Greenscaping Your Yard

Check out these budget-friendly, time-saving tips for beautifying your yard while being kind to Mother Earth.

While most of us who love our lawns and gardens spend countless hours sowing seed, fertilizing, watering, and planting when spring comes, we’re often crushed when summer stress lays our hard work to waste with drought, pests, and munching wildlife. While all home and garden stores have a host of chemical solutions designed to make green spaces beautiful again, you really don’t have to go the toxic route to have a happy yard. There are plenty of planet-friendly options that not only eliminate chemical warfare on the environment but can be time and money saving, too.

Get your soil tested. Plentiful earthworms are a sign of a healthy soil system. If you don’t have earthworms, your yard is definitely stressed. Most grass thrives in an almost neutral pH environment, and it’s reasonably simple and safe to raise the soil’s pH with the application of limestone.

Add a quarter-inch layer of finished compost to your lawn to bring back the organic matter and organisms that make soil thrive. Plant fescues and perennial rye grasses, because they’re two of the lowest maintenance options, can survive with minimal care and irrigation.

Leave your grass clippings on the lawn or mulch leaves over the grass in the fall. This gives you natural fertilizer for free.

Keep your grass high, cutting it no shorter than 3 inches. Weeds thrive in short, stressed grass. And water deeply but less often so your grass doesn’t become dependent on unnatural irrigation.

Happier, Healthier Flowerbeds

Buy locally adapted plants, meaning plants that will thrive in your climate and soil conditions so they won’t require as much irrigation and care.

Plant a diversity of flowers and ornamentals. A diverse landscape is less susceptible to pests and disease. If you plant the same species of flowers, you’re probably asking for trouble because pests tend to be attracted to large gatherings of their favorite foods. When you have many flower varieties, if one type falls victim to infestation, it won’t affect the overall look of your garden.

One easy way to control pest infestation is to let beneficial insects have the run of the garden. Don’t make the mistake of killing insects that prey on pests. Among the good guys are lacewings, which lay eggs on plant leaves. They don’t harm plants and, in fact, feast on many garden predators. Praying mantises also eat many pesky garden bugs.

Companion planting is another environmentally friendly way to a healthy garden. By planting a flower that is vulnerable to pests next to a plant that repels them, you can avoid pest troubles from the start. One option is sweet alyssum, which attracts bugs that eat many detrimental insects. Flowers with strong scents, such as marigolds, will also deter insects as will plants in the onion or garlic families.

If you do have pest trouble, one catch-all remedy is insecticidal soap. Not so different from the folk remedy of soap and water, insecticidal soap is especially effective on soft-bodied insects. And if you see pesky Japanese beetles, pick them off the plants during peak activity periods (usually between 10 am and 2 pm) and then dunk the fellows in soapy water. Since they can fly, insecticidal soap won’t help much.

Using Water Wisely

Grass and ornamental plants withstand stresses such as a drought better if they have deep roots. So water them deeply in the spring to establish strong root systems well beneath the soil surface. Eight- to 10-inch saturation is best and should be performed monthly during the growing season. When summer comes, grass and flowers with deep roots will survive without constant irrigating.

Water your lawn and garden using water from roof gutter systems or rain barrels to avoid water waste. Keep grass and flowers with similar watering needs in the same place to avoid unnecessary irrigation.

Additional Resources

For gardening advice specific to your region, call on your local cooperative extension office. To find yours, visit www.csrees.usda.gov/extension.

You can also use the expertise of your local master gardeners, who are certified through the American Horticultural Society. Find a master gardener program near you at www.ahs.org/master_gardeners.

— Deborah R. Huso