Sensible care for our own landscape

We have learned so much during the past fifty years. Can you remember when it was cool to smoke?How about not wearing seatbelts or not protecting yourself from the sun?We have learned a lot about a lot of things, but why haven’t we learned more about taking care of our own property?

The idea of the lawn goes back to Britain when the sign of affluence was sheep; the more you had, the richer you were.All those sheep cropped pastures close to the ground, and the large grazed pastures became symbols of ownership and wealth.When settlers came to America, most of them poor, they brought with them the notion of the close cropped property as a mark of status.

Fast forward to World War II. The USA and the Allies were waging war in jungles, where the enemy could easily hide.The brand new Pentagon was searching for a way to expose the enemy.The answer was defoliants, known today as herbicides.Luckily, the war ended before these chemical concoctions were used en masse, although Agent Orange was sprayed profusely in Viet Nam. But after the wars, the big chemical companies had a product with no market.What to do?Make the lowly dandelion the new enemy! TV commercials depicted the dandelion flower as a lion with bared teeth. The residential use of herbicides was popularized and sold to the newly affluent middle class. Those fierce, yellow flowers spoiled the look of the lush green sward we call the American Lawn.

Today, the number one irrigated crop in America is lawn: 60 million acres of it, by some estimates.Per year, over 2.5 million tons of fertilizer, 80 million pounds of pesticides – that’s 10 times more than farmers use – and 8 billion gallons of water per day is used to maintain those acres of grass we call lawns.That doesn’t count what is used for tree and shrub maintenance. No wonder the backroom joke about lawns among pesticide companies is “rugs on drugs”.

Think of it: we water and fertilize the lawn so we can mow it more often!We apply insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides to create a monoculture.But nature tends toward maximum diversity. Are the dandelion and its “weed” companions really worth all that trouble and expense?And we haven’t even discussed the health implications of these chemicals for our kids, pets, butterflies, squirrels, not to mention on our water supply..

There are alternatives to the hubristic “landcare as usual” model.It starts with the same question very young minds ask: why?Why is a dandelion “bad”?Why does my lawn have grubs?Why is my lawn so boring?If we ask ourselves questions like these, we find that most, if not all, of the toxic products marketed to us are unnecessary.A dandelion is known as a “biodynamic accumulator” – a plant with a tap root that solubilizes minerals from deep down in the soil and deposits them on top via their leaves that die back each fall.Grubs love bluegrass roots.Plant fescue grasses instead.The term “lawn weed” is a pejorative name for anything that is not lawn grass. But those of us over 60 grew up in yards containing numerous species of plants. Today we have a biodiversity crisis. One of the major causes is the campaign we have waged against weeds in our lawns. So now, Homegrown National Park, Audubon, Pollinator Pathway, No-Mow May, Xerces Society, and so many other organizations beg you to reconsider using toxic pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. Our kids, pets, animals, birds, bees, and other life forms are depend on an ecologically healthy and toxic free environment.

I have a simple ask: think for yourself when your landcare company solicits you with their Four-Step program or asks you to renew your contract for pesticide and herbicide application. There is an alternative world of landcare professionals eager to help you get your property off drugs.They offer a more natural aesthetic that is healthier for you and better for all of us.A good place to start is www.organiclandcare.net.Type in your zip code to find a professional in your area.Join with environmental organizations in and around the northwest corner that are staging workshops during March, April and May to explain the alternatives.Ask your landscaper to attend these workshops and sign up for the 4-day Course in Organic Land Care on the website above.Together, we can make the “rugs on drugs” lawn a thing of the past.

Mike Nadeau, chairperson of the Sharon Energy & Environment Commission,has been involved in natural landcare for over 50 years.An educator and fervent student of Nature, Mike offers consultation services at Wholistic Land Care Consulting, LLC.