I talk a lot about organic lawn care, but even more important than is cutting your lawn properly. I mean, let’s be honest here, your lawn could be the greenest, more organic thing on the block, but if you hack the living crap out of it, that beauty will soon turn to dead straw and dirt spots.

With that in mind, here are the most basic of lawn mowing tips that ALL homeowners should follow.

Lawn Cutting Tips: Proper Mowing Height

The first thing I want you to know is that mowing height is very important. In fact, it is the most important of all the mowing tips you will read here. This is why:

I want you to imagine cutting your fingernails. If you clip them lightly, you are good, but if you cut too deeply, what happens? yep, nasty! Same thing with your grass. I want you to only take a small amount with each cutting, meaning no more than 25% of the grass blade should be cut in a single trimming. So if your lawn is 4″ tall when you are ready to cut, you should take it no lower than 3″ when completed.

Now, this is the other part of mowing your lawn tall, and that is to keep it right around 3″ all year long. If you are unsure of how to really measure for lawn height like in the video below, then just set your mower wheels on the second to the highest setting and forget it. That is the safe way to go… mow tall, trust me!

Once you are set with the mowing height, now I need you to consider the rest of your lawn mowing practices.

Lawn Cutting Tips: Sharp Mower Blade

You may not realize it, but a dull mower blade will do wonders to make your lawn look brown. This is is because the dull blade rips and shreds the the grass blades instead of making a super clean cut. If you are mowing just your lawn as a homeowner, then you are usually safe getting your lawn mower blade sharpened at the beginning of each season. Just keep an eye out for the typical ripped tips to know whether you need to get a sharpen or not.

Of course, I recommend you keep two sets of mower blades on hand anyway, just in case. This way, if one set needs to get sharpened, you have a spare.

Lawn Cutting Tips: Lawn Mower Horse Power

This is one that most folks don’t think about , but it is very important. You must have a lawn mower that has enough power to cut a thick lawn properly. If your mower is under-powered, it will clog and heave and the grass blades will be damaged, but not cut and this is not a good situation. These days, I recommend a mower that is a minimum of 5 horsepower.

You also should consider the quality of the mower and the depth of the deck. A deeper deck will allow more freedom beneath and less grass buildup. This is usually more important if you have a mulching lawn mower.

Remember guys, cut it right and you’ll be all good!

This is a special guest article on organic lawn treatments by my friend Barbara. She is an avid organic home gardener and loves lawn care too!

Organic lawn treatments have gained broader acceptance in recent years and organic lawn fertilizers have become ever more popular as a result. Part of the reason, surely, is attributable to the eco-friendly green movement, but the real scientific benefits, which are hard to dispute, have played an important role as well.
Although slower acting, Organic Lawn Treatments are superior to synthetic lawn fertilizers in a number of important areas.

Organic Lawn Care Treatments: Better Turf Building

Organic lawn treatments have slow release mechanisms “built in” to them. They do not immediately release nitrogen and other nutrients and minerals to the soil. Rather, due to their complex, natural chemical composition, the grass roots themselves “feed” when they are “hungry” from the available nutrients. This results in better, more vital root development and more fibrous roots.

Organic Lawn Treatments: Improved Soil Content and Texture

Organic lawn treatments release live beneficial microbials and bacteria into the soil and areate the soil so that more oxygen is available to plant roots through the soil. Additional root growth (see above) also creates a more varied, healthy soil environment, creating a natural pest and disease resistent soil and roots within that soil.

Low Environmental Impact

The natural, easily assimilated ingredients of organic lawn treatments contain no toxins and will not pollute soil or water. The ingredients are naturally occuring nutrients and minerals and have not been “synthesized” for artificial formulas to feed the grass. The slow release of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium create no biohazards for fish, wildlife or people because they are never present in such concentrations that would make such a harmful result possible.

Organic Lawn Treatments: No Grass Burning

Related to the foregoing, the presence of nitrogen in complex naturally occuring molecules which are only broken down slowly by plant activity (“feeding”), means highly concentrated nitrogen infusions, the chemical reaction which causes “burns,” to the grass are impossible.

