If your yard includes some lawn and you aren’t yet ready to replace it with more sustainable alternatives, make your grass as green as possible by using eco-friendly, toxic-free methods to keep it healthy. Follow these suggestions:
Use native grass seeds. They’ll grow better in your local climate than other varieties.
Leave grass cuttings on the lawn to feed the soil. If there are too many cuttings, put the excess in the compost heap.
If your lawn turned brown in the sun the last time you cut it, let the grass grow a little longer between cuttings and don’t cut it so short next time. Longer grass (2-1/2 to 3-1/2 inches, depending on the grass variety) stays greener than a close-mown lawn, is less likely to scorch, and needs less watering.
Leave some of the lawn to grow wild with flowers and decorative grasses, or plant some trees and shrubs. Those areas will attract wildlife and reduce the amount of effort needed to care for the lawn.
