"Man Invents "Tonic" To Keep Grass Green
You may not have to look far for the key to getting green grass. News 3's Dana Wagner has a drought alert, and reports it's already warm, but the hot weather that's on the way can do some serious damage to valley yards. One man has come up with an interesting formula that many call a "tonic" for a drought stressed lawn.
Tim Heffron is a self proclaimed lawn tonic expert. "I have the best lawn in the neighborhood. Deep, thick, beautiful turf that stays this way all season. It's greening up real nice." His is always the first lawn to green up in the neighborhood. "Those are fighting words." He gets these great results with no sprinkler system and only a little fertilizer.
"I started using it about five years ago back in Oklahoma, where it's 100 degrees every day, day in and day out." His secret is a formula, a "tonic," made up of common household ingredients. A pop, a beer, a little liquid dishwashing soap, some mouthwash and some household ammonia are all mixed in to a 10 gallon hose end sprayer.
"The pop and the beer are essentially food for your lawn, and the combination of the two will allow the grass, the dead grass in your lawn, help to begin to break down and to compost much quicker." The liquid soap is a wetting agent, helping the formula to penetrate to the roots. The ammonia promotes growth and turns your lawn green, and the mouthwash does something you would never suspect mouthwash would do. It kills the bugs and grubs.
"It essentially messes up their reproductive cycle and keeps them out of
your lawn and makes it look a lot better and leaves it minty fresh." And because it's applied with the hose sprayer, it's a direct shot to your sod. "When you don't have a lot of water, and we're on watering restrictions, this is another way to get the nutrients to your lawn and keep it growing."
It's a half a cup of all the ingredients, with the exception of the the pop and the beer. You pour all of those in, and then says Tim, you too are on your way to the best looking lawn in your neighborhood.
If you want to give the recipe a try, here's what you'll need:
* One can of soda, not diet, but regular
* One can of beer, not light beer
* 1/2 cup of liquid dishwashing soap
* 1/2 cup of mouthwash
* 1/2 cup of household ammonia
Mix it all in a 10 gallon hose-end sprayer. You'll want to apply it every three weeks. You should mow your lawn late in the evening and then apply the lawn tonic immediately after that."
