I’ve done it again. I bought lawn fertilizer and then didn’t put it on in a timely manner. The bag sits in the garage making me feel guilty. I did exactly the same thing in the fall. I totally spaced out fertilizing the lawn then too. And now, with the heat, it is not the time to apply high nitrogen fertilizers. Needless to say, the lawn is definitely not the lawn purist’s idea of lush and lovely.
The evidence of my fertilizing insufficiency is everywhere. Clover has taken over, which is always a sign of low nitrogen in the soil. Black medic with its viny structure and tiny yellow flowers is another lawn invader. It too is an indicator of poor soil fertility. Besides these telltale plants, the lawn itself isn’t very green except in the shade. It’s struggling.
Let’s examine my lackadaisical attitude toward fertilizing from another perspective. “Nitrogen is the most limiting nutrient for plant growth” (Texas A & M University). However, nitrogen makes up 79 percent of air, although it is not in a form plants can use. Certain plants have Rhizobium bacteria that live in their roots that give the plants the superpower of turning the nitrogen from the air into a usable form allowing it to be “fixed” into the soil. Both clover and black medic are in the Legume family and are nitrogen fixing plants.
My lawn is actually feeding itself although its composition is changing from grass to these other plants. The question becomes whether I’m driven to strive for the perfect lawn of dense green grass. My husband doesn’t like the black medic because its vines tangle up and clog the mower.
Having worked at a golf course for a number of years, he probably would prefer the traditional green lawn free of all broadleaf plants. And yet, clover is more drought tolerant than grass and needs no fertilizer to thrive. The flowers feed the bees and other pollinators. It rarely needs mowing, if you can stand the flowers.
Now, I might be rationalizing my laziness about fertilizing properly. But isn’t it a waste to have a solid green lawn that requires so many resources in the form of water, fertilizer and maintenance? It offers only visual interest. Every week Americans pour tons of scarce water on it, simply to mow it and throw it away, or rarely to mulch the clippings.
The ecologist in me struggles with the landscape perfectionist.
— JoAnne Skelly is an Associate Professor and Extension Educator, Emerita, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. She can be reached at skellyj@unr.edu.
