Natural Gardening

Create a beautiful yard with Natural Yard Care

You can take care of your landscape and help protect Puget Sound by just saying “NO” to weed & feed products. These combine quick-release fertilizer and weed killers. They are spread all over the lawn, not just where a few weeds are noticed. The best method is to hand-pull weeds, but if that is not possible, “spot spray” just the weeds and work on building a healthy soil.

If you have a lawn, aerate it. Air and water can infiltrate or soak into the soil. It is the most effective way to loosen up compacted or poorly draining soils.

Overseed and top dress the lawn. Once aerated, overseed the grass with a perennial rye/fine fescue grass seed mix for the Pacific Northwest. Then top dress with ¼ inch to ½ inch of fine compost. The compost covers the seed, improves the soil and adds nutrients.

Switch to a slow-release organic fertilizer. Slow release fertilizers release at a rate plants can use them. It’s less likely the nutrients will wash away, leaving no excess chemicals that can be carried by stormwater into streams, lakes and finally Puget Sound, where they contribute to water quality problems in the warm summer.

Use the grass clippings to “feed” your lawn. This is called “grass-cycling”. Each time you mow, leave the clippings on the lawn to provide nutrients to your lawn. Before doing this, make sure your mower blade is very sharp or replaced with a sharp mulching blade to make clean cuts and help prevent disease.

Contact the Garden Hotline for expert recommendations and answers to the garden questions at 206-633-0224 or help@gardenhotline.org.

Classes focused on natural yard care can often be found in the Redmond Recreation Guide or in the News and Events section of www.redmond.gov/Environment.

Winter Gardening Tips

As winter approaches, remember these gardening tips for a beautiful yard, naturally!

Rake winter leaf mulch back onto beds when winds blow it off.

Weed beds once during winter to prevent weeds going to seed.

Prune fruit trees and other woody trees and shrubs while they are dormant (Dec thru Feb).

Tune up the yard equipment; sharpen mower and other cutting blades.

Plan drip irrigation or soaker hoses to conserve water starting in the spring.

Check storage areas for unwanted chemicals and dispose of them safely. Call the Household Hazards Line at 206-296-4692 for disposal information.

Plan now to replace plants with disease or pest problems choosing ones more naturally suited to the landscape.

Call the Natural Lawn & Garden Hotline, 206-633-0224 to ask questions and request free brochures to start planning for spring.

Visit Redmond’s Water Conservation Garden on the Sammamish Trail just south of the NE 85th St Bridge for ideas about planning for winter interest in the garden.