Lawn Care: Chemical Industry Never Wanted Anyone to See

The Marblehead Organic Lawn Videos: The Ones the Chemical Industry Never Wanted Anyone to See

STORY OF FIRST U.S. TOWN TO BAN PESTICIDES NOW AVAILABLE ON-LINE
It was, nearly a decade ago, one of the transformative moments in my personal career as an organic lawn care advocate. When the crew for our HGTV television show, People, Places & Plants, visited Marblehead, Mass., to profile the coastal town’s transformation to organic lawn care on all publicly owned property, it appeared to be the grand opportunity we were waiting for to spread the word far and wide.

Folks would watch the two episodes about Marblehead’s Living Lawn program and they’d then decide to take similar action in their own towns, on their own lawns. The anti-pesticide movement that began in Hudson, Quebec, back in the 1980s would finally take hold here. That was our dream.

Except that HGTV wanted none of it.
Fearing pushback from sponsors like Miracle Gro, Bayer and others, the HGTV producers rejected the Marblehead episodes and they were never aired during our show’s three-year run on the cable network.

Those episodes are available on-line, however:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZHTD915VkE[/url[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-d6slYxxC4http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-d6slYxxC4

The episodes center around Pat Beckett, above, a mother of two, who took up the pesticide fight after questioning the ubiquitous yellow lawn signs around her neighborhood, as well as Chip Osborne, the local greenhouse grower. Osborne, who now makes his living as a consultant to municipalities that are making their own transition to organic protocols, tells a deeply personal story that led to his own transformation away from synthetic chemicals.

Check out the episodes, that run approximately 6 minutes apiece, and then send them around to folks who hope to reduce pesticide exposures in their communities. All these years after Marblehead’s example, we still have far too many toxic substances getting released into the landscape.

 

this is awesome. if you would like to lobby the hoa to go all organic in lawn care, i will absolutely help. maybe we can contact HLS about organic products and services and see if there is a difference in pricing for our community. honestly, i can't even go outside when my neighbors use pesticides/herbicides. i am really sensitive to the smell. we are all at a very great health risk with these poisons!

 

Thanks for the feedback Sunny. We can certainly bring it up to the HOA Board's attention to get the educated about this. As you can see from the article communities can ban the use of pesticide. It is something worth to look into. I will contact you to discuss.

Please send me your phone number.

Sincerely,
Oya

 

In the meantime here is an additional info for homeowners.

WITH THE LAWN CARE NATION fixated on the so-called four-step plan perpetuated in the past generation by the chemical fertilizer and pesticide industry, one of the most common questions we receive is: “How many steps is your organic plan?”

In its purest form, organic lawn care doesn’t really follow a “step” program. Success is based on three general factors: 1) Observation, 2) Evaluation and 3) Action. Whereas the four-step plan is based on four blanket applications of chemical products on a calendar-guided basis, the organic program requires a more cerebral approach. As I often tell people in my speeches across North America, organic lawn care is ultimately less work and less expensive, but it does require you to think more.

I heard another way of describing this phenomenon this past weekend during my appearance at the Houston Organic Gardening Fair. Chemical lawn care was termed the “Moron Approach” . . . as in just put more and more stuff on the lawn. More fertilizer. More weed and insect killer. Probably more fungicide. The Moron Approach is a bit crass, to be sure, but it gets the point across.

The holy grail of organic lawn care is when you create a beautiful lawn, yet apply few, if any, supplemental products. Having said that, many organic products are useful, especially during the transition years, and we’ll provide links to some of those here as we review the three keys to organic success:

OBSERVATION & EVALUATION
STEP 1 — Assess the appearance of your lawn and, most significantly, your feelings about it. Is it lush and green with mostly grass? Or is it comprised of mostly weeds and a few clumps of grass here and there? Or is it somewhere in between? If you’re not doing anything other than mowing the lawn and you’re happy with that, be comfortable with it. If you feel something needs to be done to improve your lawn, move to step two.

STEP 2 — Obtain a soil test and check your soil depth. Soil has three primary properties — physical, biological and chemical — that can be measured in a laboratory by trained scientists. Grass has certain specific soil needs and, without those needs in place, your lawn will struggle. Think of the lawn soil test as the recipe for a delicious cake vs. cake that is dry, crusty and flavorless.

Most state Cooperative Extension Services in the United States offer soil testing for anywhere from $10-$18. These tests usually provide a measure of the chemical properties of the soil, including available macronutrients of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, as well as calcium and magnesium. The tests usually measure pH and cation exchange capacity, as well as a percentage of the organic matter of the soil. The ideal organic matter is around 5 percent. When you send in your soil samples (according to instructions on the soil test kit), be sure to write “grass” under the intended crop. The results will make certain recommendations.

