While a lush green lawn typifies the suburban ideal, the time and money not to mention the ecological cost of maintaining a lawn has led many homeowners to replace at least part of their lawn with other forms of landscaping, which can be just as beautiful.

While you may be decreasing the size of your lawn, in this case less is more more colors and textures, more areas for recreation and entertaining, and more wildlife habitat.

- Plant a hedge. The least-used parts of your lawn are most likely on the edge of your property. Create privacy and visual interest by planting a “tapestry hedge” with mixed shrubs.
- Build a pond, patio, or island bed in the center of your lawn. Create a visual focal point, a place for entertaining, or a habitat for attracting wildlife.
- Create a tree island. If you have one or more trees in the middle of your yard, chances are the grass that grows underneath isn’t that healthy. Why not plant ground cover, perennials, or woodland plants under your tree instead.
- Devote part of your yard to wildflowers, drought-tolerant grasses, and other native plantings. Practice xeriscaping using plants to replace part of your water-hungry lawn.
- Plant a ground cover to replace some of your lawn. Ground covers are great on slopes, in shaded areas under trees, and in the front yard where a lawn is less apt to be used for recreational purposes.

Your grass is looking anemic? You think you can green it up with fertilizer? Be very careful. Fertilizer at the wrong time will do more harm than good. Grass that wants to go dormant in the summer heat does not want a stimulus.

- Fertilize in spring (late April, earlier or later by a week or so if it’s a warm or cold spring). Fertilize again in fall (early October, or a little later if the weather’s warm). The important thing with fall fertilization is timing. Fertilize when it’s too warm and you get lush top growth on your grass. That may sound good but it’s better to fertilize when daytime temperatures are hitting 10 degrees C and night temps. are down to around 2 degrees C. When scientists discovered that fall fertilization, done properly, went directly to the roots, it revolutionized the lawn care industry. However, many people are still doing it incorrectly.

Avoid high nitrogen fertilizer, especially in the fall, unless you are using sulphur-coated fertilizer. You may want to consider switching to the healthier, more natural fertilizers that are available. In standard chemical fertilizers, the nitrogen usually comes from Urea Formaldehyde. It artificially boosts grass growth and does nothing for the soil.

There are fertilizers which use animal by-products such as bone meal, blood meal, poultry meal and fish meal. These fertilizers increase your soil’s natural microbial activity. Your grass won’t come shooting out of the ground as fast, but it shouldn’t be doing that anyway. Build up your soil’s health the only way it can be done, naturally. Within a year you will see less mold and fungal damage to your grass. The healthier grass will be better able to withstand grub attacks.

Here are some important tips to maintain your lawn tools:

1. Free your hand tools from any mud or soil after using. If dried mud has been accumulated on your hand tools, use a screwdriver or paint stripper to scrape it off.

2. Keep your tools dry whenever they accumulate any moisture. It will prevents them from any rusts

3. During every spring, sharpen your cutting tools and your mower blades to keep their cutting edges in good condition.

4. During chemical applications when you use any metal tools, put them under running water before wiping it dry. Herbicides and fungicides can easily corrode metal tools.

Moss in the lawn is a major problem in the Lower Mainland, especially during the rainy winter months. Moss takeover is a result of a series of garden problems. Identifying and solving these problems promptly will discourage moss growth in the future.

Cultural Control
Maintain a good fertilizing and watering routine. For the first feeding, a well-balanced lawn food, best applied in late March or early April (depending on weather conditions). Later in the summer, a higher-nitrogen fertilizer, can be applied to stimulate,green growth. Keep in mind that while fertilizing is important, you should not over fertilize your lawn. During dry periods, less frequent but longer period of watering will produce deeper and healthier roots. Amend compacted or wet soils. Lawn roots thrive in healthy soil that drains well and has ample organic matter. Poor soil will not drain well and this encourages moss growth. To correct compacted soil, aeration is recommended. Aeration is the removal of soil plugs; this allows air to penetrate directly to the root zone. The added oxygen encourages soil microbes to break down organic matter, such as thatch. The holes also allow water to penetrate more easily. In severe situations, you may have to regrate the area or install drainage tiles.

Chemical Control
This method quickly knocks down the moss and helps you regain control of the lawn. The best way to eliminate moss chemically is to use products containing ferrous sulphate. Many products on the market contain this active ingredient in differing concentrations. Some moss killers are also mixed with fertilizers. These come in dry form like a conventional fertilizer or in a container that attaches to a garden hose.with moss control combination (premixed bag) will kill the moss and encourage strong lawn growth to take over the bald spots (an application of moss killer/fertilizer mix should be applied in mid-spring or early fall). Make sure to follow the directions on the label closely. Also, take care while spreading near pavement and the house to avoid staining the cement.