Safelawns Daily Post and Q&A Blog

Avoidance of pesticides is the surest way to keep children safe.

In recognition of National Poison Prevention Week beginning Sunday, March 18, the SafeLawns Foundation is joining the Environmental Protection Agency and numerous other agencies in urging parents to take extra steps around their homes to reduce the more than 150,000 calls to poison centers involving pesticides and disinfectants.

In just the past year, America’s 57 poison control centers fielded approximately four million calls, treating 2.4 million human poison exposures. Pesticides — weed and insect killers and fungicides — cause a significant number of the worst cases. More than half of pesticide exposures involved children age 5 or younger.

To reduce this exposure to the most vulnerable population, here are eight steps to follow:

1) Avoid using synthetic pesticides and fertilizers on lawns and gardens. Numerous safer, natural alternatives exist that work well and are more cost competitive than ever before.

2) Even with natural or organic products, always completely read the label and follow all safety instructions with regard to application and storage.

3) Never leave open and/or unused products unattended with children around.

4) Even if the label does not indicate doing so, consider locking away unused products in child-safe containers or at least far out of reach.

5) Prior to a pesticide application, be sure to move all toys, picnic tables and other objects that children might be drawn toward.

6) Understand that some organic, natural products may be toxic to children and pets.

7) Avoid using soda bottles, pails, cups or spray bottles when applying pesticide products; these can easily be mistaken by children as safe to drink from or touch.

8 ) Keep the Poison Control Centers’ national helpline number, 1-800-222-1222, near your phone. Program the number into your phone’s “address book” or redial feature.

This GoogleMaps image depicts how the Augusta National Country Club really appears when the cameras are not on.

Few industries around the world can point to a single weekend as the date of their origin. Sure, lawn care has been around ever since kings ordered peasants to scythe their meadows for comfortable strolling, but in terms of the modern lawn care industry it really all began during the second weekend of April of 1967 — the first time the Masters golf tournament was broadcast live to America in full technicolor green.

The men of America couldn’t golf like Arnold Palmer or Jack Nicklaus, or even Gay Brewer, who won the storied tournament that year, but they soon aspired to what they thought was the next best thing: an emerald green fairway front lawn of their own.

And every year since then — 45 years and counting — the guys have raced out to the lawn and garden supply stores, or jumped on the phone with their lawn care company, and immediately expected Augusta National Country Club conditions for their own grass. For the professionals who care for grass, either on golf courses or in home yards, the “Augusta Syndrome” is a love-hate relationship between financial opportunity and unrealistic expectations of their patrons and customers. For the manufacturers like Scotts Miracle Gro, Bayer and others, America’s obsession with Masters green has been a pure gold excuse to print their own money.

This GoogleMaps view shows drained ponds and blotched fairways when the Masters tournament ends.

TRULY GREEN?

“The Masters golf tournament is a nightmare for us every year,” said Mike Bailey, the superintendent of the Whitlock Country Club in Hudson, Quebec, the first town in North America that ever banned lawn and garden pesticides on all property — except golf courses and farms. “We’re sitting up here in Canada in April when the grass hasn’t even broken dormancy most years, and yet our members show up the week after the Masters and expect our course to look like a golf course 2,000 miles to the south.”

The Augusta National Country Club is an easy target for advocates like me and others who are attempting to reduce pesticide use by changing aesthetic expectations and drawing attention to the health and environmental impacts of excessive pesticide and fertilizer use.

Ron Dodson, the president of Audubon International that has certified golf courses for their environmental stewardship, famously denounced Augusta National Country Club as a “television studio on which a golf tournament is played in the spring.” The club reportedly dyes ponds blue or black to hide algae bloom, spray paints grass to make it look more green in years when the newly planted ryegrass isn’t flourishing and even refrigerates, or warms, the azaleas so that they’ll be in perfect bloom for the second weekend in April. Rumors have it that this year Hollywood set designers have been brought in to Augusta to hide damage caused by the lawn chemical weed killer Imprelis that was found last year to kill trees as a side effect.

The pressure to make Augusta National look perfect for a week each year is immense — and certainly still at the core of our nation’s obsession with lawn care aesthetics. You want to take a look at what the word’s most famous golf course really looks like when the cameras are off? It’s easy. Go to GoogleMaps.com and type in “Augusta National Country Club.” Click on the satellite button and then begin to zoom in. What you’ll find is grass that probably looks a lot like your grass. You’ll see bare patches and faded greens. You’ll find empty rubber-lined holes in the earth where those made-for-TV ponds were filled when the cameras were on. It’s a rather scorched earth appearance that most people wouldn’t imagine when they think of the Masters.