Topsoil depth is an easy visual test you can do with a shovel. The goal should be 6 inches of topsoil that looks dark and “friable” or crumbly. If you have less than that, your lawn will struggle. You should either be prepared to add more soil or compost or both, or develop a plan to add these a bit year by year by top-dressing — meaning raking in a half-inch layer in spring and fall right over the existing lawn.

STEP 3 — Consider the best grass for your lawn while evaluating your climate and growing zone. Not all grass species are created equally. Some grow well in the North and others grow well in the South. Some tolerate foot traffic, while others don’t like to be walked on, but do well in the shade. In most cases it’s possible to introduce new grass varieties directly into an existing lawn by overseeding; yet in other cases you may want to amend the soil and start over. Some of our how-to videos at SafeLawns.org demonstrate these techniques.

Sources: Here is a link to a blog about seed companies that offer “low-mow” grasses: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2011/02/low-mow-no-mow-seed-a-rundown/.

You can also try GardensAlive, which includes several grass seed mixes among its wide range of mailorder lawn care products that includes fertilizers and weed killers.

ACTION
Once you have assessed your soil and picked a lawn grass, it’s time to take action and begin your lawn renovation or outright makeover. We’ll also review some basic maintenance techniques as well — because how you mow and water your lawn will have a major impact on its ability to survive and thrive in an organic system.

STEP 4 — Apply your soil amendments to the lawn. In organic lawn care, these can be either foods such as organic fertilizers, or minerals, such as calcium and gypsum, organic matter such as compost, or biology such as compost tea, mycorrhizal fungi or bacterial boosters. These do not need to be applied all at once, but can be started any time of year the ground isn’t frozen. When you receive the results of your soil test and develop your recipe for lawn success, you can implement that recipe over time — unless you’re starting your lawn from scratch, in which case it’s best to get all the soil amendments down at the same time.

Mechanical aerators cut plugs of soil and turf out of the lawn. Leave these in place and they'll quickly break down back into the lawn.

NOTE: If you’re planning a lawn renovation that includes overseeding, it’s best to do it as early as possible in the late winter or spring, or wait until after Labor Day. Mid-summer renovations will make you a slave to watering to keep that new grass seed alive in the heat. (Having said that, you should always overseed any thin, bare areas of the lawn no matter what time of year to keep opportunistic weeds, especially crabgrass, from sneaking in). Lawn amendments such as compost, gypsum and calcium are best applied after mechanical aeration so that the products an infiltrate down into the root zone.

Sources: For natural fertilizers, check out GardensAlive and Gardeners Supply, as well as Milorganite. For the best calcium and gypsum sources in North America, visit Natraturf. East Coast Organics makes excellent soil amendments, including granulated compost and ready-made compost tea. To make your own compost tea (watch the video at SafeLawns.org), you can purchase brewers from True Brewer, or construct your own.

STEP 5 — Adjust your watering pattern so that you apply the water once a week at most. Water for as long as it takes to get the soil moist well down into the root zone of the grass, six inches or deeper. If necessary, water for a while in one area and — if the water begins to run off or puddle — stop and come back later in the same day. The goal should be to train the roots of the grass to grow down into the deeper soil to find the water, not stay near the surface waiting for the next drink. Always water in the morning before 9 a.m. if possible and avoid evening watering, especially in the humid days of summer.

STEP 6 — Adjust your mowing so that the grass is always at least three inches high from early spring until after Labor Day. In the spring, the tall grass shades the surface of the soil so that weeds like crabgrass don’t germinate. In the summer, the tall grass shades the surface of the soil so it doesn’t dry out. Also, always keep your mower blade sharp; that means you should sharpen it every eight to 12 hours of use. Never cut more than one third of the grass plant at any one time if possible because it stresses out the grass too much if you do.

Finally, always recycle your grass clippings by, preferably, leaving them on the lawn where they’ll return nutrients to the soil. If you do rake the clippings in high traffic areas, be sure to compost these. And you may need to compensate for removing the grass clippings by adding 25-50 percent more organic fertilizer in those areas.

SOURCES: We recommend human-powered “reel” mowers wherever practical. We like the Momentum mower from Fiskars because the blades can be raised to 4 inches: http://www2.fiskars.com/Products/Yard-and-Garden/Reel-Mowers/Momentum-Reel-Mower. We also still use our battery powered mulching mower from Black & Decker in some areas of our property: http://www.blackanddecker.com/outdoor/CMM1200.aspx.

