Up until two years ago I had hired “lawn care” companies to “treat” my yard with fertilizers, herbicides, aeration and reseeding. For about $400 a season the grass had many dead spots and would turn brown in the summer despite watering it. When I’d contact the companies to ask why I was told that the grass had gone dormant for the summer. I went through three different companies over eight years. Besides being expensive, harmful to the environment, beneficial insects and wildlife it was making our yard look worse! I told Wayne last spring we would cease paying and spraying and came up with a plan to save money and the living things:
In our back yard we have a lot of wild strawberries that were sprayed, yet grass would never successfully grow in its place. Now we let them live and fill in the bare spots.
Wayne mowing our healthy green grass in July
We hand weed the front lawn but let wild clover grow in the spots where the grass wouldn’t grow no matter how many times it was reseeded. When it’s kept trim it’s not very noticeable.
Now that it’s early fall with temps in the forties at night the grass has an autumnal patina (if you will).
I’ve lived in my house for ten years and Wayne has lived here four; I’ve never seen our grass this lush and thick!
Two seasons of no-spray has saved us $800 and our conscience knowing that we aren’t poisoning our piece of the earth. Thinking about our new approach, $400 in annual savings is $4,000 saved in ten years.
This fall has brought a new resident but old friend, Sunny the miracle chipmunk! The last time I saw her was four months ago. She has lived in my neighbor’s yard the past two years but thank goodness she has relocated her burrow and is now living in our woods!
Simple Living New England 
Back in the day when we had our home I had the same problem about bare spots. While we did not use a lawn service nothing seem to work However since the lawn was well used by our children I chalked it up to being a baseball, football and what ever else was needed play field. One day while buying more grass seed at the local Agway I spotted bags of grass seed mixed with clover and bought them. We always had a green lawn after that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s great! I didn’t realize they actually sold clover mixed with grass seed!
LikeLike
I am not sure if it was a local mix or what. I have not noticed it since. I have been told by people that at one time many people liked clover in their lawn and would mix the seeds in.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Clover is a great natural nitrogen fixer.
My grandpa said he tried artificial fertilizer one time and it took five years for his hayfields to return back to their natural nutrient yields. Before his unfortunate experiment he’d just graze his livestock once a year over the grass and let them do their thing.
Apparently, the artificial stuff caused the grass to grow fast, but the nutrients didn’t get replaced so his cows went through the food faster than normal….he had to buy extra feed to get through the winter.
Have you seen ‘Back to Eden’? It’s a free internet documentary on making your soil really fertile. You might like it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s so interesting. I have not seen “Back to Eden” so thanks for the tip. 🙂
LikeLike