Safelawns Daily Post and Q&A Blog

A new study from New Zealand shows that applications of the herbicide Roundup increase the levels of parasites in water, which leads to deaths of fish. The link is here: http://invw.org/node/958.

The story also contains a link to the government’s public comment pages for Roundup-ready alfalfa — which absolutely should not be approved. Here is a link to a position paper on the subject: http://www.geertsonseedfarms.com/pdfs/rr%20hand%20out%205.20.08.pdf

I got a kick out of this blog today. Seems that Twitter is nearing a milestone that may garner a lot of media attention: the 10 billionth Tweet. This blogger has a good idea: http://unearthed.earthjustice.org/blog/2010-march/be-10-billionth-person-tweet-about-pesticides

Announcements are now being circulated for the long-awaited Chicago premiere of A Chemical Reaction on Saturday, March 20: http://spcpweb.org/attachments/PressRelease-AChemicalReaction.pdf. Thanks to our friends at the Safer Pest Control Project for taking this on and making it a reality.

While we’re in Illinois, we’re also going to attend a special screening of the movie at the McHenry County College Conference Center at 7 p.m. on March 19. The Environmental Defenders of Mchenry County and The Lou Marchi Recycling Institute are co-sponsors of the event.

Check out our new full Calendar of Events for details on all of our screenings for the month of March: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/calendar/

When the deer are this cute, it's hard to imagine they'll grow up to be Gardeners Enemy Number 1.

This is a bit off topic for a lawn care blog, but I get so many people asking me this question, I thought I’d pass along my best shot an at answer.

If you think the issue of deer in the garden is getting worse lately, it’s not your imagination. Since most natural predators of deer have declined in populations, and most of us don’t hunt for our food, deer populations have grown to more than 25 million in the United States. That’s up from 10 million only 20 years ago, and up from less than one half million in the early 1900s.

The issue is especially difficult in suburban communities that combine what’s left of the forest with tidy back yards. Deer view those developed spaces — complete with tulips, yews, arborvitaes, hostas etc. — as an open invitation to a buffet. And even if they’re not invited, they’ll do everything they can to crash the party.

All sorts of companies sell myriad products to repel deer. Some are organic; others are not. Some seem to work sometimes; others appear to be a mere gimmick.

My approach is more oriented toward plants than products. In other words, I try to grow stuff deer don’t generally like to eat. That, of course, comes with the caveat that deer will eat just about anything if they are hungry enough.

What follows is my personal list of plants that seem relatively deer proof (most of these are cold hardy plants that may, or may not, grow in warmer climates). If you have other deer-proof species, send along the suggestions.

Allegheny Spurge – Pachysandra procumbens

Andromeda – Pieris (all)

Andromeda polifolia – Bog-Rosemary

Aucuba japonica – Goldust Plant

Bayberry – Myrica pensylvanica

Beautyberry – Callicarpa (all)

Boxwood – Buxus (all)

Broom – Cytisus (all)

Broom – Genista (all)

Buddleja davidii – Butterfly Bush

Callicarpa (all) – Beautyberry

Callistemon citrinus – Bottlebrush

Camellia all – Camellia

Caragana arborescens – Siberian Peashrub

Cephalotaxus harringtonia – Japanese Plum Yew

Cherry Laurel – Prunus laurocerasus

Cornelian Cherry Dogwood – Cornus mas

Cornus alba – Red Twigged Dogwood

Crape Myrtle – Lagerstroemia (all)

Creeping Rosemary – Rosmarinus officinalis

Cytisus (all) – Broom

Daphne (all) – Mezereon

Dog-Hobble – Leucothoe (all)

Genista (all) – Broom

Goldust Plant – Aucuba japonica

Hamamelis (all) – Witch Hazel

Heath – Erica carnea

Heather – Calluna vulgaris

Heavenly Bamboo – Nandina domestica

Hollywood Juniper – Juniperus chinensis

Honeysuckle – Lonicera (all)

