Keeping Your Lawn Child Friendly
The lawn should be a safe haven for kids – a place to play, have adventures, take little risks and ultimately grow safely.
This green expanse is where leisure time can be enjoyed, where children can learn to identify different plants and enjoy the natural world, or just get away from the screens and lie back and watch the clouds. But developing this love for nature is not not without dangers – and it takes a little experience to make sure that the lawn is a safe place for children.
Nevertheless, there are a few things that you can do to help make sure your lawn is the safest possible place for those precious little cherubs.
Our guest poster today is Laurence, Who started mowing lawns as a teenager looking for extra pocket money, and hasn’t stopped since. He writes about lawncare over at lawnmowerlarry.co.uk
1. Choose a Safe Fertilizer
No parent wants their child to get exposed to nasty chemicals, and there is no need – you can easily maintain a healthy lawn and a healthy child by choosing a natural fertilizer.
If you are really into having a nice lawn, then you will probably want to get an expert out to test the levels of different chemicals in your lawn, but just bear in mind that organic fertilizers generally contain three important ingredients: nitrogen, phosphate and potash.
Even with organic fertilizers, you still don’t want to be applying them in the summer when your lawn is getting the most use. Try fertilizing in the early spring or late fall, when the temperatures are cooler and the children are at school – this also allows the fertilizer enough time to properly soak in before the high growth of the summer begins.
No matter what season fertilize in, it is usually best to stay off the lawn for at least twenty four hours after application.
2. Mow Less Often
One way to keep your lawn healthy and safe without using chemicals is simply by mowing a little less often – yes you also save time, so you can spend it playing with your child!
Instead of mowing your lawn once a week, try mowing every two weeks – this will reduce the amount of evaporation of water in the soil, and help keep your grass healthy in the hot months of summer.
In case the grass in your lawn doesn’t allow you for that, maybe it is time for an upgrade with sod. You may wish to get the lawn you have always dreamed of with Tahoma 31, elite Georgia sod. This type of sod tends to require very little mowing.
Besides, if you use a gas-powered lawnmower, then mowing less often will also improve your air quality, reducing the carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrous oxides that can lead to the formation of ground level ozone.
Children as typically more sensitive to atmospheric pollutants, so it might well be in your best interests to take toxic fuel out the equation entirely and get yourself a man-powered lawnmower, or if you live out in the sticks, maybe just get a goat or some sheep to keep your grass trimmed and fertilize the lawn naturally – and teach your children about animals.
Don’t Let the Bugs Bite
Bugs and insects can ruin your afternoon – even on the sunniest day, a wasp sting and an ant bite can spoil the fun! But there are ways to deal with these naturally – and I’m not talking about dock leaves (although they are a great salve for a nettle sting). I am talking about more viable options in the form of natural solutions like neem oil or chemical solutions like fly killer spray (Click here to explore some options) that will kill those petty creatures and set your child back a bit too. However, this is not the only way of keeping the creatures away from your lawn. Wondering how else you could do that? One way to go about this is to opt for weed control services. Weeds are unsightly and often carry pathogens or deadly insects, including bugs. They shield the soil from the sun, protecting both insects and microscopic organisms from sunlight. Moreover, insects depend on weed stems to create sustenance, as their roots stabilize the soil, creating a safe environment. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to control their growth and kill those which are overgrown.
Keep the Tools out of Reach
The lawn can be full of sharp sticks, poisonous flowers, etc, but sometimes the worst hazard is one we create ourselves. Unless you’ve got eyes in the back of your head, its probably best to make sure the tools stay in the shed or the garage when there are kids around, especially toddlers, who usually want to help out!