BUT IS GOLF THE ENEMY?

But if the premise is correct that the Masters started all of this environmental mess related to golf and expectations, is it still fair nearly a half century later to paint the golf industry with an environmental black mark overall? That answer is more complicated.

The historical horror stories are rampant. Jeff Carlson, who runs one of the nation’s premiere organic courses on Martha’s Vineyard, has talked openly about living next door to the storage shed at a golf course when he was younger. He would stir chemicals with his bare hands and ignore protective gear — until exposure to the chemicals caused his wife’s hair to fall out and made her gravely ill.

Phil Catron, founder of Naturalawn of America and a former executive at ChemLawn, told me about so many of his colleagues who are now gone, killed by what he feels was excessive exposure to chemicals. Those kinds of anecdotal images can make one wonder why we still have golf and lawn chemicals in the first place.

Ultimately, though, it’s not entirely the golf industry’s fault. Golf superintendents, led the examples of Carlson and others, have by and large cleaned up their act. The Audubon folks enlist more and more courses in their environmental stewardship program each year. Many of the men and women in the golf industry that I’ve come across wouldn’t spray anything at all if they didn’t have to. Many who do spray as a part of their course maintenance protocols use as little toxic material as possible, put up warning signs on the course and dress appropriately.

The real issue is expectations and marketing. Golf can be played amongst a few weeds and brown patches, but customers who have been overtly and subliminally motivated by ad dollars, don’t want to hear it.

“If I didn’t have the full support of my membership, an organic golf course wouldn’t work,” said Carlson. “We can create a championship-caliber golf course, but it’s not going to look the same as a course that sprays with synthetic chemical weed killers and fungicides. We’re going to have a few blemishes. We’re going to led the weeds grow off the fairways. Our members accept that, but not all do. And, at other courses, some of my colleagues will get fired if they let too many weeds grow.”

He shakes his head at the absurdity of it all.

And, yet, in three weeks the Masters tournament will recharge those expectations among consumers. In a couple of weeks, Opening Day of the baseball season will showcase all those “Scotts is Used Here” banners in Major League ballparks. Baseball fans will charge into the landscape supply centers and buy a bagged product that offers the intrinsic promise of Fenway Park and Dodger Stadium at home lawns across North America.

It’s a multi-billion dollar industry based on a big pile of bunk.

So this year, when you watch the Masters, understand one thing: It’s no more realistic for your lawn to look like Augusta National Country Club does for a week in April than it is for your golf game to be on par with Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson or Tiger Woods.

Professionals and Homeowners Invited to 2-Day Symposium

They are the major issues facing the lawn and garden industry on our continent today: How do you deal with fertilizer runoff from lawns? How can you safely save your trees in the face of exotic invasive insects? How can golf courses deliver championship conditions and still be environmentally friendly?

Emeritus Professor George Snyder

The event, to be held at the Chicago Botanic Garden, is bringing together the top professionals in the world today for a two-day symposium. Day 1, Friday, March 30, is geared for professionals in turf care, municipal maintenance, arborists and golf course superintendents. Day 2, Saturday, March 31, will be structured for homeowners.

“The lawn and garden industry is facing unprecedented challenges and we have brought together the thought leaders who will help others find successful solutions,” said Brian Milam of Calcium Products Inc. the event organizer. The lead sponsor is the non-profit organization Lawn to Lake, with additional support from Natural Industries (makers of Actinovate), Milorganite, the Authentic Haven Brand, Bradfield Organics, and the Seed Keeper Company.

The focus of the presentations will be environmental sustainability, organic maintenance and Integrated Pest Management. Educational credits will be available for professionals.

Among the presentions on the professional day:

How to prevent nutrient leaching from turfgrass — Dr. George Snyder, professor emeritus of soil & water science, University of Florida

What to do about Emerald Ash Borer — Peter Wild, founder, Boston Tree Preservation

What’s making Torrey Pines look so amazing? — Paul Cushing, deputy director, golf division, city of San Diego

Organic management for the lawn care professional — Howard Garrett, founder, DirtDoctor.com.

