Natural Yard Care

A woman works in her natural yard.

What’s the Problem?

Our yards can enhance the beauty of our homes, be a source of pride and be a great place for relaxing. But when we take care of our lawns and gardens, we often use water inefficiently, produce a lot of yard waste and overuse chemicals that are bad for the environment and our families’ health.

What Can We Do?

By making some simple changes in how we care for our yards, we can have great looking landscapes that are easier to care for and healthier for families, pets, wildlife and our environment.

Learn About Our New Natural Yard Care Ambassador Program!

Start with these 5 steps:

Build healthy soil with compost and mulch

Adding compost and mulch will improve the health of your soil and your garden, while reducing your water bill, improving water quality in our creeks, and making your yard lower maintenance. 

Plant right for your site

Get to know your yard and its unique set of conditions. Where is it sunny, shady, dry, or wet?

  • Choose plants that are well adapted to your yard's particular conditions.
  • Pick plants that resist pests and use less water.
  • Group plants by their needs for water, sun, and soil. 

Practice smart watering

Water wisely to keep your plants healthy. Too much or too little water can stress plants and make them targets to pests and disease.

  • Water your plants deeply, but infrequently. Moisten the whole root zone of your plants to build deeper, healthier root systems.
  • Make every drop count. Choose low water use plants and use drip irrigation or soaker hoses to save water.

Think twice before using pesticides

Use chemical pesticides as a last resort. Overuse of these products can damage soil health and plant life, as well as our local creeks and wildlife.

  • Start with prevention. Pull weeds before they go to seed, build healthy soil, and clean up diseased plants.
  • Identify the problem. Whether it's a bug, disease or weed, you need to identify it to know how to effectively manage it.
  • Learn to live with a few insects. Most bugs in your garden are actually helpful. Killing them all eliminates the beneficial insects too, making problems worse.
  • Use pesticides as a last resort. Use the least toxic solutions to manage weed and pest problems.

Practice natural lawn care

Grow a healthy lawn with less water, chemicals, and work! 

  • Mow higher (1-2 inches), mow regularly, and leave the clippings.
  • Use "natural organic" or "slow-release" fertilizer, or compost to feed your lawn.
  • Water deeply, but infrequently.
  • Improve poor lawns with aeration, over-seeding, and top-dressing with compost.
  • Think twice before using "weed and feed" or other pesticides.

Upcoming Classes

  • Waterwise Gardening - Saturday, March 23rd, 2024 - Kingsgate Library. Register Online Here.
  • Natural Lawn Care 101 - Saturday, April 6th, 2024 - McAuliffe Park. Registration Details Coming Soon!

Other Things You Can Do

Report Spills and Flooding

Call our 24/7 pollution and flooding hotline

425-587-3900

Contact Us

For non-emergency drainage or stormwater concerns, visit Our Kirkland

Address 

Public Works - City Hall

123 5th Ave

Kirkland, WA 98033

425-587-3800

More Information

Natural Yard Care - Yard care tips and resources

Garden Hotline - Individualized, free gardening help

Noxious Weeds in King County

Managing Rain Water Around Your Home(PDF, 1MB)

Pollution Prevention Code

Allowing yard chemicals, sediment, and lawn clippings to enter the street and storm drain is against the law (KMC 15.52.90) and could be subject to clean-up cost recovery charges and fines.

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