Lawn Care- The Better Way

Kevin Brown- BCCD, Ag Resource Specialist
​One of my favorite sayings- In this day and age, EVERYONE is trying to get into your pocket and get as much money out of it as they possibly can.  This pressure has really built up over the last decade or two.  As I try to think of examples from “back in the day”, I can only think of one or two that really stick out.  However, lately, we get it from every angle.  They can come up with anything to get a few more dollars from you.  I love music.  I was listening to an app on my phone one day and a really good song came on.  I thought, “I would like to hear that again” so I hit rewind.  A message came on that basically said, “we would love to play this song again for you, but you have to be a subscriber in order to do that.  Please click here and for a low, low amount of $5/month and you can rewind every song you want”.  Really?  I need to be charged to hear a song again?  No thanks.  

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I was in my favorite hardware store quite a while ago.  I bought a keypad entry door lock for my house.  It was a name brand, and it said it was guaranteed for life.  What was the first question they asked me at the counter?  “Do you want to add an extended warranty on this?”  FOR WHAT?!!!  Are you going to warranty it for the person who has it on their door after I am dead and gone?  No, they just wanted another $5 or $10 in their pocket and not mine.

Getting to the topic at hand, there is a commercial on TV about “taking care of your land”.  It is a commercial for equipment and it shows them mowing, brush hogging, tilling, cutting trees, digging soil, etc.  The truth is, doing everything to the land that we shouldn’t be doing.  All in the name of selling you more equipment. 

Most attempts to take your money are pretty obvious, but some are more insidious and maybe unknown to us at all until we really look into them.  Here is the new one I just stumbled on.  Clover lawns.  Every heard of them?  I guess they are taking the internet by storm in some (unmentioned) apps.  I had never heard of one until today.  I have clover in my lawn.  Heck, I have dandelions in my lawn.  Why not?  It’s a flower and pollinators LOVE it.  Same goes for clover.  I have a fair amount of clover in my lawn and bees love it.  So, it is good for pollinators.  It is good for putting nitrogen into the soil for good plant growth.  It has a really good root system that will help with water infiltration and drought resistance.  It can grow thick enough that is smothers a lot of other things out.  And most interestingly, white clover, after being clipped once, wants to grow more horizontal than vertical.  Who cares?  Well, if you hate mowing lawn, you should.  Imagine only having to mow lawn once a month, or less.  Less fuel, less emissions, less time, mower will last for forever, less money spent, etc., etc. Apparently, the rich and famous a long time ago decided that pure grass stands were the only way to go with lawns.  It was a sign of being rich.  It should be.  Think of how much time and money people spend on it.  Fertilizer, chemicals, time mowing, fancy mowers, and more.  Mother nature doesn’t like monocultures of anything.  An all-grass lawn is not what nature prefers so you have to battle it all the time to keep it that way.  I am not sure I am convinced that ALL clover is the way to go, but because it is a smother crop, it would be a lot easier to maintain than all-grass.  And, if it never grows higher than 4”, who cares when you mow it.  Pollinators love it.  It will cost you less.  Think of the advantages.  Or, you can continue to spend tons of money to keep it the “perfect” lawn (in your eyes.  Not in the eyes of anything else in nature, but in yours).
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The Bradford County Conservation District is committed to helping people manage resources wisely.  You can visit the Bradford County Conservation District at 200 Lake Rd in Wysox across from the Wysox Fire Hall. Contact us at (570) 485-3144 or visit our web page at www.bccdpa.com.