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Earth Friendly Lawn Care

Perhaps it's just my imagination, but I think I see a sign of hope in my neighborhood. This summer I've seen fewer trucks delivering lawn chemicals and fewer warning signs on lawns. The tell-tale smell of toxins drifting on the breeze seems a rarer occasion. Maybe, just maybe, people are discovering what an impact their lawn care techniques have on the environment.

Here are some tips on earth-friendly lawn care that I've gleaned from a variety of places:

1. Switch from a gas-powered mower to a reel mower. One summer, for reasons that now escape me, I figured out approximately what kind of mileage my lawn mower got by counting how many steps I took while mowing the lawn. I came up with 3 mpg, which explained why I felt so lousy while walking behind that mower. I've long since switched to a reel mower, and never feel sick while mowing the lawn (unless "sick of mowing" counts).

   One study showed that in one hour, the average gas mower emits the same amount of climate-changing hydrocarbons as a 1992 Ford Explorer driven 23,000 miles. Did you know that nearly five percent of all air pollution in the US is produced by lawn and garden equipment? Go green; get a reel! And if for some reason you must use a gas mower, keep it well maintained to reduce the pollutants it emits.

2. Mow your grass long. It will stay healthier, develop a stronger root system, and the longer grass will help shade out the weeds.
3. Pull your weeds by hand, or simply ignore them. Take a look at the lawns in your neighborhood. How much do you really notice the so-called "weeds"? A monoculture lawn with only grass is as hard to achieve as the air-brushed beauty of faces in a fashion magazine, and the effort needed to achieve it is just as unhealthy.

   If you simply must do something about the weeds, try corn gluten as both a pre-emergent herbicide and a fertilizer. You can find it at many garden stores.

   Remember, anything you apply to your lawn will end up in our lakes, and the MPCA has just announced that over 1700 of our Minnesota lakes have poor water quality.

4. Water infrequently and deeply. In times of drought, consider letting your lawn go dormant. It will come back when the rain starts again, and meanwhile you won't have to mow.
5. Expand your flower and vegetable gardens, so you have less lawn to mow. Plant a natural prairie in your back yard or on your boulevard.
6. Keep your mower blade sharp. A dull blade damages the grass, making it more susceptible to disease and pests.
7. Use earth-friendly landscapers. You can find out who they are by contacting the Women's Cancer Resource Center at 612-822-4846
8. For more information, read The Chemical Free Lawn by Warren Schultz (Rodale Press, Emmaus, PA, 202-543-5450) or Building a Healthy Lawn: A Safe and Natural Approach by Stuart Franklin (Garden Way, 1988).