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Just about every other radio commercial on my way to work is about lawn fertilizer. My motto? “Just Say No.” Here are some reasons why I don’t use it.
1. I don’t like my lawn that much anyway. This winter, I started sheet mulching part of the lawn to plant a front yard garden.
2. Fertilizers are designed to create dependency–they give your lawn a quick boost but then a couple of months later, you need more. It’s like crack for your lawn.
3. If your soil is too clay-ey, it will run off into the gutter and ultimately into our creeks and rivers. This creates a whole different pollution/algae problem. Yes, you might only use a tiny bit of fertilizer, but I bet all of your neighbors have a lawn too. The pollution really adds up.
4. It costs money. We all know how BrownThumbMama feels about that!
5. But these are the most important reasons of all. I can keep Jackjack off the lawn until the chemicals are (theoretically) gone, but I can’t tell Neighbor Kitty to stay away.
What do I do instead? We have a mulching lawnmower and BrownThumbPapa leaves the lawn clippings on the lawn to decompose. That’s all it takes!
If I was really ambitious, I’d invent a gizmo to aerate the lawn (heaven knows I’m not going to pay to rent something). Nothing has come to mind yet though.
Do you use fertilizer? Why or why not? Tell us in the comments. And if you’ve invented a homemade lawn aerator, share your secret with all of us.
