No More Toxic Lawns!

Before you do anything to your lawn this year, please read the great Paul Wheaton's article on Organic Lawn Care for the Cheap and Lazy. 

http://www.richsoil.com/lawn-care.jsp

Replacing grass with a perennial such as chamomile, thyme, moss, or clover is another way to keep a lovely, organic lawn. Replacing grass with a perennial and annual food growing system would be even more incredible. Whatever you do, please DO NOT use synthetic fertilizers, or especially herbicides and pesticides on your lawn. These nasty chemicals are deadly to the already threatened bees and beneficial insects, and they leach into our waterways.

From Paul's article: 

Lawn care in a nutshell:

Must do:
• Set your mower as high as it will go (3 to 4 inches).
• Water only when your grass shows signs of drought stress and then water deeply (put a cup in your sprinkler zone and make sure it gets at least an inch of water).
Optional:
• Fertilize with an organic fertilizer in the fall and spring. I recommend the Ringer brand.
• Have the pH of your soil professionally tested. Add lime if it is below 6.0 and gardener's sulfur if it is above 7.0.
• How much top soil do you have? See how deep a shovel will go into the soil. How deep can you dig a hole in one minute? Four inches of topsoil will make for an okay lawn. Eight or more inches of topsoil will make for a great lawn.