Hypericum (all) – St. John’s Wort

Ilex glabra – Inkberry Holly

Japanese Plum Yew – Cephalotaxus harringtonia

Juniperus chinensis – Hollywood Juniper

Juniperus procumbins – Japanese Garden Juniper

Juniperus scopulorum – Moonglow Juniper

Kalmia latifolia – Mountain Laurel

Lagerstroemia (all) – Crape Myrtle

Leucothoe (all) – Dog-Hobble

Lilac – Syringa (all)

Lily Of The Valley Shrub – Pieris japonica

Lindera benzoin – Spice Bush

Mahonia aquifolium – Oregon Grapeholly

Mezereon – Daphne (all)

Microbiota decussata – Russian Cypress

Moonglow Juniper – Juniperus scopulorum

Mountain Laurel – Kalmia latifolia

Mountain Peris – Pieris floribunda

Myrica cerifera – Wax Myrtle

Myrica pensylvanica – Bayberry

Nandina domestica – Heavenly Bamboo

Nerium oleander – Oleander

Picea pungens – Spruce

Pieris (all) – Andromeda

Potentilla fruticosa – Shrubby Cinquefoil

Privet – Ligustrum (all)

Prunus laurocerasus – Cherry Laurel

Red Twigged Dogwood – Cornus alba

Rosa rugosa – Rugosa Rose

Rosmarinus officinalis – Creeping Rosemary

Russian Cypress – Microbiota decussata

Shrubby Cinquefoil – Potentilla fruticosa

Siberian Peashrub – Caragana arborescens

Spiraea – Spiraea bumalda

St. John’s Wort – Hypericum (all)

Viburnum (all) – Viburnum

Wax Myrtle – Myrica cerifera

Weigela – Weigela florida

Witch Hazel – Hamamelis (all)

This photo of mallow is from a Los Angeles blog known as HomegrownEvolution.com.

Journalist Ken Spector caught up with us Sunday afternoon after the Los Angeles Premiere of A Chemical Reaction: http://www.livingecho.com/celebrities/paul-tukey/. In the midst of the interview, we shared a rather interesting — and tasty — snack. Here’s a link to a Los Angeles blog about mallow, Malva parviflora, just one of many “weeds” that have food value: http://www.homegrownevolution.com/2008/02/mallow-malva-parviflora-edible-friend.html. Ken talked about making a marshmallow substitute out of the “cheeses” of the mallow plant. I’ve got to try that one day soon!

Those leaves from last fall need to come off the lawn, but be careful not to rake too vigorously.

In the northern half of the nation, the urge to get outside and work in the yard in March is primal. We’ve been caged inside for several months already and the thought of sweeping, digging, pulling and raking actually seems fun, right?

I’m here to tell you to relax just a bit, at least when it comes to raking the lawn to be rid of any of that seemingly brown (maybe, or maybe not, dead) grass that passes for a lawn.

Too much raking right now can actually stir up the weed seeds, especially the crabgrass, and create ideal conditions for excess weed germination. Rather your goal should be to get the grass as tall as possible as fast as possible so that the grass shades out those weed seeds that need light to germinate.

So if you do rake:

1) Rake lightly, just to remove surface leaves, snow mould and other debris. Try not to scarify the soil. Hand pick any twigs, branches or other larger debris.
2) If you do scarify the soil, or you have discernibly bare areas on the lawn, be sure to spread grass seed immediately after raking and then cover the newly seeded area with a thin layer of compost. The grass seed will germinate in the compost, but the crabgrass will not — as long as the layer is thick enough to block all light from hitting the crabgrass seeds.
3) Use a plastic leaf rake rather than a bamboo or thin metal rake. The plastic rake is less likely to scarify the soil.

In summary:
A lot of this is a judgement call. If the lawn emerges from the winter a total mess, with a lot of obviously ugly areas of thatch or dead grass, then go ahead and rake vigorously. Just be sure to overseed the area. And if you have a lot of leaves left over from last fall, you do need to get those off the lawn sooner than later. Just learn to “skim” the top of the soil with a nice, light plastic rake.

