Quit the chemicals! But, everything is chemicals, Zul'jin. Me, you, ya momendem- all chemicals. Yeah, yeah. I mean the synthetic stuff. Miracle Grow? More like it's a miracle it grows. That junk gives a quick boost to the plants, greening them up with only the fertilizers needed to keep up appearances- for the short term. All the while though, it's poisoning the soil. At best, it isn't doing anything to help the soil. Grass grows in soil! Improve the soil. Improve the grass.
Oh, dear jeebus! This is gonna be an organorant. Yeah. This guy is going to spend twice our money for half the results.
Nope. We gonna do this for FREE!
Mowing. Raise that mower. Have 2 1/2 to 3 inches clearance between the bottom of the deck and the ground. That's right. No more putting green lawn. The grass won't grow if we cut off all the grass leaving no grass left to grow. Grass cut too short allows weeds in, water to run off or evaporate before being used, leaves roots unprotected, allows for burning in the heat of summer, is less resilient to foot traffic and more susceptible to pests and diseases. A mowed lawn should be higher than the top of your foot when you stand
in it. Yes! We're gonna stand
in our grass, not
on our grass.
Bagging. Bagging is for excessive leaves, weed seed heads and to collect green material for the compost bin. Otherwise, mulch the grass. That causes too much thatch. Ha! Too much thatch and de-thatching a lawn is the biggest scam since, well, there is no bigger scam. Thatch holds in moisture. Less watering to be done with more existing water utilized. It holds back weeds. It insulates the roots from cold and shades them from heat. Thatch is also fertilizer. No need to buy what you make for free each time you mow. Green lawn clippings are great sources of nitrogen. Nitrogen makes green grass. Look at that bag of whatever fertilizer. That first number, the highest number- that's nitrogen. Thatch also improves soil composition as it biodegrades. It also makes a great place for essential soil microorganisms to grow.
If you normally mow left to right, mow up and down a few times a season. If you normally mow up and down, mow left to right a few times a season. Alternating the direction opens up the lawn.
Doing these simple and free things will encourage your grass to take over from your weeds.
If the lawn needs a weed killer, try cornmeal and molasses
before the growing season. Applying a weed killer to grown weeds just leaves ugly dead brown weeds in the lawn. The cornmeal is a pre-emergent and the molasses is a fertilizer. Fish emulsion is another good fertilizer.
This Earth was green before we got here and made salt based and petroleum by-product fertilizers. The tools are built in.
Pee-yes: Spent grain is good for compost and general application.