For the homeowners’ session on Saturday, March 31, Wild will deliver a second address focused on how to save the urban forest and specimen trees. Dr. William Sadler, of Sadler’s Natural Solutions, will talk about organic lawn care and gardening and SafeLawns founder Paul Tukey will deliver the keynote address that details new products that make natural, safe lawn and care care more viable than ever before. At 11:30 a.m., Tukey will convene a panel discussion with all the experts to answer audience questions.

For more information, call Brian Milam 920-400-0422.

COMPANIES MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Pearls Premium, www.pearlspremium.com
ECO-LAWN, www.wildflowerfarm.com
High County Gardens, www.highcountrygardens.com

With the calendar barreling toward spring, I’m like many people this time of year . . . dreaming about how to make my lawn and garden better. I waited too long last fall on a big seeding project, so I’ll be out there again as soon as this weekend in southern Rhode Island to try to kick-start a lawn in time for my daughters to enjoy a summer of outdoor games.

Lots of people in the U.S. seem to be in the mood these days to be rid of their lawn, or at least some of it. At SafeLawns, we’re not an anti-lawn organization by any stretch. We talk about reduction in the size of lawns — why would anyone mow multiple acres of grass with gas prices pressing $4 and up? But, in general, we don’t feel that lawns are the bad guys; it’s the maintenance practices of synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides, excessive mowing and watering, and a general waste of resources that we’re trying to change.

One of the best places to start conserving resources in the yard begins with your selection of grass seed. This weekend I’ll be planting a “low mow” brand known as Pearls Premium, which I know from trials becomes deeply rooted, yet remains relatively slow growing as compared to many lawn seeds. As much as I travel, I can’t be a slave to mowing — and I’m not quite ready to relinquish that task to the neighborhood teenager (if I could find one) or one of the mow, blow and go companies.

Notice I used the phrase “low mow” above and not “no mow.” The idea of having a real, living lawn — as opposed to one of those plastic carpets — that doesn’t require ANY maintenance is a bit of a fantasy. “No-mow” is really a misnomer, because such a thing doesn’t exist. There are, however, grasses you can get away with cutting only three to four times a year, maybe a bit more than that in full-sun locations that receive more than 20 inches of rainfall per season. That’s what we’ll focus on here with a review of some proven companies and products:

LOW MOW GRASSES — I’m quite sure it’s accurate to credit Neil Diboll of Prairie Nursery in Wisconsin for coining this phrase. When I interviewed him for my book, the Organic Lawn Care Manual, he said he’d been selling his selection of low- and slow-growing fescues since 1994.

These days, High Country Gardens in New Mexico is among the three companies that have risen to the forefront of the alternative lawn grass movement. One of High Country’s products is a “Low Work and Water” blend of fescues for Zones 4-10, which is the bulk of the nation. High Country’s own “No Mow” mix is specially formulated for colder, rainier areas of the country such as the Northeast.

Pearls Premium, from my neck of the woods up in New England, has probably done the best public relations job of getting the notion of environmentally friendly grasses out into the marketplace. I tried the product last year and it works as advertised — pushing out a nice, think stand of grass with thin blades that are comfortable under foot. They have different formulations for sun and shade, so be sure you know which is best for your yard.

A Canadian company known as Wildflower Farm has been selling Eco-Lawn grass seed for several years with its own proprietary blend of fine fescues. I’ve grown this, too, and was impressed with the germination rates and lush stand. Wildflower Farm, which as the name would indicate also sells wildflower seeds, offers a 50-pound bag covering 10,000 square feet for $299.50. That can be a great investment when it blooms a rainbow of different colors.

SPEAKING OF OTHER ALTERNATIVES, check out this guest blog from David Salman of High Country Gardens: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2011/02/guest-blog-rethinking-the-american-lawn-part-ii-great-groundcovers/. We’ll be reposting all of David’s great work from 2011 in the days ahead.

Victoria Rowell introduces 8-year-old Joanna Veneziale at the Philadelphia Flower Show Sunday.

On the compact platform meant for expert potting and pruning demonstrations at the world’s largest indoor botanical exhibition, an 8-year-old wasn’t about to give up center stage Sunday at the Philadelphia International Flower Show.

Shortly after authors Paul Tukey and Victoria Rowell took the stage to introduce their book, Tag, Toss & Run, that went on sale last week and will hit book stores in April, Rowell playfully instigated a hula hoop contest with audience members — offering a free book to the person who could keep the hoop spinning for the longest period of time. After two young children took their turns, Joanna Veneziale of Telford, Pa., quietly raised her hand and asked to play. Others lined up behind her.