I’m not sure if it was my father, or grandfather, or some other wise figure in my life who first told me that threats are a childish form of flattery. That’s my take on some of the rhetoric coming from the chemical industry about our movie, A Chemical Reaction, which has been the focus of the wrath of one William H. Gathercole, among others.

Gathercole, who is apparently a degreed horticulturist from Canada, has been taking dead aim at anyone and everyone who suggests that lawn chemicals might be even remotely dangerous. In his daily blog called Force of Nature, at times he claims to speak for the entire pesticide industry and at other times he admits he’s only speaking for himself. Either way, his rants are usually good for a chuckle when the arrive in my Inbox each day.

Last week he called me “America’s Most Wanted Environmental Terrorist.” Today, with the March 11 premiere of the movie approaching at the University of Ottawa, Gathercole was calling A Chemical Reaction an “amateur video” and even offered up a new title: “A Terrorist Reaction.” Among his demands today were these:

1) A Terrorist Reaction must be prohibited from PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS in Canada.

2) A Terrorist Reaction must be prohibited from RETAIL SALE in Canada.

3) Paul Tukey, the promoter of the video, and his associates, must be reined and prohibited from ENTERING CANADA.

4) uOttawa–Ecojustice Environmental Law Clinic, UOttawa Ecojustice Clinic, and University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law must be CHARGED WITH FRAUD and CONSPIRACY under the Crimi-
nal Code of Canada.

5) Claire L’Heureux–Dubé must be reined and prohibited from making PUBLIC STATEMENTS.

The fact that a Supreme Court justice has agreed to appear in public in support of the Canadian pesticide bans is a particularly painful reality for the chemical industry, which would prefer to paint people like me as fringe activists. It should be a hell of a showdown in Ottawa when Justice Dube and Stewart Elgie, the attorney who argued the case for the town of Hudson, Quebec, in 2000, are in the room together March 13 with Mr. Gathercole and his brethren.

I’m looking forward to all the screenings in March . . . but maybe Ottawa most of all.

Clover plants store atmospheric nitrogen in tiny pink root sacks known as nodules.

Tomorrow it will be March and that means, in many parts of the country, the call will go out: Ready . . . Set . . . Fertilize. Whether we’re planning tomatoes or a lush green lawn, our nature is to help Mother Nature by adding a bunch of stuff to the soil that we’ve been led to believe we need.

Have you ever considered the radical idea that fertilizer isn’t needed? At least not much anyway? And never, ever, synthetic fertilizer? One of my recent posts talked about the origin of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer (http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2010/02/high-irony-afghan-war-seen-as-boon-to-organics/) and how dangerous and wasteful it can be.

Our here in Los Angeles for today’s premiere of A Chemical Reaction I’m staying at a home where the lawn hasn’t had fertilizer applied in years, but it’s still lush and green. How is that possible? It’s easy, really, because the lawn has an ample amount of clover, which is a nitrogen-fixing plant. That means this lawn is making its own fertilizer.

I’m not saying fertilizer is NEVER needed. Some annual plants like tomatoes are heavy feeders and will benefit from frequent feedings or organic fertilizers if the soil isn’t really, really rich to begin with. Likewise, a lawn may need some food to help it become thick and lush. The difference between synthetic chemical fertilizer and organic fertilizer is that the synthetic stuff feeds the plants directly, yet tests show that much of the material is wasted through run-off and vaporizing. With organic fertilizers, you’re actually applying materials that feed the soil organisms. When the soil organisms consumer the organic foods, they digest and excrete the foods to create natural fertilization.