STEP 7 — Carefully consider any action against weeds, insects and fungal diseases. Understand that all three of these so-called lawn problems should really be seen as educational opportunities. They are messengers, sent by Mother Nature to tell us something about our soil. In other words, if your lawn is mostly weeds, it’s because the soil beneath the lawn wants to grow weeds and not grass.

Our book, The Organic Lawn Care Manual, contains a listing of the 40 most common lawn weeds and what they indicate about the soil. Many weeds such as dandelions indicate, for example, a lack of available calcium at the surface of the soil. This can be corrected with the application of high calcium limestone. Other weeds such as plantain indicate soil compaction, which can be corrected with mechanical aeration, with the addition of compost or compost tea to the soil, or with the application of gypsum. Often, the addition of these soil amendments is completed in the autumn after the core aeration.

Soil modifications do take time to have an impact on the plant profile, anywhere from a few weeks to a year or more. Sometimes, when the weed situation is so bad, you may want to take action to kill the weeds before replanting the grass. Weeds can be dug out, cut out, burned up, smothered or sprayed. We are big proponents of smothering the weeds with a rubber roofing underlayment or pond liner, especially in the case of poison ivy or other invasive species. The black heavy rubber will usually bake the weeds to death within a few weeks in the summer. Other folks like to torch weeds with a propane torch.

Sprays come in two types: selective and non-selective. The selective weed killers allow the grass to grow, but kill the weeds. Non-selective products kill the grass and the weeds; the most common non-selective herbicide is Roundup, but as we’ve been demonstrating in our blogs in the past month, this is a lethally toxic product. Many organic alternatives exist.

WEED SPRAY SOURCES: GardensAlive sells a non-selective herbicidal soap: http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=8206. Gardeners Supply sells non-selective Burnout: http://www.gardeners.com/Natural-Weed-Control/PropertyMaintenance_Weeding,33-504,default,cp.html. EcoSMART sells its own proprietary product: http://www.ecosmart.com/products/weed-and-grass-killer/. For selective herbicides, we have been blogging about this product for the past year or so: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2010/06/the-party-lives-on-for-fiesta-weed-control/. If you’ve heard about corn gluten meal as a pre-emergent weed control, be sure to read this before you rush out to purchase anything: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index...control-20-years-later-the-jury-is-still-out/.

Insects and diseases are also messengers in that they typically prey on only weakened grass or landscape plants. Appearances of insects such as chinch bug should be considered an indication that the lawn is probably too dry or perhaps overfertilized with nitrogen. Brown patch and many other fungal diseases, on the other hand, are often caused by excess moisture. Simply by changing these bad “cultural” watering practices, you can avoid many problems.

INSECT AND DISEASE PRODUCT SOURCES: One of the best lawn disease products on the market is Actinovate from Natural Industries in Houston. For insects, EcoSMART’S lawn product kills or repels Ants (including Carpenter, Red Harvester, Pavement and Argentine), Aphids, Caterpillars, Centipedes, Chinch Bugs, Crickets, Cutworms, Earwigs, Fleas, Japanese Beetles (adults), Millipedes, Mites, Mosquitoes, Spiders, Ticks, Whiteflies and other lawn and landscape insects: http://www.ecosmart.com/products/lawn-insect-killer/.
ORGANIC LAWN CARE, AN OVERVIEW

If it were me, in the first year of transitioning from chemicals to organics in my landscape, I’d keep it simple. Here’s an example of what I mean.

1. Get the soil test as soon as the ground thaws.

2. Assess my sunlight and pick the right grass seed and get some on hand, with the amount depending on whether I planned a full renovation, an overseeding of the existing lawn or just spot seeding.

3. Learn how to brew compost tea and plan to apply it every three or four weeks during the growing season at the rate of one gallon per thousand square feet.

4. Find a local source of bulk compost; make sure it’s a good source: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2010/07/getting-started-with-lawns-and-compost/. Then, purchase enough to rake in a half-inch layer across the lawn, or at least the areas you care most about. We have a video about this at www.safeLawns.org.

5. Evaluate the soil test and add soil amendments, if necessary, to raise (or lower) the pH to 6.5-7.0. If the weeds and soil test indicates low fertility, add organic fertlizer.

6. Water and mow according to the tips, above, throughout the season.
7. Overseed anytime thin or bare areas appear.

8. Apply weed, insect and fungal controls only as necessary, and only after a proper diagnosis of a problem has been made by you, a trusted neighbor or friend — or a knowledgeable professional.

9. Wait until fall for aeration, but if thatch is a big problem, take action on that in the spring.

10. Take photos, notes and mental assessments throughout the season. Remember . . . we told you that organic lawn care doesn’t mean you have to work harder, but you do have to think more!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xyRtbBie6U

Greener Lawn Without The Chemicals - Wall Street Journal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAxbHmr3AH8&feature=related

 

I wonder what the community would thing if we want "all natural" with fertilizers and used milorganite.

