Mowing Your Lawn: Eco-Tips

March 29th, 2010 BY nparkington | 1 Comment

With most of the winter snow behind us now that it is officially Springtime, many of us will be dusting off our gardening supplies and lawn mowers to get our yards looking in tip-top shape. Although a big green grassy lawn is beautiful and welcoming, there are environmental drawbacks to keeping a perfect lawn. Lawns are actually one of the most energy, water, and fertilizer consuming features in any landscape. Grass doesn’t provide a natural habitat for most wildlife, and certain things like rapid runoff, soil erosion, and flooding can occur with a lawn.

However, if you have dreamed of having your very one patch of grass in spite of those drawbacks, be sure to select grass that is accustomed to your local conditions. Choose wisely when you feed it as well; skip the chemicals and use natural compost! Be mindful how and with what you mow your lawn. Regardless of the size of your yard, if you have grass it will grow and therefore it will need to be cut. Here are some suggestions for mowing your small, medium, and large-sized lawns.

SMALL LAWNS: When selecting a lawnmower try to avoid gas-powered mowers. They contribute to air and noise pollution and are a factor in human health complications such as asthma. To cut your grass and limit your environmental impact, consider the good old fashioned reel mower. This kind of human powered mower helps you to cut greenhouse emissions, get a good workout, and keep your neighborhood nice and quiet. Manual mowers cost less than other kinds however they are more susceptible to rusting and they may not work on bumpy terrain. Also, if the grass gets very long the push mower might struggle a little to give you a clean cut.

MEDIUM LAWNS: If your lawn is just too large for you to push a reel mower through it every week or two, consider an electric lawnmower instead of gas. This fuel-efficient choice produces less than one percent of the carbon monoxide discharged by gas-powered mowers according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Electric mowers can be bought with or without cords. Here are some options at Home Depot. You may be happy to find out that you can get the push or rider types of electric mowers. Costs range from under $200 to over $2000 depending on the size and model.

LARGE LAWNS: Even if you have a few acres of green grass there is no need to use a gas-powered mower. There are some very heavy-duty electric mowers that can handle a job as big as that (see Home Depot link above). If you’re hiring someone to care for your lawn, you can as them if they use electric versus gas. Maybe share the fact that the EPA estimates that gas-powered mowers can emit as much fossil fuels in an hour as a car would during a 20 mile drive! That might change their mind about what type of mower they’re using…

ADDITIONAL MOWING TIPS:

- Be sure to sharpen the blades (or have them sharpened) of your mower regularly, about twice a year, especially for manual mowers. A dull cut will leave grass open to disease.

- Try to mow your lawn in the early evening when the temperatures are a bit cooler since the heat puts extra stress on your lawn.

- Never cut more than one-third of the grass height each time you mow your lawn. Keeping blades a little higher will help your lawn absorb more nutrients and sunlight while shading out harmful weeds.

- Cutting your grass too low could put unnecessary strain on the growing plants, making them weaker and vulnerable to disease.

(Source: green guide / Image: homedepot, planetforward)

N.Parkington

nparkington | My Bio & Articles

Natalie lives in San Diego, California and enjoys a healthy organic vegetarian lifestyle (with chocolate as the exception...). She does what she can for the environment and is constantly making adjustments to become greener in all...