Finally, spring is upon us. Birds are flying north and singing, and you’re itching to get some fresh air and exercise. But before you run to the local fix-it store for all your yard maintenance supplies and set to work, consider taking on a ‘green’ approach to yard care this season. Small changes in your maintenance approach can reap big rewards for the health of your family and the environment. Here are five steps to get you started:
(1) Landscape with native plants. According to the U.S. EPA, “[n]ative plants (also called indigenous plants) are plants that have evolved over thousands of years in a particular region.” Through this evolution they have adapted to the geography, hydrology and climate of the region. This means they thrive in their native locale with little maintenance—requiring less watering, fertilizing or pest control than lawns or non-native plants. They also provide habitat for a variety of native wildlife, including songbirds and butterflies. The EPA’s website at http://www.epa.gov/greenacres/ is a good starting place for information on landscaping with native plants.
(2) Use alternatives to chemical pesticides on your lawn and in your garden.
Chemical insecticides and herbicides can have detrimental effects on the environment as well as your health. Chemical insecticides are meant to poison target pests, but they can also poison unintended targets such as beneficial insects, pets and humans. Like chemical insecticides, chemical herbicides are intended to kill organisms, and also can be toxic to humans, pets, and wildlife—as well as unintended plants. According to Beyond Pesticides, a nonprofit membership organization that works to protect public health and the environment from toxic pesticides, “of 30 commonly used lawn pesticides 19 have studies pointing toward carcinogens, 13 are linked with birth defects, 21 with reproductive effects, 15 with neurotoxicity, 26 with liver or kidney damage, 27 are sensitizers and/or irritants, and 11 have the potential to disrupt the endocrine (hormonal) system.”
Lawn care: Your lawn’s best defense to weeds, insects and disease is healthy, vigorous grass. For a lush lawn, select a grass that is most appropriate for your climate and engage in proper lawn maintenance. You can attempt to control common lawn pests such as grubs, chinch bugs and sod webworms, by applying certain bacterium, nematode parasites, or insecticidal soaps, depending on the particular pest problem. You can also control weeds by mowing weed flower prior to seed release, pulling weeds by hand, and applying organic herbicides, such as corn gluten (best applied in early spring when seeds are dormant, and since it prevents all seed germination including grass seed, apply grass seed six weeks later) and/or a fatty acid soap (carefully apply to weeds as these soaps can adversely affect all plants, not just weeds).
For more information on the health benefits and how-to’s of organic lawn care, see Real Mama’s articles “Going Green: How to get a healthy looking lawn without jeopardizing the health of your children or the environment” and “The ‘Green’ Lawn Care Sell: Why for the sake of your kids and the environment you should choose a ‘green’ lawn”.
Garden care: The easiest way to control pests in your garden is to plant native species (see # 1 above). To prevent fungi on plants, water early in the day thus allowing plants to dry before cool temperatures and moisture arrive with nightfall. To control insect pests, you can use biological controls (beneficial insects) or organic pesticides. Encourage beneficial insects such as lady beetles, spiders, lacewing flies, and praying mantises, which eat aphids, beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers and others. Organic pesticides (which can also be detrimental to beneficial insects) include: botanical insecticides such as neem extracts and pyrethrum; or soap or vegetable oil sprays.
One of the best ways to control weeds in your flower beds is to add a three inch layer of organic mulch around your plants. Mulch prevents weed seed germination by excluding sunlight. Mulch also gives an added benefit of helping the soil retain moisture. In your flower beds, you can mulch with compost (see #4 below) or wood chips. For larger vegetable gardens where aesthetics may not be as important, you can also control weeds with other forms of organic mulch such as sawdust, grass clippings, leaves, newspapers (shredded or in layers), and straw. You can also weed control by pulling weeds with garden tools and your hands.
(3) Use only natural, organic fertilizers on your lawn and in your garden. Chemical fertilizers are often found in a product that is mixed with chemical herbicides. Moreover, chemical fertilizers release nutrients quickly, reducing the efficiency of nutrient uptake by grasses, increasing the likelihood of killing valuable microorganisms in the soil, and increasing the likelihood of runoff and danger (such as algal blooms) to waterways. Natural organic fertilizers (such as bone meal, blood meal, alfalfa meal, aged manure) are preferable to chemical fertilizers because they release nutrients more slowly, thereby increasing the efficiency of nutrient uptake.
(4) Mow your grass less frequently. Less mowing means fewer emissions from your mower. Keeping the grass longer (experts recommend a height of 3 inches) also shades the soil, helps prevent weed seed germination and reduces water loss. Also, when mowing, don’t bag the cut grass, but instead leave it on the lawn to return nutrients and organic matter to the soil. If you do not have a mulching mower, rake the longer grass clippings to break down clumps.
(5) Compost yard waste. Yard waste takes up increasingly valuable space in landfills and/or your backyard. Put your yard waste to good use by reusing it and turning it into nutritious compost for your garden. For information on how to start composting, see Real Mama’s article “Digging for Gold … Black Gold” and Real Mama’s Activities to Encourage Environmental Stewardship in Kids (and You!) this Spring (2009)
Please see Real Mama’s related articles:
From your Kitchen to your Garden: Natural Alternatives to Toxic Chemicals for Controlling Pests in the Garden
Ready, Set, Grow! How to Prepare your Garden this Spring.
