7 Secrets to a Better Lawn

1. Try Homemade Lawn Tonics

Some "my-grass-is-greener-than-yours" lawn growers achieve great success with homemade lawn tonics made from ordinary items. Add any of the following ingredients to the reservoir of a 10- or 20-gallon hose end sprayer and water your lawn with the mixture every three weeks or so. Adding 1 cup dishwashing liquid each time will help spread the solution more evenly and make it stick to blades of grass.

• A 12-ounce can of non-diet cola or beer. The sugar in both stimulates microbes that help to break up the soil.

• 1 cup corn syrup or molasses. See note on sugar, above.

• 1 cup household ammonia. Ammonia adds nitrates, the primary ingredient in most fertilizers.

• ½ cup mouthwash. The alcohol in mouthwash kills bacteria and spores and helps deter some pests.