Spring is the opportune time to start improving the look of your lawn for the next growing season. With cooler temperatures and late-blooming plants, you can—and should!—take advantage of this perfect opportunity to transform your lawn into an oasis that both supports local wildlife and improves your personal environmental impact.

Read along below to learn more about further improving the look of your lovely lawn.

Add Native Plants

Consider replacing a section of your lawn with ornamental native plants. This is a great move, as they’re (of course) adapted to the local climate and therefore require less maintenance. They also provide potential shelter or even long-term habitat opportunities for local birds, butterflies, and the like. Enhancing the biodiversity of your yard is, in the words of certain (in)famous home-sprucing TV personality, a good thing. (A family of hippos might be an unwelcome addition, but this possibility feels remote enough to dismiss.) In any event, start small by adding one new garden bed each season and gradually expanding over time. Wait and watch in wonder as you learn whose interest is piqued.

Embrace “Weeds”

Well, first, maybe redefine your concept of weeds. Many plants commonly designated as such (e.g., commonly: clover and dandelions) can actually co-exist with grass and add diversity to your lawn. They also provide food and addition real estate “draw” for pollinators and other wildlife. All in all, embracing a more diverse lawn and avoid using harmful herbicides that can harm local biodiversity and pollute waterways makes for, you could say, a particularly lovely garden path.

Cut Back on Chemical Use

Chemically intense fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides (etc.) are often used on lawns by rote, but can in fact have detrimental effects on them—and on the environment, especially your local(ized) ecosystem. They inherently reduce biodiversity, toxify soil, and tend to run off into local waterways to the tragic detriment of marine life. Consider using organic products, and/or adding yet more native plants, which’ll reduce the need for extensive chemical treatments.

Allow Longer Grass Length

Letting the grass get a little longer can actually have multiple benefits. More “seasoned” grass develops stronger root systems, becoming more resilient to drought and requiring less watering over time. It also provides another potential habitat for welcome wildlife—specifically, beneficial insects (-spiders are our allies, people!) and can better the overall health of your lawn. Exhaustive research has demonstrated conclusively that mowin’ the lawn every other week rather than weekly can have significant positive impacts on local flora and fauna—wherever “local” happens to be.

Closing Thoughts

As we’ve seen, improving the look of your lawn doesn’t have to be some dread-worthy, daunting chore. Quite the opposite, in fact, if you follow along with our easy-breezy tips! With the change of the season, remember to “spring forward” and take these first steps toward a greener and greater lawn!

Contact Sposato Landscape

For over 25 years, Sposato Landscaping has been beautifying and nurturing countless landscapes throughout the Delmarva area. We offer many services, including landscape design, installations, residential maintenance, hardscape, commercial maintenance, and turf nutrient management.

Visit our website to see what we can do for you, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, and YouTube.