As Tukey talked on about other games, the young girl kept her hoop going.

A minute passed, then two, then three, as the calm, quiet youngster slowly but surely kept the hula hoop — introduced to the world in 1958 — twirling around her waist.

Audience members were introduced to hoop trundling, which predates the hula hoop by thousands of years.

When it became clear that Veneziale was highly intent on winning the book, the authors switched gears and continued their demonstrations of old-fashioned games. They played everything from Frisbee, to Molkky, Follow the Leader, Hoop Trundling and Tepak Sakraw — while Veneziale quietly kept her hoop aloft and moving.

“Are you getting tired,” asked Tukey.

“I’m fine,” she said.

“She could be doing her homework right now!” said Rowell to much laughter.

Members of the United States Quoits Association then came to the stage to conduct a 20-minute demonstration of the lawn game that is primarily only played in the steel towns of Pennsylvania. Again, the young girl was unfazed by all the commotion around her.

Tukey reminded the audience that part of his goal in writing the book was to reinforce the idea that lawns should be used and not just looked at for aesthetic purposes. The safest lawns, he said, are the ones grown without toxic synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

Rowell also told the standing-room-only audience that getting outside and playing games was an essential part of a healthy childhood. Both writers told numerous stories of growing up on a farm in Maine, where they helped grow their family’s food and regularly ate dandelions, purslane, plantain, wild strawberries and other so-called lawn weeds.

When the hula hoop final stopped twirling, the standing-room-only audience cheered loudly.

By the time the hula hoop finally hit the stage floor — after more than 45 minutes — Joanna appeared momentarily mortified. The audience’s roar and participation in an old-fashioned wheelbarrow race soon put a smile back on her face.

“All that time and she didn’t even break a sweat!” said Rowell.

With her hula hoop conquest complete, Joanna took her turn at wheelbarrow racing.

Later in the afternoon at a book signing with Tukey, the founder of SafeLawns.org, and Rowell, the actress best known for her roles in Young and the Restless and Diagnosis: Murder, the hula hoop champion came by to get her copy of Tag, Toss & Run autographed.

“You were the star of the show,” said Tukey.

BOSTON, MASS. — On April 17, one of the last full days of classes for the spring semester at Boston’s Northeastern University, administrators have come up with an old-fashioned way to help students decompress before final exams.

Paul Tukey, author of Tag, Toss & Run: 40 Classic Lawn Games and founder of the Lawn Games for Life campaign, will offer a lecture and book signing in the university library at noon, followed by an afternoon of the games Tukey features in his book — from bocce, badminton and croquet, to lesser known discoveries such as Molkky from Finland, Kubb from Norway and double ball from Native Americans.

The event was the brainchild of Executive Professor Ron Whitfield from Northeastern’s College of Business Administration, who has invited Tukey — a well-known environmentalist focused on toxin reduction in the landscape — to lecture at his courses on business sustainability for the last several years.

“We think that Paul’s message of pesticide and fertilizer reduction, and this new book that encourages people of all ages to take time away from computers and video games, dovetails perfectly with Northeastern’s goals of sustainability,” said Whitfield, an economist. “We think students will thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to get outside and run around prior to what is traditionally a high stress time on campus. I’m sure we’ll see a lot of laughter, smiles and re-living of childhood memories.”

The student organizers say the interest among their peers has been strong.

“We have several student groups excited about this,” said Karly Domsky, Marketing and Event Planning Co-op for the Northeastern University Libraries. “It’s going to be a really, really fun way to get outdoors before finals.”

NOTE: SafeLawns members receive $10 off registration to this conference

FROM BEYOND PESTICIDES

With Members of Congress attempting to gut pesticide protections from the Clean Water Act and state legislators threatening to repeal Connecticut’s historic pesticide ban on school grounds, environmentalists from the Northeast and beyond are joining with researchers, authors, beekeepers, organic business leaders, elected officials, and others to discuss strategies for
protecting health and the environment.

Healthy Communities: the 30th National Pesticide Forum will take place March 30-31 at Yale
University in New Haven, CT. Register online. Fees start at $35 ($15 for students) and include all sessions, conference materials, and organic food and drink. A limited number of partial scholarships are available, contact Beyond Pesticides for details.

