It’s getting to be that time of year again when everyone seems to have a green lawn.  It is not the lush green we associate with summer but rather the artificial green that only means one thing, a spray pre-emergent. Spraying lawn chemicals may seem to provide our lawns a leg up with spring fast approaching, however, we must be careful that we are not doing more harm than good. While lawn chemicals seem to primarily stay on the lawn this is not necessarily true. In a recent study by the Center for Disease Control 100% of the 9,282 of the people nationwide were found to have traces of lawn chemicals in either their blood or urine. The average person in the study had 13 of the 23 chemicals in their system. This is an outrageous concept, and most adults are less susceptible than children. Children are more often playing in the grass, putting their hands in their mouth, and even playing on the carpet (which can contain the chemicals tracked in from outside.) The vapors and chemicals can remain potent for a month or even a year! Not only are there harmful effects for humans but for our ecosystem that we are trying to beautify as well. The chemicals meant to kill pest or weeds may destroy nitrogen-fixing microorganisms that are helping to provide nutrients for our lawns. It may even kill earthworms or other insects that aerate the soil causing it to compact. Along with these effects there are many others. Of the 30 major chemicals used on lawns 23 are detected in groundwater, and runoff causes algal blooms which depletes oxygen levels in water causing lessened aquatic life.  Ultimately we can be our lawn’s worst enemy and the effects can be far reaching beyond our capacity to comprehend. However, multiple solutions exist so we do not have to be stuck with this problem.

Our Eco Landsaping lawn treatments provide a chemical free solution that will keep your lawn green and your neighborhood safer.  Our basic service utilizes corn gluten meal which acts as a gentle “weed and feed”.  We apply this 4 times a year and usually this is enough to keep your lawn looking good.  We have a range of other eco friendly services that can be used on an as-needed basis.  There are also some maintenance cultural practices that we recommend that will help keep your lawn looking good.  We’ll cover that in a future post.   Give us a call so we can help you Go green in 2015!

Lawn maintained with Eco practices