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A Homeowner's Guide to Organic Lawn Care
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ORGANIC LAWN CARE Why Organic? High Cost of Synthetic Pesticides Effect on Humans and Pets Environmental Concerns How They Damage Your Lawn Organic Overview Healthy Soil Appropriate Plantings Thick, Deep-Rooted Grass Regular Maintenance Lowdown on Lawn History The New World: Golf & Games Parks and Suburbs Communism and Crabgrass Know Your Lawn Soil Water Grass Lawn Rehab (Planning) Starting Off Right The Future (What You Want) The Present (What You've Got) Lawn Rehab (Practice) Thatch Weeds Compaction Soil Amendments Overseeding Fertilizing Regular Maintenance Mowing Watering Weeding Seasonal Maintenance Whacking Weeds Aerate the Soil Trashing Thatch Amend the Soil Keep It Green: Fertilize Pets, Pests & Problems Dogs and the Perfect Lawn Pest Control: Guidelines Bugs & Thugs Moles Weed Control Diseases Alternatives to Grass Ornamental Grasses Shade Lovers Sun Lovers Low Water Ground Covers Under Pines -- Acid-Tolerant Starting a Lawn Grass Types & Methods Preparing the Site Preparing the Soil Planting Caring for New Lawns Switching from NitroLawn To Do List: Any Time of Year To Do List: Fall/Early Spring Using a Lawn Care Company Sites & Sources Books & Articles Websites  This site is brought to you by www.PlanetNatural.com |
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Lawn Care Sources & Resources
Books and ArticlesThe Natural Lawn & Alternatives. Brooklyn Botanic Garden Record (49:3, Autumn 1993)A collection of articles including "Eight Steps to a Pesticide-Free Lawn," "Buffalograss Lawns," and others on moss, prairie, and other grass alternatives. "Turf Tips" has a map of grass zones for the U.S., regional guides for fertilizing and for grass types (beware -- they're still recommending Kentucky bluegrass!), plus mowing heights for different grasses. Great color pictures throughout. Ball, Jeff and Liz Ball. Smart Yard: 60-Minute Lawn Care. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing, 1994. An IPM approach that allows for pesticides in a certified emergency but works towards their virtual elimination. LOTS of useful information including tips for different areas in the U.S. Three main sections: "Maintaining Your Lawn," "Improving Your Lawn," and "Lawn Problems." Has the most thorough tips for assessing the condition of a lawn that I've seen. Lots of good (sometimes funny) drawings, graphs, and tables. Very readable, too, which is always a plus. Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring: Special Edition. Afterward by Edward O. Wilson, Introduction by Linda Lear. Mariner Books: 104th edition, 2002. The mother-text of the environmental movement, this book is still relevant today. It focuses on the effects of DDT, widely used after WWII, and is credited with contributing to the ban of this chemical in the U.S. Darke, Rick. The Encyclopedia of Grasses for Livable Landscapes. Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2007. One of the best and most complete guides to ornamental grasses. Darke is dedicated to what he calls "Landscape Ethics," gardening that does not diminish the resources of the earth. The Timber Press Pocket Guide to Ornamental Grasses. Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2004 At less than half the price of the Encyclopedia, but with hundreds of color photographs, this is an excellent buy. Franklin, Stuart. Building a Healthy Lawn: a Safe and Natural Approach. A Garden Way Publishing Book. Pownal, VT: Storey Communications, Inc., 1988. Older but still useful, this manual includes most of what later became accepted wisdom in organic lawn care. Jenkins, Virginia Scott. The Lawn: A History of an American Obsession. Smithsonian, 1994. I haven't seen this one, but it pops up everywhere, and everyone speaks highly of it. Logan, William Bryant. Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth. New York, London: W.W. Norton, 1995. This is a series of essays on what Bryant, in a bow to his farmer father, insists on calling dirt, not earth. The essays contain an enormous amount of information, but their primary purpose is not educational, but exploratory. Nardi, James A. Life in the Soil: A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners. Chicago: U. of Chicago Pr., 2007. Though far more "informational" than Logan's book, Nardi's is if anything even more lyrical and lovely. It includes a comprehensive, worldwide guide to the creatures of the earth, book-ended by an opening section on the formation of soil and the role of living creatures in it, and a closing section on how to work with those creatures, restoring and maintaining soil health, while gardening. Quammen, David. "Rethinking the Lawn." In The Boilerplate Rhino: Nature in the Eye of the Beholder. New York: Scribner, 2000. A hilarious essay by a man who finally said "No mow" to mowing, and who made plans for a shrunken lawn and expanded free time. Schultz, Warren. The Chemical-Free Lawn: The Newest Varieties and Techniques to Grow Lush, Hardy Grass. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press, 1989. Aside from Schultz's out-of-date obeisance to Kentucky bluegrass, this book gives an almost flawless and remarkably thorough presentation on organic lawn care. Steinberg, Ted. American Green: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2006. Steinberg could make a history buff out of anyone. Full of forgotten facts (backyard fences were forbidden in Levittown, one of the earliest large-scale post WWII developments) woven seamlessly into a comprehensive narrative, this book combines humor, information, and an individual, idiosyncratic perspective. Wilbur, Charles A. How to Grow World Record Tomatoes: A Guinness Champion Reveals His All-Organic Secrets. Acres U.S.A., 1998. This charming book by a home farmer in the South reveals his methods, including how to compost kudzu. Websites1. Facts, Stats, etc. from footnoted sources1. University of Missouri. "Curbing the Lawn" -- Jan Weaver. MU Environmental Network News, July 2004, Vol. 10, No. 7 2. Tufts University. "Five Minutes with Ted Steinberg" Tufts Magazine, Summer 2006 3. Statistics Canada report on Lawns, gardens and environment. "Canadian lawns and gardens: Where are they the 'greenest'?" Feb. 2008. -- Mary Frances Lynch and Nancy Hofmann. 4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Mid-Atlantic Region Green Landscaping. "Sustainable Landscaping Presentation" May 2007. 5. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). "Small Engine Rule to Bring Big Emission Cuts" March 2006 6. Toronto Board of Health Staff Report. "Leaf Blowers and other Lawn/Garden Equipment: Noise, Air Pollution and Regulation (PDF format)" July 2001. 7. Toronto Public Health. "Lawn and Garden Pesticides: A Review of Human Exposure & Health Effects Research (PDF format)" April, 2002. -- Dr. Sheela V. Basrur, Medical Officer of Health. 8. Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. "Nutrient Management for Lawn Service Companies" June 2004. 9. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) "2,4-D Reregistration Eligibility Document (RED) Facts" 2005 10. U.S. Department of Energy, Bonneville Power Administration "2,4-D Herbicide Fact Sheet (PDF format)" 2000 11. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) "Unidentified Inert Ingredients in Pesticides: Implications for Human and Environmental Health (PDF format)" -- Caroline Cox & Michael Surgan. Environmental Health Perspectives (online Aug. 18, 2006) 12. National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland "Epidemiology of Lymphomas" 2000. 13. The Ontario College of Family Physicians. "Pesticides Literature Review (PDF format)" April, 2004. p.36, Ch.4. -- Margaret Sanborn, Donald Cole, Kathleen Kerr, Cathy Vakil, Luz Helena Sanin, Kate Bassil 14. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Ground Water & Drinking Water. "Consumer Factsheet on: Selenium" Nov. 2006. 15. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency "Basic Information: Organic Gases" Nov. 2007. 16. American Chemical Society. "Inhalation Health Risk to Golfers from Turfgrass Pesticides at Three Northeastern U.S. Sites" Dec. 14, 2006. -- Rebecca R. Murphy and Douglas A. Haith. Environmental Science & Technology, 41 (3), 1038 -1043, 2007. 17. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Ground Level Ozone. "Health and Environment" Mar. 2008. 18. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Indoor Air Quality. "Pesticides: Basic Information" Nov. 2007. 19. