“We do not like the idea of chemicals being used to control disease, weeds or insects in our lawn. If it must be done, is there a “good” way to do it that won’t cause collateral damage?”
A consistent, comprehensive garden management program is the best way to develop a healthy, natural lawn. A healthy lawn naturally resists conditions that make it easier for disease and infestation to develop.
Obviously, when something out of the ordinary occurs, the go to method for managing certain problems is the chemical (herbicide, fungicide, pesticide) method because it’s fast and effective. Think of it as a tactic to be used only in an emergency. For example, in an abnormally hot, humid, rainy summer we may decide to employ limited applications of fungicide to keep a lawn from deteriorating beyond repair. Weather extremes aside, our goal is to rigorously limit the need for such interventions.
What is a Natural Lawn?
A “natural” lawn is a relative term used to describe a lawn that’s maintained as much as possible without using synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. It is composed of turf grass varieties that are native to or adapted to a regional environment. Aesthetically, it would fall somewhere between the resource intensive putting green perfect lawn and an unruly meadow of mixed native grasses. So achieving a natural lawn would require an adjustment for some homeowners to allow for some imperfection in the appearance of their lawn.
Grasses are among the most diverse and abundant plant species on the planet. They are able to survive in a broad range of climate conditions including hot, cold, wet, dry, at high altitudes and below sea level. The key point here is that the success of any variety of grass depends on how well-suited it is to its environment. And that’s where we get into trouble sometimes when we try to grow turf grasses here in Northern Virginia.
Geographically, we are in a transition zone between the warm south and the cool north. Most turf grasses tend to like one environment or the other and not so much in between. To get a lawn to work in our environment requires a blend of cool season and warm season turf grass varieties in the lawn. The turf industry is constantly innovating, offering new varieties and mixes to improve disease resistance and hardiness for different climate zones and site conditions.
Choosing the appropriate turf grass for your site is critical to the development of a resilient, natural lawn that requires few if any chemical treatments.
Suppressing disease, weeds, and insects in the natural lawn
Most lawns are labor intensive because the “ideal” lawn is a monoculture that is trimmed to a height much lower than grass would naturally take on. This practice tends to keep a lawn in a perpetual state of stress and tends to attract the most problems. Even if you take a more relaxed approach to the way you keep your lawn, there are certain persistent types of problems that can occur from time to time. Here are three of the most common ones:
Problem: Brown Spot
This is a fungal disease that is ever-present as are all fungal diseases. It emerges from dormancy when environmental conditions are right. Prolonged periods of wet turf caused by night watering or seasonal humidity and heat will activate the fungus.
Solution: Managing moisture levels and mower height is the key. The closer grass is kept to its natural height, the healthier it will be. Irrigating only in the early morning and not too frequently makes the root system robust.
Problem: Crabgrass
This is particularly difficult to control with herbicide treatment because it is the same type of plant as the turf grass. Fortunately, there are safer ways to address this problem.
Solution: Mower height solves a lot of issues in this case as well. When lawn grass is taller, it will shade out the crabgrass. If you’ve got a persistent problem, there is an organic treatment available. Corn gluten, when applied to the lawn in the early spring, will suppress the development of crabgrass. It contains a high concentration of nitrogen that burns the weed seeds before they sprout.
Problem: White grubs
These are the larvae of Japanese beetles. They love lawns because the soil is soft and wet, and there is an abundance of roots for a food source.
Solution: If you have a persistent severe grub infestation, milky spores are a natural biological control method. It is a bacteria that naturally feeds on grubs. Apply it in summer when the beetles are laying eggs because the bacteria goes after the newly hatched grubs more than the ones that are closer to being adult beetles. Timing and knowledge of the habits of the beetles/grubs is critical to success.
Your landscape company will make sure to use a premium seed mixture. The blend of grass varieties is what makes your lawn more versatile and adaptable to changing conditions. And when they spread new seed each fall, they should be adding new grass varieties based on their observation of how the lawn has performed that year.
Aside from choosing the correct blend of turf grasses for your environment, maintaining healthy soil is the first step toward building a healthy, natural lawn. So weekly inspections and annual soil analysis will ensure your lawn has the correct Ph balance and nutrient levels to achieve its full potential.
Perhaps you’ve been wondering how to bring out the fullest expression in your landscape and gardens. Our eBook: Choosing the Right Kind of Landscape Maintenance Firm, is full of valuable information to help you understand the fundamental differences between landscape maintenance companies.
All images ©Morgan Howarth Photography except as noted.
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