No Soil Compaction

The natural ingredients of organic lawn fertilizers come with “husks,” “mucus membranes” and “pellets” which prevent their running together and solidifying in the soil. They have a natural fibrosity and resistence to compaction, unlike synthetic chemical fertilizers, which can pool and solidify into cement-like sections of ground, rendering it, in effect, “poisoned.” Such a deleterious effect is chemically impossible with organic lawn fertilizers.
Use of organic lawn fertilizers is on the rise, dramatically, and it’s easy to see why. As word spreads about their incontrovertible benefits over synthetic fertilizers, gardeners are easily convinced that they are the best choice, not only for their lawn, but also for our green planet.

If you are here and wondering what organic lawn treatments are best, or you want to know when to apply organic lawn fertilizers to the lawn for best results, then get my book on organic lawn care!

So are you getting an idea of what I recommend for lawns yet? Well, here is another one that works well. Read the review below.

Ringer Organic Fertilizer is a popular economical slow release organic lawn care fertilizer with nitrogen:phosphorous:potassium ratios of 10-2-6. Ringer is approved by the Organic Materials Review Institute as an bonafide natural organic lawn fertilizer. Research indicates Ringer provides most of the important nutrients that produce a healthy thick turf, deep green grass leaves and active, healthy root systems. Unlike some other organic lawn fertilizers, Ringer does not contain any manure. Instead its main components are chicken feather meal, bone meal and soy bean meal. No synthetic ingredients are to be found in Ringer Organic Lawn Fertilizer.

Is Ringer Fertilizer Any Good?

Ringer is marketed as a pelleted fertilizer for top dressing on lawns. Its trade name is “Ringer Lawn Restore” and it is available in 10, 20 and 50 pound bags. A 50 pound bag of Ringer Lawn Restore will treat 2500 square feet of average established lawn. A “normal” lawn not showing stress or nitrogen deficiency can be treated with less. Expert opinion on amounts of Ringer needed for effective fertilization of established lawns actually vary widely but I can tell you that 10 lbs of Ringer per 1,000 square feet of lawn will do you just fine, especially if you are following my organic lawn fertilizer schedule.

A drop or rotary spreader works well in spreading Ringer on a lawn needing treatment. The manufacturer recommends watering in of Ringer Lawn Restore to ensure fast results and reduce loss from wind and foot traffic. Keeping the soil damp for three to four days after Ringer application seems to further boost its immediate beneficial effects on a lawn. Keep in mind, however, that a good dose of warm weather is what will truly activate the Ringer in the soil.

Is Ringer As Good As Scott’s Fertilizer?

The macro observable effects of lawn treatment by either synthetic or natural/organic fertilizers (such as Ringer) are about the same. The real differences are only manifest on closer inspection of root systems, soil texture/ content and how the lawn thrives (or fails to thrive) over a period of time. Grass growth resulting from using either chemical or organic fertilizers is essentially equal, according to the manufacturers of Ringer. But over time, advocates of organic fertilizers claim, organic fertilizers are much more effectual than chemical fertilizers because they enhance and texturize soil structure and improve the soil’s moisture and nutrient retention capabilities. Synthetic chemical fertilizers do not enrich the soil, often can cause soil compaction, and their overuse can result in toxin build-up over a period of several growing seasons, posing environmental hazards of chemical run-off into ground water and bodies of water.

Natural organic fertilizers like Ringer Lawn Restore contain live bacteria and microbials which actively “work” into the soil and create a positive environment for grasses to utilize the fertilizer as they actually need it, rather than “force feeding” artificial amounts of nitrogen and other nutrients into the roots, whether they need the feeding or not. Ringer Lawn Restore, like most other organic lawn fertilizers, will not burn the grass no matter how concentrated the application may be, a characteristic related to the natural form in which the nutrients, especially nitrogen, are conveyed to the grass roots.

You can get Ringer Lawn Fertilizer below, and you should also pick up my ebook that tells you when to do what for your lawn.