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). "Simulation of Track-in of Lawn-Applied Pesticides from Turf to Home: Comparison of Dislodgeable Turf Residues with Carpet Dust and Carpet Surface Residues (PDF format)" Oct. 1997. -- Marcia G. Nishioka, Hazel M. Burkholder, Marielle C. Brinkman, Sydney M. Gordon 20. Environmental Science and Technology, 36 (9), 1923 -1930, 2002. "VOCs, Pesticides, Nitrate, and Their Mixtures in Groundwater Used for Drinking Water in the United States" -- Paul J. Squillace, Jonathon C. Scott, Michael J. Moran, B. T. Nolan, and Dana W. Kolpin. 21. Department of Pesticide Regulation, California. Environmental Monitoring & Pest Management. "Environmental Fate of Mancozeb (PDF format)" Oct. 2000. -- Sue Xu 22. EXTOXNET, Extension Toxicology Network. "Mancozeb" Pesticide Information Profiles" revised June 1996. EXTOXNET is a group of universities and university extension offices largely funded by the USDA. 23. U.S. Climate Change Technology Program. "Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Agriculture (PDF format)" Aug. 2005, Page 4.2-8 2. All-Round Generally Useful Sites "Green Scaping: The Easy Way to a Greener, Healthier Yard" -- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The Lawn Problem-Solver This site is maintained by the North Central Region-192, a working group of turf experts sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. On this site the group members, drawn from a whole fist-full of universities in what's more usually called the Midwest, offer their combined expertise on establishing and maintaining lawns, grass types, problem-solving -- the whole shebang. Somewhat old-school in that it still advocates planting Kentucky bluegrass, it's nevertheless informative, user-friendly, and low-key in its advocacy of low-chemical approaches to lawn care. "Turfgrass Management and Use" -- from the files of Dr. Richard Duble, Professor of Soil and Crop Sciences (emeritus) - Texas A & M University A remarkably thorough site covering just about all aspects of turf care, from grass varieties through problems to "mowing schedules" for different southern grasses. The UC Guide to Healthy Lawns Part of the University of California's extensive UC IPM Online: Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program site. Includes pages on identifying and choosing a grass, establishing and caring for new lawns, pest management, and more. 3. Identifying and Choosing Grass Types "Native Warm Season Grasses in the Mid-South (PDF format)" -- Michael P. Hansbrough, Private Lands Biologist - University of Tennessee Though it primarily addresses large-scale establishment for wildlife or livestock, the PDF version has wonderful pictures and lots of information. "Turfgrasses for the Midwest" -- University of Illinois Turfgrass Program "Turfgrass Selection for the Home Landscape (PDF format)" The UC Guide to Healthy Lawns: Choose and identify your turf species -- Click on "Turfgrass Selection ..." midway down left-hand column. This site will guide you through identifying the grass in your lawn. The PDF document contains information in list form comparing grasses by 14 different criteria. These include tolerance for heat, cold, salinity, drought, and shade, nitrogen requirements, mowing height, establishment rate, maintenance costs, and three different measures of wear. 4. Starting a New Lawn Getting Rid of the Lawn -- Susan Gallimore, Bluestem Nursery Includes some marvelous blog entries on how to eliminate an old lawn before starting over. "Warm Season Grass Establishment (PDF format)" Feb. 2002 -- Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Fish and Wildlife 5. Organic Lawn Care "Organic Lawn Care for the Cheap and Lazy" -- Paul Wheaton, RichSoil.com Not an authoritative source, but appears knowledgeable and charmingly whimsical. "Lawn & Garden Fertilizers (PDF format)" -- Korb, Gary, James Hovland, and Steven Bennett, University of Wisconsin Extension in cooperation with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. A readable presentation about lawn care. 6. Soil, Amendments & Fertilizers "Alternative Soil Amendments" -- Sullivan, Preston, National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service (ATTRA) Though pitched to large-scale operations, the information at this site is perfectly applicable to lawns or gardens. 