Here’s an excerpt from my book, The Organic Lawn Care Manual, that explains the process:

All living things need the element known as nitrogen. An atom of nitrogen lies at the heart of all amino acids and DNA in animals and all photosynthesis in plants. Since nitrogen gas comprises about 78 percent of the Earth’s atmosphere, you might think we should have plenty of nitrogen anytime we need it. Much of that atmospheric nitrogen, however, is inactive or “inert.” How we convert that nitrogen into a form available to grow our grass plants is one of the primary differences between synthetic and natural lawn care.
Nitrogen fixing is defined as any natural or industrial process that causes nitrogen gas to combine with other elements to form useful nitrogen compounds — typically known as ammonia, nitrates, or nitrites.
Early in the last century, two scientists named Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch blended two emerging technologies to spawn the modern synthetic fertilizer industry. By combining nitrogen with hydrogen under extremely high pressures and temperatures, the result was nitrogen compounds that could be used as fertilizers. Creating these temperatures and pressures requires the burning of large amounts of fossil fuels, usually natural gas, to achieve the 750 to 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit required for the nitrogen conversion. Though the Haber-Bosch process is still considered to be the most commercially economical for the fixation of synthetic nitrogen, some scientists have pointed to the “hidden” cost of burning all that fossil fuel in the process.
Dr. David Pimentel

The pink nodules on clover root store nitrogen from the atmosphere.

We’re on the ground in Los Angeles today to prepare for the Hollywood premiere of A Chemical Reaction at 1 p.m. tomorrow (Sunday, Feb. 28) at the New Beverly Cinema at 7165 West Beverly Boulevard.

It’s a fairly large theater and seating should not be a problem, but both Seventh Generation and MovieMaker Magazine have sent out personal invitations and many of those folks have reserved seats. You can, too, by emailing the director, Brett Plymale, at Brett@PFZMedia.com. Tickets are free, but we are asking for donations to support the cause ($10 suggested).

I will be on hand for the film, along with Tim Rhys, the publisher of MovieMaker and Elizabeth Martin-Craig of PesticideWatch.org, who appears in the film.

Thanks to our partnership with Seventh Generation, an overall growing awareness of the dangers of pesticides, and the onset of the lawn and garden season, the traffic to our web site and this blog is at an all-time high. The most common question right now to my personal Inbox is “How do we get the movie to play in our town?”

That answer is simple, really: Make it happen!

SafeLawns.org is a small organization and we don’t have the staff to organize screenings by ourselves, so we rely on individuals and groups from cities and towns and across North America to help us get the movie out there. We also don’t yet have a so-called “distribution deal” with a studio and we’ve decided to not wait around for that to happen. So far the pull from motivated anti-pesticide advocates has been amazing, if not overwhelming, and we’re having a blast with the ride.

So if you want to bring the film, A Chemical Reaction, to your town, here’s a checklist:

THE BASICS
1) Pick a date. Try to avoid major competing events in the same town. Perhaps, however, you can find a compatible event such as a flower show where people are already congregating for a similar reason.
2) Pick a day and time. There’s lots of debate on this one about what’s better: weeknights, weekends, or weekend afternoons. The general consensus is that Wednesday and Thursday evenings around 7 are great — except for people with very young children. Weekend nights can run into social conflicts. Sunday afternoons have been really popular. One note: children really seem to like the movie and come away full of questions about how their own lawns and parks are treated, or not, with chemicals.
3) Who are the other potential stakeholders? In other words, who is interested in helping promote the movie? Look for: garden clubs, church groups, watershed associations, conservation groups, universities, Cooperative Extensions, organic food stories and co-ops etc. Parent-teacher associations are excellent. These are the people who are really motivated to make the world a better place for kids. It’s a good idea to find at least a couple of collaborators right from the start; others will join in later.
4) Pick a venue. So far we’ve shown the film everywhere from the massive Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, to a church basement in Concord, N.H., and everywhere in between. Basically anywhere a DVD can be played, the movie can be screened. As filmmakers, we love theaters. Nothing beats it. But college auditoriums work great and are often less expensive. Community halls are fine, though the PA and lighting can sometimes be challenging.
5) Assess your equipment. In 25 or so screenings, we’ve already had a few horror stories about DVD players that didn’t work, or PA systems that sounded muffled, or even lights that couldn’t be shut off due to timers. Try to test all this in advance of the big night.

