oil is an effective product for keeping pests at bay, and can be applied quickly and easily with Lawnbright Yard Patrol.
- Blackstrap Molasses: Molasses serves as a biostimulant – a fancy way of saying it enriches soil by feeding microorganisms and increasing microbial activity. Nutrient-rich soil means stronger roots and a healthier lawn.
It’s not just natural lawn products that are part of a healthier strategy to care for your lawn. In fact, there are a number of natural lawn care techniques that cost very little, or nothing, and are quite beneficial to your strengthening your soil, roots and grass.
- Mow on the highest setting: It’s simple and free. Keep your mower on the highest setting during the hot summer months and avoid cutting too short. When grass is short, it is more susceptible to disease, drought and heat. So keep the haircut a bit longer.
- Grasscycle: The laziest among us will love this tip. Ditch the clippings bag on your mower and let the grass clippings fall back onto your lawn. This essentially provides a natural protective layer and mulches the soil with a natural fertilizer, releasing water and nutrients and providing an easy (and free) way to green up your lawn.
- Dethatch your lawn: You may not think of raking in the spring, but giving your lawn a good hard rake before you begin applying products ensures that when you fertilize, it absorbs more effectively.
- Overseed bare patches: A lot of people think they need to apply chemicals to grow grass, but the first step is to overseed bare patches on your lawn each spring and fall. Overseeding is the practice of applying seed to an existing lawn Most guidance tells you to wait til fall, but if you have bad bare patches, we recommend seeding in spring to ensure that they’re not overtaken by weeds.
- Speaking of weeds… pull ‘em: This may be the most backbreaking of our natural lawn care suggestions, but the best way to rid your lawn of weeds like crabgrass – an annual – is to pull them if you weren’t able to tackle them in advance with an organic pre-emergent. Yes, you can spray spots of weeds with herbicides, but it’s important to remember that they’ll kill everything they touch (including healthy grass), so use caution. Simply pulling them (and vowing to use a pre-emergent next season) usually does the trick.