At SafeLawns.org, we've been warning folks about the connection between pesticides and bee decline for three years, but don't just listen to us: http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/v-print/story/2259571.html ...

Ernest Hemingway, it turns out, had a knack for finding the best places in America. The author was among the first A-list celebrities to discover a magical area of Idaho known as Sun Valley. I hadn't been there until this past weekend when the Sawtooth Botanical Garden invited me to talk about organic landscape principles, and also to screen the film A Chemical Reaction. With only five inches of annual rain ...

Here's an article that appeared today in a New York newspaper. Voices like this one are the kinds of things that spur public dialogue. By ISABEL VINCENT, The New York Post Central Park may be hazardous to your health. So says a personal trainer and environmental activist who’s enlisting some of his clients to pressure the Central Park Conservancy to stop using pesticides. “One of the most insidious things a ...

Given the disdain that most people feel for raking, the power equipment industry has offered up a vast array of options that, at least ostensibly, are supposed to make the task easier. I can tell you from experience that most blowers and suction systems won’t save you a minute — and that all of them are worse for the planet, for your wallet and waistline. Having said that, here are some options to consider ...

Euphoric phone calls and emails poured out of Hudson, Quebec, this past week with word that Michael Elliott — the same man who shepherded North America's first anti-pesticide bylaw all the way to the Supreme Court — was named mayor again after 16 years in retirement from town politics. Elliott, who is a key figure in the documentary film, A Chemical Reaction, had hinted to us that he was considering running ...

In most of the places I’ve lived in the Northeast, fall leaves are a fact of life. Even if you don’t have any large deciduous trees on your property, chances are your neighbors’ trees will send some spent foliage your way. Collection options abound. We’ll focus this blog on the most environmentally friendly options: RAKING — If you’re like most people, you probably disdain the very notion of raking. The pro ...

Continuing a promising pattern of pesticide reviews that includes imidacloprid, Roundup and a general unveiling of "inert" ingredients — all reported here in previous blogs — the agency reported last week that it will expand its overview of the research concerning atrazine's health impacts on humans. Beyond Pesticides has the story here: www.beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/?p=2539 ...

If you have general questions about lawn care, use this section to ask them here, or review previous questions here: www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2009/09/ask-a-question/comment-page-1/#comment-1025 ...

This week, with fall foliage at its peak here in Maine, I plan to focus a few posts on leaves. The subject is on everyone's mind, as witnessed by this segment we produced with Good Morning America last Friday: abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=8789909. Our posts will focus on collection techniques, as well as how to compost leaves and how to use them as fertilizer. But first, here is some background on wh ...

I answered this question today in our Ask a Question Section and it's worth posting individually here: Creeping Charlie, perennial, Glenchoma hederacea Appearance: Low-growing aggressive creeping plant has thumbnail size scalloped leaves that look like tiny geraniums. In spring an abundance of tiny, lavender flowers appear on two- or three-inch spikes. The stems are square, with roots that dive into the soi ...