My best lawn tip is to use no chemicals on our lawn. It is just too risky for our children, pets and the environment. I've recently started a plan to use compost as fertilizer and to aerate the yard. Great Giveaway

Simply this - stick with plants that are native to your area. For example, native plants of Florida will survive the heat and the droughts, whereas other plants will need constant care just to keep them alive.

And, know your plants needs and plant accordingly. Does the plant thrive in sun or shade? Is the plant always thirsty for water?

Go with the flow, or the harmony, of the characteristics of the land, the climate, and the plant, and nature will run it's course in your favor.

When we designed our garden, we made sure to minimize the need to water the lawn - or more specifically rotate the sprinkler around to get it all. We simply put a sprinkler out and turned it on. If the ground got wet, that's where the grass went. Everything else has to rely on the sky for its moisture.

Great giveaway. Thanks!

Just a little experience from somebody who has a Black & Decker Grasshog with some of my pros (+) and cons (-) for you:

(+) no bumping is nice! (the $6 spools last me about a season, trimming every 2 or 4 weeks depending whether I remember to charge on batteries...see below)

(+) with both batteries fully charged, I can usually do the whole yard

(+) the "flip-around head" is nice for edging vs. trimming

(+) it's much quieter than my neighbors' gas weed-eaters

(+) it doesn't spew gas-fumes

(+) fairly light to carry around

(-) the neck/balance is a little short for us taller people

(-) the batteries don't seem to hold a charge for any length of time. If I charge them one weekend to use them the next weekend, they're already dead. I need to remember 18hr ahead to put one in the charger, then 9hr ahead put the other one in the charger to ensure they both are fully charged when I plan to trim.

(-) the batteries slide in in two-stages: you slide it in, and it feels fairly secure, but it needs to get an extra push until you hear the lock "click" into place. If you don't click it in, they'll fall out. Not a big (-), but just a note to the winner to make sure you click it.

(-) no shoulder-strap to rebalance the (albeit light) weight

All said, it was a decent value, but a few points get knocked off for usability & technical problems.

-gumnos

While this is not a new idea, it's one I use all the time. I don't bag the grass clippings when mowing, but allow them to stay in the lawn.

My best advice, and something I don't see a lot of people in my town do, is to leave the grass clippings on the lawn. If you don't like the look of them, at least use the clippings in your compost pile. There's no need to send them to a landfill.

We've left a corner of our yard go wild. It doesn't bother anyone, cuts down on mowing, and is an excellent place to throw leaves, twigs, and other material to let it slowly compost.

I heard recently that using a spray bottle with some soapy water in it helps to keep plants disease free.

Last year we bought a Push Reel Mower. Cheap, Easy, and Quiet. I can mow before it gets hot and without bothering the neighbors.

Native plants - for a lot of the same reasons as eating locally. The plants that are native are much more adapted for the climate and are usually grown at local nurseries, cutting down on freight.

My tip is to be careful when you are weeding, so you don't lose interesting/useful plants! We just moved into a new house, and the entire side garden looked like weeds to me - but when my dad came over to take a look around, he noticed that some of them were cabbage heads. Awesome!

got slugs but don't want to use nasty chemical poisons?

dig a little hole in your yard and place an empty tuna fish can in it so the top is level with the ground, then fill it with beer. you can put these anywhere slugs are a problem.

The slugs will smell it and be attracted to it, they'll crawl in but won't crawl back out.

This year are lawn had a lot of bare spots so we tried out some of the Scotts lawn patch. It worked great and we had new lawn in a few weeks.

Raised-bed gardening is almost foolproof because you create your garden bed with new compost and topsoil, instead of relying on your original dirt. It's also easier on your back since you don't have to stoop down as much.

Some people call them weeds, I call them native ground cover. In Wyoming Yarrow grows in anything, with very little water. Find what grows in your without your contributing toxic chemicals and unnecessary water. My tortoise also loves to eat the yarrow.

My best garden tip is to cover your garden with plastic and leave holes in it for the plants. This keeps the weeds from growing. Also, cover your garden walkways with grass to keep weeds from growing there.

