Earth-Friendly Approaches to Lawn Care

Re-Think Your Expectations

Walk across the street and look at your lawn. Do the weeds show? Do you need to eliminate every weed or just focus on a few problem areas? Can you reduce your use of pesticides by having a different weed tolerance for your front and back yards? Replace part of your lawn with a low-maintenance ground cover - such as creeping thyme or periwinkle.

Know Your Pest

A healthy yard and garden is home to many insects and only a few of them are harmful to your plants. Identify your pest before you treat it. Learn about its life cycle so you know when to apply treatment. Inspect your garden frequently - infestations are far easier to control if caught early.

Feed Your Soil

Soil is more than dirt - it is a whole community of earthworms, beneficial bacteria and fungi, and bugs. Support the natural vigour of your plants by enriching the soil community that they depend on. Use slow release, complex fertilizers; apply compost; and don't use poisons in your garden.

Use Physical Controls

Dig out your weeds rather than poisoning them; remove insects with a blast of water; pluck insects by hand; prune out infestations; use collars around seedlings to protect them from cutworms; and use beer traps to catch slugs.

Tidiness Counts

Keeping a tidy yard reduces the available housing for pests. Dispose of diseased or infested plant material promptly. Pull your weeds often, before they go to seed and multiply your problems.

Recipes for Earth-Friendly Pest Control

For soft-bodied insects such as aphids, spider mites and earwigs, mix 1 tablespoon canola oil with 3-1/8 cups of water, add 3 tablespoons of cayenne pepper and a few drops of non-detergent dish soap. Shake well. Spray top and bottom of leaves until dripping. The oil coats the insects (which breath through holes in their bodies) and quickly smothers them. The cayenne pepper repels insects that the oil doesn't kill.

Baking soda will control several fungal diseases, including black spot and powdery mildew. Dust directly onto plants or mix with water and spray it on.

Water Thoroughly but Not Often

Watering in the morning means your garden will have moisture available in the heat of the day. Leaves will dry by evening, reducing the likelihood of mildew. Water infrequently and deeply to encourage deep roots and drought resistant plants.

Mow High and Leave Your Clippings

Mowing high (7 - 10 cm) keeps grass roots shaded so they need less water, and keeps weed seeds from reaching the soil. Sharp mower blades shear instead of rip, leaving grass less susceptible to water loss. If you have healthy soil with lots of bacteria and earthworms, your grass clippings soon become "on-the spot" fertilizer.

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