Conference Highlights:

Pesticide-Free Lawns and Landscapes
With the Connecticut General Assembly’s considering legislation that would repeal the state’s ban on toxic pesticide use on school grounds by replacing it with a weak “integrated pest management” (IPM) system, this issue will be a central theme at the conference. Speakers on this topic include: Warren Porter, PhD, professor of Zoology and Environmental Toxicology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison with expertise in lawn chemicals, especially low doses and mixtures; Chip Osborne, national organic turf expert and president of Osborne Organics; Patti Wood, executive director of Grassroots Environmental Education, a key player in the state pesticide bans; Paul Tukey, founder and spokesman for the Safe Lawns Foundation and author of The Organic Lawn Care Manual; Sarah Little, PhD, author of Introduction to Organic Lawns and Yards and editor of the NOFA Standards For Organic Land Care.

Pesticides and Health
Research continues to link pesticide exposure to health effects like ADHD, cancer, hormone disruption and more. Nationally renowned scientists will present their work and perspectives on the pesticide problem. Speakers include: Sandra Steingraber, PhD, ecologist and author of several books including Living Downstream and Raising Elijah; John Wargo, PhD, Yale professor and author of Our Children’s Toxic Legacy and Green Intelligence; Routt Reigart, MD, Medical
University of South Carolina professor and the nation’s top pediatric expert on pesticides; Julia Brody, PhD, breast cancer researcher and director of the Silent Spring Institute; Allison Aiello, PhD, University of Michigan School of Public Health epidemiologist with expertise in antibacterial and infectious disease.

Honey Bee Protection
Considering that honey bees pollinate one-third of the food we eat, the decline in honey bee populations, which has been linked in part to pesticides, must be a national priority. The Forum will feature beekeepers and a groundbreaking university researcher. David Hackenberg, beekeeper to first discover Colony Collapse Disorder; Christian Krupke, PhD, Purdue entomologist who discovered EPA was severely underestimating honey bee exposure to pesticides; Robert Deschak, core member of the New York City Beekeepers Association who
keeps hives on NYC rooftops; Ted and Becky Jones, owners of Jones’ Apiaries, and president and treasurer of the Connecticut Beekeepers’ Association, who will be bringing a demonstration hive to the conference.

Healthy Food: Fair, Local and Organic
Pesticides not only affect the people who consume food, but also those who grow it and live near agricultural areas. The conference will begin with a tour of local urban farms (and pesticide-free playing fields), and feature organics as a theme throughout. Gary Hirshberg,
chairman and co-founder of Stonyfield Farms and anti-GMO advocate; Nelson Carrasquillo, general coordinator CATA (Farmworkers Support Committee); Bill Duesing, executive director of the Northeast Farming Association of Connecticut (CT NOFA); Martha Page, executive director of Hartford Food System, a nonprofit organization in Hartford devoted to issues of food security.

For more information, including a full speaker list and schedule of events, please see the Forum webpage.

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/

Here is a new study that suggests the environmental toxins we inhale, touch or ingest have the potential to harm not only our children, but also our grandkids, great great great grandkids: http://esciencenews.com/articles/2012/03/02/effects.environmental.toxicants.reach.down.through.generations

A group of community and health advocates and legislators will gather this Thursday, March 8, at 1 p.m. to draw attention to a bill in the state legislature that would revoke Connecticut’s 2005 law that restricts the applications of pesticides on school grounds.

“Connecticut’s landmark law banning the use of toxic pesticides on elementary and middle school fields in Connecticut is in danger of being eliminated,” said a notice circulated today by Nancy Alderman of Environment and Human Health. “Pro-pesticide forces have introduced legislation that would roll back protections for children’s health and once again permit the use of even the most toxic pesticides on school fields.”

MORE INFORMATION:

When: Thursday, March 8, 2012 1:00 p.m.

Where: Legislative Office Building, Hartford, CT. Room 1A

Speakers:
Senator Ed Meyer, Co-chair, Environment Committee
Representative Dick Roy, Co-Chair, Environment Committee
Public health experts, medical professionals, and landscaping professionals

Sponsors:
The Watershed Partnership, Inc., Environment and Human Health, Inc., Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Grassroots Environmental Education and 20 other non-profits, associations and health organizations

Contacts:
Jerome Silbert, M.D., Executive Director, Watershed Partnership, Inc. 203-453-8537, WaterPartnership@SBCglobal.net

Nancy Alderman, President, Environment and Human Health, Inc. 203-248-6583

Doug Wood, Associate Director, Grassroots Environmental Education, 516-883-0887, daw@grassrootsinfo.org

Louis Burch, Program Coordinator, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, 203-503-1314, lburch@citizenscampaign.org