A green and Wisebread-worthy tip is to talk to the local tree crew(s) and let them know you're interested in wood chips, and many will drop off a load of chipped wood the next time they do work in your area. This is decent free mulch, which will cut down on your watering needs and slowly build organic matter in the soil. Not quite as attractive as bark mulch, but still better than patches of weeds growing up around your trees and planting beds!

Not only does this save you money and improve your soil, but it's greener than buying bagged mulch or having mulch delivered because it uses zero packaging and extremely minimal transport distance.

My Green Tip? Don't buzz your grass so short. Keeping it trimmed longer actually makes it stronger and makes it start growing not so fast (as it begins developing root structure rather than leaf structure). This means less time spent mowing, more time for life, a healthier yard and less pollutants in the atmosphere.

Oh, and I don't need one I've got the this and the hedge trimmer and blower... like them all.

PS - Gumhos is pretty dead one with the pros and cons. However, I'm shortish so don't have the neck / reach problems so the lack of strap really doesn't matter to me.

Use pepper spray to keep insects at bay

My Best tip for beautiful yards is to invest in an edger. An edger makes the sidewalk edges really stand out and make your yard look absolutely beautiful!

~ Joy

This is kind of a strange tip, but we have a big gopher problem on our property, and I was just reading last night that building barn owl nesting boxes was the best "green" way to deal with the problem. Barn owls, obviously, will prey on the gophers and hopefully scare them off. I like this idea much better than poisoning or gassing their burrows, so we'll see how it goes!

aerate the yard

Don't cut the grass too short - slightly longer has deeper roots, is healthier and able to stand droughts better.

I don't yet have a yard, so I don't have any tips, but I do have some pet peeves. Don't throw away your green waste, compost it. Don't water in the middle of the day, water early morning or in the evening to make sure you don't waste water. Also, watch where your sprinklers are aimed, make sure they are watering what you want watered and not the sidewalk.

Plant native plants. They will require less water, pesticides, and have a less negative impact on the environment.

Our backyard was a disaster when we moved in. We took the buckled cement walkway that went around the perimeter of the yard and smashed it up. We used the broken pieces of cement to build a series of trellaces/ retaining walls that are beautiful! Not only did we save money by not buying materials, we didn't have to haul away all that heavy waste.

Try to always buy seeds that are NOT genetically modified, such as all natural, nonhybrid. This is better for your yard, plants, and animals attracted to the plants.

We make many pots of coffee throughout the day at my office. I save the grounds, filter and all and add it to my compost or even straight to the soil.

I also like to keep a container with lettuce growing in it throughout the season for fresh salad anytime. I just head out to the deck before dinner and pull a few leaves. Its super easy to grow and doesn't have to have full sun to grow like most veggies.

I don't exactly compost, but I do toss vegetable bits (apple cores, carrot tops, spinach stalks (I only like the leaves for my sandwiches) in the back yard. Before they decompose, they attract the bunnies which makes for free entertainment for my cats. And, once they decompose they're doing nothing bad to my lawn. I have found that this doesn't work very well with banana and orange peels though.

Catch rain water by directing gutters into water barrels and use the water from the barrels to water your garden.

Many cities use their collected yard waste as mulch... Our utility company will drop off a truckload for free if you call them. Good if you are planning a big project.

Used Fish tank water has lots of nitrogen in it which can be poured into the garden/lawn and makes for a great natural fertilizer.

My best green tip for lawn is to obtain one of the old manual lawnmowers. You'll have no emissions from a motorized mower and you'll be getting healthy in process. Of course, if you have a large lawn, you'll just get fit quicker!

great giveaway. now, if we can educate my personal weedeater(my husband) that all things that border the lawn are not to be wacked!
thanks

First off, they are very affordable. I bought mine on Amazon.com for a mere $60.
Second, use your reel mower for one "cutting season" and your lawn is gaining the equivalent of a free fertilizer application (And saving you MORE money, and contributing to saving the planet.)
Third, it's decent exercise! You actually push the darn thing, and you'll get so much satisfaction out of hearing those blades slice through your grass rather than hearing and smelling a gasoline-powered engine.

Let your lawn get a little longer between mowings and/or set your mower level higher and it will help your grass beat the heat. Longer lawns get less stressed than short because its own length helps shade the roots.