How to maintain a healthy lawn in two, natural steps
To maintain your lawn without using chemicals of any kind requires three things only: a good mower, a hose, and time.
Get a good lawnmower and keep its blade sharp. Cut your grass every week during the peak growing times, making sure that you never cut any more than 1/3 of the total height of the grass at any given time. This will allow the roots to spread and strengthen. Don’t use a bag or a rake. Mulch as you go. If you mow every week, you will never have too much grass clippings going on the lawn. These clipping will be a natural fertilizer, providing the nitrogen and other organic matter that your grass needs. In the autumn, continue to mow weekly until all the leaves are off the trees. Don’t gather the leaves, just mulch them into your lawn, these will provide more organic matter that will break down into good fertilizer. All of the above will only work if you mow weekly. Yes, this is a time commitment, but it is less work than having to rake and other such things. Just keep with it. It also helps to mow in the early evening, so that the dew of the morning is all dried up. This way the grass clippings don’t gather in clumps.
You also need a hose. You don’t really need a sprinkler of any kind, nor do you need a spray nozzle, although a nozzle can be handy. You will water your lawn three times a week, by hand. This is great meditation and relaxation time. If you have a mate, you can use this as together time. If you have kids, you can use this as fun time with them. Kids love to play in the water. Just wander the lawn and be sure to get good coverage as you water. As you are watering, carry a flat-head screwdriver around with you. Pull five to ten weeds each watering session and in no time you will have a weed-free lawn.
Finally, you need time. But thinking about it, the time commitment is the right kind of thing. Taking time to wind down, with or without family, is such an important activity to our days. I promise this works. This is how I deal with my lawn and I have one of the nicest lawns on my block.