 

do we already do that? if not, i am guessing you have liked the idea...and if we do, i am guessing you helped implement!

 

Why, because of it's odiferous properties?!

 

okay so i just looked it up. it smells like poo but the smell goes away after a few days. bonus- deer hate it and won't go near it!

 

Yeah...it's essentially sewer sludge. Organic, but oh so fragrant! We used to use it on a golf course I worked at, but the golfers complained so much (especially the ones that made the mistake of licking their golf balls) that we stopped using it. We went back to chemical fertilizers.
If you can find a good commercial fertilizer made out of chicken manure, that would be good. works great and doesn't have much odor.

 

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Settlement Resources

Scotts Miracle-Gro Will Pay $12.5 Million in Criminal Fines and Civil Penalties for Violations of Federal Pesticide Laws
Press Release

"The misuse or mislabeling of pesticide products can cause serious illness in humans and be toxic to wildlife. Today’s sentence and unprecedented civil settlement hold Scotts accountable for widespread company noncompliance with pesticide laws, which put products into the hands of consumers without the proper authorization or warning labels." - Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance and Assurance.

(Washington, DC - September 7, 2012) - Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (Scotts) will pay over $6 million penalty and spend $2 million on environmental projects under a settlement that resolves violations under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Scotts distributed or sold unregistered, canceled, or misbranded pesticides, including products with inadequate warnings or cautions.This is the largest civil settlement under FIFRA to date.

Scotts, located in Marysville, Ohio, is one of the leading companies in the United States producing and selling pesticides for commercial and consumer lawn and garden use. Its primary customers are home centers, mass merchandisers, warehouse clubs, large hardware chains, independent hardware stores, nurseries, garden centers, and food and drug stories located throughout the United States. Scotts’ subsidiaries include The Scotts Company LLC, The Scotts Company d/b/a The Ortho Group, Miracle-Gro Lawn Products, Inc., among others, and formerly Scotts-Sierra Horticultural Products Company (now Everris NA, Inc.).


EPA’s Civil Investigation
Scotts and its subsidiaries hold numerous pesticide product registrations pursuant to FIFRA. In January 2008, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation informed EPA, that EPA pesticide registration numbers could not be verified for products Scotts submitted in annual applications for state pesticide registration .Upon investigation, EPA confirmed Scotts did submit false registration documents for several products. It is a violation of FIFRA to distribute or sell pesticide products without EPA registration.

EPA began a civil investigation and in April 2008, issued FIFRA Stop Sale, Use or Removal Orders (SSURO) to Scotts for its unregistered pesticide products. Scotts agreed to a voluntarily recall all unregistered pesticide products. Throughout the course of the investigation, EPA issued more than 40 SSUROs to Scotts to address over 100 noncompliant pesticide products.

From May 2008 to October 2009, Scotts conducted a compliance review plan. A third-party reviewer conducted a compliance status of all Scotts’ pesticides distributed or sold on any date within the previous five years or registered with EPA as of April 1, 2008. In 2009 and 2010, EPA inspected five of Scotts’ producer establishments and conducted a comprehensive analysis of product distribution and sales. In 2010, Scotts disclosed other violative products.

Violations
Scotts distributed or sold millions of units of unregistered, improperly labeled, and formulated pesticides in violation of FIFRA since 2003. In addition to submitting false registration documents to EPA, Scotts distributed or sold:

unregistered or canceled pesticides;
pesticides whose compositions differed from those EPA approved;
pesticides with claims that differed from those EPA approved; and
misbranded pesticides with false or misleading statements, inadequate warnings or cautions, or inadequate placement of required information on its labeling.

Scotts also imported pesticides into the United States without legally required documentation. More than 100 Scotts’ products were in violation of FIFRA.

Civil Penalty
Under the terms of the civil settlement agreement and final order, Scotts will pay a civil penalty of $6,050,000 to resolve the FIFRA violations associated with 15 pesticide products. In addition to the civil penalty, Scotts will complete environmental projects, valued at $2 million, to acquire, restore and protect 300 acres of land to prevent runoff of agricultural chemicals into nearby waterways.


Environmental Benefits
The Scotts’ settlement is unprecedented in terms of the scope of corporate-wide noncompliance addressed, the number of pesticide products involved, and the far reaching nationwide noncompliance of Scotts’ products. This settlement holds Scotts accountable for its corporate-wide product noncompliance and results in a significant number of potentially harmful pesticides removed from commerce.