THE PROMOTION
This is always tougher than people think. Almost universally, excited local folks think that drawing hundreds of people to a movie is going to be a piece of cake. It’s not, ever. Here are a few keys:
1) The Initial Notice. Get the notice of the film screening to the local magazines and newspapers absolutely as soon as possible for their calendars of events. Many of these folks have long lead times.
2) Who Knows Who? Many communities have local gardening writers or radio hosts who are accessible. Are there other television hosts or newspaper reporters who might cover the arrival of the movie in advance? Prior coverage is more essential than post coverage and a well-timed article or TV piece can literally put dozens if not hundreds of extra eyeballs on the screen.
3) Social Networking. These days Facebook, Twitter and all the on-line stuff really does work. Old-fashioned networking is critical, too. Plan a girls’ night out prior to the movie with a group of a half dozen friends. Post a notice wherever people congregate in your town.
4) Posters and Postcards. We will provide electronic support with images that can be customized for your use. Larger posters in key areas are great, but creating something that can hang on the refrigerator is essential, too.
5) An Email Campaign and Web Sites. All of your stakeholders know people and probably have lists. Leverage all these. Ask people to post the event on their web sites and blogs. A good rule of thumb is to email people three times: one month out, one week out and two days out.
6) Mailing Lists. A direct-mail campaign for a one-time movie event can be cost prohibitive, but take a look at any mailing lists that exist within your circle of stakeholders. You’ll probably find a few people worth buying a stamp for.
7) Door Hangers. If there is a neighborhood where you suspect chemicals are being used and abused, consider a door hanger compaign asking: “Is Your Lawn Safe for Your Children?” with a notice of the movie. They may not come to the film, but they’ll see the message. Note: Check with your town hall to see if door hangers are legal; some municipalities have ordinances against these.

MAKING IT UNIQUE
It’s fine to have a screening for 20 people and call it good. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that at all. To create a buzz in your town that could lead to real change — a bylaw, an ordinance or just a change in your neighbors’ behavior with regard to pesticides — then it’s a good idea to turn the movie screening into a must-see event. Here’s how:
1) Find Local Sponsors. In Burlington, Vt., the local organizers signed on Ben & Jerry’s, Seventh Generation, Gardeners Supply and Green Mountain Coffee as sponsors — which gave them a budget and access to mailing lists instantly. While not every town has iconic sponsor potential like Burlington, most towns do have businesses who are socially and environmentally conscious.
2) Hold a Networking Reception. For an hour prior to the film, invite your sponsors and stakeholders to set up tables. Invite local restaurants and food stores to set up booths. INVITE THE MAYOR, the town manager, the local elected officials. This is essential. Get a few key folks to commit early so you can use their names to draw others.
3) Plan a Panel Discussion. After the film, when the audience is still captive, pick three or four articulate members of the stakeholder community to talk about the issues just presented in the film. Remember, this isn’t just about lawn pesticides. The film covers community action, the Precautionary Principle, state pre-emption laws, homeowners’ rights, health and the environment. Ideal panelists include: doctors, elected officials, lawn care professionals, local activists. The panel can be as big a draw, if not more, than the movie.

THE FINANCES
A “home” screening for up to 20 people costs $30. Other fee structures depending on audience size can be found at http://www.safelawns.org/chemical-reaction/. If you would like to have activist/film producer Paul Tukey or the film’s director, Brett Plymale, in attendance, we do charge an honorarium plus expenses to cover our travel, lodging and meals.

In some cases for state “premieres” of the film, we will work partnerships with groups that involves a split of revenue after expenses. Simply email me if you’d like to begin talking about something like this. In general, for a premiere type event, we’re usually hoping for an audience of 200 more more.

And whether your event is large or small, we will post the event on our web site, send along handouts and help you promote it as best we can.

Showing the film is an amazing tool. So, as I said already . . . if you’re motivated, make it happen!