Where the Grass Is Greener, and Safer
Having a green lawn is easy. New York Botanical Garden Educator Jim Carr says for a safe, chemical-free lawn, let nature run its course. Here, Kristan Zimmer shares his top five tips to shrinking your carbon footprint.
While it used to mean natural, now many “organic” fertilizers are mass-produced and shipped from one part of the country to another. Raised on a farm, Jim Carr studied biology in college. Today, he teaches ecological landscaping as an educator at the New York Botanical Garden, (nybg.org). “It’s totally sustainable,” he says of the practice . “The only carbon footprint is the lawnmower.”
Ditch The Chemicals
Many pesticides and herbicides are made with some of the same chemicals once found in World War II weapons, says Carr. They are toxic and harmful not only to our children and pets but also to our plants. “It’s one of the reasons why we had so much tree destruction in Greenwich this spring,” says Carr. “The tree roots are suffocating and dying.” Chemicals, including those in artificial fertilizers, contribute to soil compaction, meaning the soil lacks oxygen, nutrients and moisture and becomes dry and dense. Your lawn will go through a detoxification period when you ditch the chemicals. “When you stop the fertilizer there is no food for the plants,” he says. Plan for a three- to five-year recovery period if you stop cold turkey. “The earth and soil have great healing powers,” he adds.
Go Organic
To help your lawn down easy from its chemical high, switch to organic fertilizer temporarily. A good one will have spores of soil organisms. (Carr likes North Country Organics; norganics.com. But if you would rather hire someone else to do the maintenance, try Cordulack’s Organic Land Care in Stamford; 203-613-8813.) An organic fertilizer will help keep things looking nice while you shift from artificial to natural lawn maintenance. However, it won’t solve the real problem: soil compaction.
Leave the leaves
Soil compaction can be prevented by one thing only: humus (pronounced “hue-muss”), which is organic matter that retains moisture and nutrients in the soil and increases oxygen to your plants and grass. For a fast fix, you can buy humus by the truckload and spread it on your lawn with a rake or shovel. Carr recommends doing it once in spring, once midsummer and again in fall. (For help, call Country Green in Monroe; 203-268-2922.) But for the long-term, instead of raking and leaf blowing, put a mulching blade on your lawn mower. This will chop up your leaves and grass so that you can leave them on the lawn (rather than collecting them in a bag) to help create humus naturally.
Turn off the Water
With more humus in your soil, the less you’ll need to water your lawn. Humus absorbs one-and-a-half quarts of water per cubic foot; over-watering creates moist, humid conditions that lead to fungal disease and ultimately creates brown patches.
Welcome Weeds
“When you talk about a natural lawn and natural property, it requires a change in philosophy and sense of aesthetics,” Carr says. Weeds happen, so don’t fight it. In fact, says Carr, most weeds are actually garden flowers gone wild. He recommends waiting to mow until late spring. Instead, create a sea of color. Plant bulbs throughout the lawn (try crocuses and daffodils, mixed with wildflowers such as violas and star-of-Bethlehem). For help, call Plantscapes Organics in Fairfield; 203-382-0335.