yard

A well-maintained yard has a mixture of healthy soil, plants, and grass.  

Healthy Soil:

  • Aerate your lawn every 4 years.  After aerating spread  a small amount of compost on the lawn surface.
  • Test your soil before adding fertilizers or pesticides.  Many weeds and pests are caused by improper PH levels. 
  • Add  compost or sand to aerate the soil and replenish.

Healthy Lawn:

  • Keep your lawn 3 inches high.  Root growth is proportional.  In other words - the taller the grass, the longer the roots.
  • Leave the grass clippings on the lawn.  If you bag them, you are robbing your lawn of an easy and cheap form of nitrogen.  
  • Mow often enough that only 1/3 of the grass blade is cut each time.
  • Lawns have shady and sunny areas so don't plant just one type of grass.  Or can convert it into an ornamental area with black mondo grass, oxalis, or ceanothus.
  • Use rye and fescue blends that can tolerate our wet winters and dry summers.

Healthy Plants:

  • Get to know your weeds.  Moss likes wet, shady areas with acidic soil that is compacted.  Clover likes soil that is low in nitrogen.  
  • Pull weeds right away.  If you pull them when they are young, you'll save on pesticides later.
  • A lawn doesn't have to have a manicured look.  Investigate alternative groundcovers such as thyme, lithadora, oxalis, and beach strawberries; or ornamental grasses such as feather reed grass, tufted hair grass, and blue oat grass.

Water Appropriately:

  • Water less frequently but more deeply.  Watering too much promotes shallow roots and weaker grass that is more prone to disease.  Find out how much to water with the Regional Water Providers Consortium Weekly Watering Number.  
  • Never water during the heat of the day - you will lose water to evaporation and burn the leaves on the plants.

Want to know more?  

Download the resources below or email us at environment@newbergoregon.gov

Source:  Clean Water Services, Saving Water Partnership, Regional Water Providers Consortium, and Metro