7. Dealing with Pests and Lawn Problems General Sites: "Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic" -- Cornell University Lots of useful info here, but not as user-friendly as some sites. The central list of diseases gives only names, no photos, and since each disease is covered on a separate page, there's no way to scan photographs of diseases. The pages about individual diseases do include excellent photos and diagrams of disease progression, as well as useful information on control. This site is excellent once you know what you're dealing with, but it isn't much help with diagnostics. "Yardener's Plant Problem Solver" This site helps you work from the symptoms to their possible causes. So if you're looking at patches of dead grass but have no idea whether the culprit is a grub, a fungus, your neighbor's dog, or the neighbor's son conducting experiments involving mirrors and sunlight, start here. "Organic Gardening: Organic Lawn Problem Solver" This site lists problems by general symptom (brown grass, red grass, etc.) then lists various possible causes along with organic treatments and controls. It's a bit hard to use because ALL headings no matter what their status look the same, so it's hard to see what comes "under" what. The site is also so packed with ads that you can only see a bit of real information at a time. Still, good info, succinct and clear. Specific Issues or Problems: "The Kudzu plant FAQ" Hower, Chad Z., Kudzu World "Toxicity of diatomaceous earth to red flour beetles and confused flour beetles (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae): effects of temperature and relative humidity" -- Arthur, Frank., USDA Agricultural Research Service "Creeping Charlie Lawn Weed: From Beer Ingredient to Invasive Plant to... Aromatic Herb?" -- Beaulieu, David., About.com: Landscaping Very nice article giving interesting background facts on the many names and uses of this now-vilified plant. Lovely pictures, too. "Water Management on Turfgrasses" -- Duble, Richard L., Texas Cooperative Extension, Texas A & M University "Weed Control in Turf" -- Duble, Richard L., Texas Cooperative Extension, Texas A & M University "Diseases of Warm Season Grasses (PDF format)" Aug. 1995. -- Lucas, Leon T. and Arthur H. Bruneau, North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service Don't be put off by the date on this site. It's got pictures, graphs showing seasonal incidence of each disease, and excellent, mostly organic advice about dealing with problems. "Controlling Creeping Charlie" -- Mahr, Susan, University of Wisconsin, Department of Horticulture "Control of Chinch Bug Without Pesticides" -- Patriquin, David, Professor of Biology at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia) This is one of the most amazing websites I encountered in all the research for this article. Patriquin details several levels of control, thoroughly and readably. This is the guy who recommends using a vacuum-cleaner on your lawn. "Diagnosis of Turfgrass Diseases: The Key to Successful Management" -- Tredway, Lane P., Extension Turfgrass Pathologist - North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service A great, readable site with lots of helpful pictures. "Identification and Control of Knapweed Species in Central and Eastern Oregon" Feb. 2003. -- Waldo, Amy Jo, Oregon State University Extension Service 8. Lawn Alternatives "From the Ground Up: Groundcovers to Know and Use" -- University of Illinois Extension Has a great list of groundcovers, with pictures. "Xeriscape Colorado" -- Colorado WaterWise Council: The Voice of the Colorado Water Efficiency Community Stunning photos make the case for Xeriscape gardening. Includes an impressive section titled "Resources and Reference" divided as follows: "Books | Brochures & Booklets | Magazines & Articles | Catalogs | Web Sites | Videos & DVDs." "Xeriscape: Water-Saving Garden" Sedbrook, Judy, Colorado State University Master Gardener, Denver County 9. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Alabama Integrated Pest Management Information Center Auburn University Integrated Pest Management Resources Michigan State University The Pennsylvania Integrated Pest Management Program Penn State University Integrated Pest Management Utah State University Extension Kentucky IPM University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Integrated Pest Management University of Massachusetts Amherst Radcliffe's IPM World Textbook University of Minnesota Montana Integrated Pest Management Center Montana State University |
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