Spring is just around the corner and SWANCC offers an
Eco-Landscaping Guide to assist home owners, municipalities and businesses with healthier options to maintain lawns and outdoor green spaces.
The guide presents resources to encourage people to use alternatives to conventional lawn care methods and chemicals. The way one cares for an outdoor space is a choice that has effects far beyond property lines. Yards are our outdoor homes and provide great spaces for playing and relaxing. Over the years, lawns have been managed in a reactive or conventional way of applying fertilizer and weed killer.
Decision makers now have choices for cultivating and maintaining their property with organic or natural methods - a proactive approach to managing lawns and turf.
The benefits of a natural lawn care system include:
• Reduced exposure to chemicals for people, pets, and plants
• Improved ecosystems for birds, insects, and bugs
• Improved water quality and reduced storm water runoff
• Long-term savings compared to conventional methods
Natural/Systems Approach: Objective is to create and establish healthy soil
• Natural, organic products
• Product application is based on benefit to soil health
• Soil testing is the basis for all inputs
• Solves problems as opposed to symptoms
• Higher mowing heights
Conventional/Product Approach: Objective is to have a weed-free, green lawn
• Synthetic fertilizers
• Chemical pesticides
• Product approach for quick fix
• Treats symptoms, not problems
• Multiple applications based on time of year
• Generally low mowing heights
What is a Pesticide?
Pesticides are made to eliminate or repel insects, plants, and animals that are undesirable or that threaten human health. According to Beyond Pesticides, of 30 commonly used turf pesticides: 19 are linked to cancer, 13 to birth defects, 21 to reproductive effects, 15 to neurotoxicity, 26 to liver or kidney damage, and 11 to endocrine (hormone) disruption. For case studies, resources, and more information visit
Beyond Pesticides.
The American Medical Association (AMA) recommends limiting pesticide exposure and using the least toxic chemical pesticide or non-chemical alternative (AMA, Council on Scientific Affairs, 1997).
General environmental hazards linked to pesticides can include:
• Water contamination
• Air pollution
• Pollinator death and Bee Colony Collapse Disorder
• Wildlife deformities
• Ecological imbalance
General health hazards of pesticide exposure can include:
• Eye irritation
• Skin irritation and rashes
• Asthma and other respiratory problems
• Headache, fatigue, dizziness and lack of coordination
• Nausea, cramps and diarrhea
• Long-term illnesses and certain forms of cancer
Due to the potential harm that pesticides can cause, it is prudent to use alternative products whenever possible. A growing number of companies provide environmentally-friendly lawn care products, but beware of “green washing” – companies whose names or products sound “green”. Some companies claim their products are nontoxic or all natural when they are not. For example, a company can say that they use natural products but still use pesticides with chemical ingredients.
SWANCC's
Eco Landscaping Guide illustrates how to care for a lawn without the use of chemicals and focuses on the health of the soil below to create a living, breathing system that will be able to ultimately care for itself. You will learn what makes up healthy soil and how to maintain it using environmentally-friendly practices.
Additional Resources:
Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard, by Doug Tallamy
