The French government has put one of the world's huge chemical pesticide manufacturers on notice: One of its newer insecticides is killing bees and that product's days are numbered. Thiamethoxam — one of many pesticides in the class known as neonicotinoids, or synthetic nicotines — was recently implicated in a report by France's National Food, Environment and Work Safety Agency. A leading French government ...

[caption id="attachment_5212" align="alignleft" width="540" caption="This sign lets your neighborhood know where you stand on the applications of pesticides."][/caption] Those other signs are ubiquitous these days. "Caution." "Warning." "Danger." "Keep off the Grass." Usually in yellow, but sometimes in green, gray, red or black, the flags are nearly as plentiful as lawns themselves. They are actually legal ...

[caption id="attachment_5207" align="alignleft" width="540" caption="Red thread will discolor grass, making it appear somewhat pinkish. But the lawn usually recovers once the weather warms."][/caption] If we get five questions about the same topic in close succession, that's usually a sign of a significant issue. In the past week or so we've had about 20 questions concerning a lawn fungus known as red threa ...

If you're worried about contracting lyme disease this long weekend, or the rest of this summer, then watch this video from NBC: http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article/201820/314/Your-Garden-Get-rid-of-ticks ...

Ever since 2001, when the Supreme Court of Canada acknowledged the right of Canadians to ban pesticides — the weed and insect killers that also kill us and our pets — the pesticide prohibitions have swept from East to West across Canada like political wildfire. Last fall British Columbia Premier Christy Clark warmed the hearts of the her constuents, the vast majority of whom favor pesticide bans, by announc ...

[caption id="attachment_5174" align="alignleft" width="563" caption="The 100-year-old lawn at Taliesin in Wisconsin is top-dressed with compost from Purple Cow Organics."][/caption] The inspiration for today's post comes by way of Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd Wright designed home in Spring Green, Wi. By the legendary architect's directive, the grounds are beginning their second century of organic maintenance t ...

RESEARCH SHOWS ECOSMART PRODUCT IS SAFE, EFFECTIVE I scoff at poison ivy, or bee stings, or the other associated scratches and itches that come from a life outdoors. It’s part of it. And worth it. But Lyme Disease has struck fear into many of us living in the Northeast and, as much as I hate to admit it, I’m in that club. As someone who has practically preached the benefits of an outdoor lifestyle through g ...

[caption id="attachment_5160" align="alignleft" width="540" caption="Children and the young at heart of all ages enjoyed a plethora of lawn games, including parachute, on the organic lawns at Look Park in Northampton, Mass."][/caption] Hundreds of people enjoyed flawless weather and acres of organic lawns Saturday at the first Pioneer Valley Planning Commission Lawn-A-Thon Festival made possible by a grant ...

[caption id="attachment_5152" align="alignleft" width="540" caption="With the Keep off the Grass Sign evident in the foreground, a baseball game takes place Wednesday evening at 5 p.m. on a field that had been treated with synthetic toxic weed killers at approximately 4:30 p.m. (Sandy Syburg photo)"][/caption] It happens, undoubtedly, often and everywhere. Poisons are sprayed to kill weeds on sports fields, ...

Many thanks to Kelly Burke for this stellar review of our latest book: http://lawncare.about.com/od/Book_Reviews/fr/Tag-Toss-And-Run-40-Classic-Lawn-Games-By-Paul-Tukey-And-Victoria-Rowell.htm ...