Springtime brings a renewed opportunity for us to create greener, healthier lawns with very little effort or expense. And if we do it right, we also help to improve our environment. It’s a win-win proposition that’s actually quite easy to achieve. All it takes is raising your lawn-mower blade so the grass remains 3 inches high. With that simple adjustment, your lawn will stay fresh and green and develop strong, healthy roots.

Carbon from the atmosphere travels along these long, sturdy roots deep into the soil, where it belongs. A 3-inch lawn keeps the carbon-enriched soil beneath it cool and moist, so it rarely needs to be watered. Soil microbes thrive when the soil is moist and cool; the ground underfoot becomes soft and springy, sustaining healthy root growth. It’s a cycle you can establish in one season, and you’ll reap the benefits the following spring, when your lawn will be noticeably thicker and healthier.

Get started this spring: Raise your mower blade and help make South Portland a cooler and truly green city.

Rachel Burger
South Portland