Scotts Products Involved in the Settlement
Banrot Broad Spectrum Fungicide 40% Wettable Powder (EPA Reg. No. 58185-10),
Basics Solutions Weed & Grass Killer Concentrate (EPA Reg. No. 71995-6-239),
Brush-B-Gon Poison Ivy & Poison Oak Killer (EPA Reg. No. 239-2587),
Contrast 70 WSP (EPA Reg. Nos. 432-1223-58185 and 45639-208-58185),
Duosan WSB Wettable Powder Turf and Ornamental Fungicide (EPA Reg. No. 58185-31),
ORTHO Bug-B-Gon MAX Lawn & Garden Insect Killer Ready-To-Spray (EPA Reg. No. 1021-1778-239),
ORTHO Bug B Gon MAX Lawn & Garden Insect Killer Concentrate (EPA Reg. No. 1021-1645-239)
ORTHO Bug-B-Gon Multi-Purpose Insect Killer Ready-To-Use Granules (aka Ortho Bug B Gon Lawn & Soil Insect Killer with Grub Control; EPA Reg. No. 28293-233-239),
ORTHO Home Defense Max (aka Ortho Home Defense Indoor and Outdoor Insect Killer; EPA Reg. No. 239-2663),
ORTHO Malathion 50 Insect Spray (EPA Reg. No. 239-739),
ORTHO Orthonex Insect & Disease Control Formula III Concentrate (EPA Reg. No. 239-2594),
ORTHO ProSelect Roach, Ant & Spider Killer EPA Reg. No. 239-2679),
ORTHO Weed B Gon Weed Killer for Lawns Concentrate (EPA Reg. No. 2217-570-239), and
Total Kill Lawn Weed Killer (aka Weed-Be-Gon Spot Weed Killer and Basic Solutions Lawn Weed Killer; EPA Reg. No. 239- 2691).

 

A new study suggests that the the world can meet the surging demand for food in the coming decades without rampant deforestation if farmers make better use of fertilizer and water resources. In an analysis of management practices and yield data for 17 major crops worldwide, researchers from McGill, University in Montreal and the University of Minnesota estimated that yields for most crops can be increased 45 to 70 percent on lands already used for agriculture through more efficient fertilizer application and irrigation. Writing in the journal Nature, the scientists found that the deployment of best-practice farming could boost global yields of corn, wheat, and rice by 64 percent, 71 percent, and 47 percent, respectively. In some parts of the world, including the U.S., China, and Western Europe, the study found that far more fertilizer is used than necessary, with much of it ultimately washing into waterways. Through more efficient use of that fertilizer, nutrients could be made available for use in Eastern Europe and Western Africa without adversely affecting communities in the U.S. and China. Ultimately, the authors found, the world’s underperforming regions can reach 75 percent of their crop production potential while increasing global nitrogen use by only 9 percent and potassium use 34 percent. Such efficiencies, they say, will become increasingly critical as global food demand is expected to double by 2050 as a result of increased population and improved standards of living.

Source: Yale Environment 360

2050 is not far away. Children born today will be 38 years old. Can you imagine how much the food will cost for them.

 

Nice! Thanks for the info... and hope it inspires. Cringe whenever my dogs try to get a drink outside anywhere around here with all of the lawn care / pesticide trucks and the 'mysterious' tanks they are toting around...

 

I think this is a good resource for exploring eco-friendly / non-toxic lawn care for your lawn.

Gardens Alive - Environmentally Responsible Products

SafeLawn

 

List of safe products in the market I found that you might want to consider.

http://www.milorganite.com/
http://www.espoma.com/p_consumer/lawn_overview.html
http://www.ecosmart.com/
http://www.naturalindustries.com/retail/
http://www.purplecoworganics.com/

Also, it seems that this company has a service also with organic products.
NaturaLawn of America Leesburg Virginia Office
2A Loudoun Street - Suite 216
Leesburg, VA 20175

Phone: (703) 779-0172
Fax: (703) 779-0173
E-mail: BetterLawn@NaturaLawn.com
Web: http://leesburg.naturalawn.com/

 

I've been using NaturaLawn's products the past couple of years. You can buy their fertilizers and apply them yourself without having to use their service.

 

I would like to know if you are happy with the product?

 

Yes, I am. I used to get corn gluten meal, for natural crabgrass prevention, in the spring from a mill in Frederick, MD. I would then get alfalfa meal if I recently seeded or soybean meal if the lawn needed nitrogen from Loudoun Mill.

NaturaLawn's products contain soybean meal, blood meal, corn meal and biosolids (like what's in Milorganite). And it's a heck of a lot easier than going to the mills.