February is a good time for organic lawn care to prepare your lawn for the coming growing season – March through October. There are two simple organic techniques that require no fertilizer or chemicals to prepare your lawn for the growing season:
- Tune-up the irrigation
- Raise the canopy height to 4” or taller
Tune-Up the Irrigation
If you want to spend money on improving your lawn, instead of buying fertilizers and chemicals, spend it on the irrigation system. The better your irrigation, the better your lawn. For repairs and upgrades use quality products – 6” pop-up spray and rotor heads and replace that old timer with a new Wi-Fi connected timer. Ditch the concrete donuts that are ugly and do nothing and set your sprinklers at the proper height according to the manufacturer’s specifications.
Don’t wait to hire a good irrigation contractor. In February, most irrigation companies are not as busy as they will be during hot dry weather. Wait times in the summer for new customers can be weeks. Hire an irrigation contractor in February to evaluate, repair, and upgrade your system. Then as an existing customer, if an emergency occurs in the hot dry weather, you will be higher in the queue for service.
Canopy Height
Proper mowing height will do more to improve your lawn than applying fertilizers, fungicides, or insecticides. A lawn that has a canopy height of 4” or taller has fewer weeds, bugs, recovers faster from drought, and looks great. So, the best organic lawn care tip I know is “Raise the Mower”!
A lawn maintained at 4” or taller:
- Photosynthesizes more food for the plant
- Encourages root growth and development
- Has fewer weeds, bugs, and fungus
- Moderates soil temperatures, keeping the soil cool and moist
- Protects stems and roots from the hot Florida sun
- Conserves water
- Recovers faster from damage caused by traffic, spills, etc.
- Looks great
Therefore, instead of applying fertilizers and chemicals, go organic in February, take care of your lawn by tuning up the irrigation and raising the mower.
