Rain. High near 60F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible..
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Updated: May 6, 2022 @ 9:24 am
Donna Gates
Donna Gates
Lawns are the traditional vegetative cover found around urban and suburban homes, playing fields and city parks. These high maintenance areas require regular mowing and inputs of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.
Fossil fuels (an estimated 6 pounds of carbon for every pound of fertilizer/pesticide) are used to create synthetic fertilizers. Some of the fertilizer runs off into waterways or is broken down by microbes in the soil, releasing nitrous oxide (a greenhouse gas).
The good news is that it is possible to grow your lawn organically. Start by getting a soil test for your lawn area. Then you will know exactly what nutrients your lawn needs. Check your garden center for an organic lawn fertilizer and follow manufacturer’s directions for application. Do not substitute an all-purpose organic fertilizer for your lawn. It will contain phosphorous which grasses do not need and has the potential to be leached out and pollute waterways. When mowing, you can leave your grass clippings on the lawn and thus return between 50 to 100% of needed nitrogen back to the lawn. For our last mowing of the season, we use our mower to shred any leaves that have fallen on the lawn. These shredded leaves can be left on the lawn or raked up and added as mulch to your planting beds.
During photosynthesis, plants remove carbon dioxide from the air and use it for leaf growth and root mass. As turfgrass roots die, they decompose and fix carbon in the soil. In this way, lawn grasses can be a carbon sink (a sequestration) for greenhouse gases. See https://turf.umn.edu/news/potential-turfgrass-sequester-carbon-and-offset-greenhouse-gas-emissions for an article on research a University of Minnesota student is doing in this area.
You have probably read recommendations to cut grass high, 3.5 to 4.5 inches tall. This will promote deep roots. Watering deeply, only once a week, will also encourage deeper roots. Deeper roots are a way to encourage carbon sequestration.
The bad news is that you will not be using the synthetic “Weed and Feed” type of fertilizer. Weed by hand any weeds that you can. You may have to learn to live with a less than perfectly weeded lawn.
You can opt to reduce some shady or less used lawn areas with an alternative ground cover that does not require mowing. The small lawn area on the shady side of our house has been taken over by moss. Since we seldom walk there, we just enjoy the deep green mossy carpet that holds the soil in place. You can also turn some lawn areas into perennial beds that support pollinators or use alternative ground covers such as creeping phlox, golden ragwort, ferns or low growing junipers, to name a few.
The pollution control devices that are in place on automobiles are not similarly found on gasoline-powered garden tractors, walk-behind mowers, weed whackers, etc. With an estimated 4 million acres of lawn in the U.S. and requiring over 800 million gallons of gas every year, that adds up to sizable carbon emissions. Another estimated 17 million gallons of gas are spilled annually while refilling lawn mowers. As an alternative you might want to consider some battery-operated gardening equipment.
On the horizon are several grass blends touted as low-growing or no-mowing mixes. These grasses are slow growing and either top off at a height that doesn’t require mowing or needs mowing once in the spring and once in the fall. With some blends the grass blades (when they are more than 1-inch tall) bend over rather than stand straight up. If you don’t like that look, you will have to periodically mow. Most of these blends are drought tolerant so less watering will be needed. And, most will tolerate moderate foot traffic.
For more detailed information on organic lawn care see: https://extension.umd.edu/resource/organic-lawn-care and for Maryland’s Fertilizer law see: https://mda.maryland.gov/pages/fertilizer.aspx.
Donna Gates is a retired lab technician for the University of Maryland whose work focused on the identification of stream invertebrates. Her current gardening interests are centered around her rural Garrett County home.
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