Question about switching from chemical lawn treatments to natural methods

I used to follow the monthly weed and feed schedule from the big box store, but after my neighbor's dog got sick from the runoff last spring I switched to corn gluten and manual pulling. Six months in, my lawn has more clover than grass but it's still green - has anyone else made this swap and seen their yard bounce back after the first year?

4 comments

4 Comments

jennybailey1d ago

Has anyone tried just mowing the clover really short to keep it from flowering too much? I found that helped a ton in my first year when the clover was going crazy. I'd knock it down to about 2 inches every 5 days or so, and it kept the bees from swarming the yard while still letting the clover do its nitrogen thing underground. By late fall, the grass started filling in the gaps where the clover was getting too thin from all that cutting. It's not perfect but it beats pulling clover by hand all summer...

joseph_green131d ago

The clover takeover is pretty normal in year one, especially if your soil is a little compacted or low on nitrogen. I had the same thing happen, and what helped was overseeding with a fescue blend in the fall after I aerated. The clover actually fixes nitrogen in the soil, so if you let it be for a season, it sets your grass up for a better year two. Just keep up with the manual pulling for the real weeds like dandelions, and by next spring you'll see the grass start to fill back in.

mitchell.thomas1d ago

Free nitrogen farm" is a great way to put it. I'd be careful though, my neighbor tried the "let the clover do its thing" approach and now his yard is basically a 50/50 split between clover and moss. He's got this weird green patchwork lawn that looks like a failed science experiment. I'm all for working smarter not harder, but I'd still pull the clover in high traffic spots so you're not walking on a bee buffet every time you grab the mail.

ward.diana1d ago

lol sounds like you're basically running a free nitrogen farm for your lawn. At least you've got a solid plan for revenge next spring.