Friday, September 04, 2009
Chemicals!
I can't stand chemicals. But like a bad habit they can be hard to quit. I used a 2-4D product yesterday to get a leg up on weeds in a lawn. Bad idea! My nose ran and head ached. How can anyone use this crap over a long period of time if I can't even tolerate a single application? I've been reading up on natural lawn care and believe I've got the idea of how this works. Takes more time up front, but no chemical expenditures or exposure problems down the road. I'm going "drug" free from now on.
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3 comments:
Last year I started the natural approach to a healthy, low-weed yard because I am sensitive to chemicals and I have pets. Before that I really didn't do anything with my lawn as I see it as a green carpet to be replaced with more attractive things like flowers and vegetables:) The thing that pushed me to do something about the lawn I still had was when the neighbor's yard went entirely dandelions and infested my own lawn. Now I use corn-based fertilizer in the spring and seed in the fall, while pulling dandelions all summer with a WeedHound and mowing incessantly during dandelion flowering season to try and reverse the damage - and maybe soften up my hard lumpy yard in the process. I can't say that it is definitely working yet as we had a very good lawn year this year. I think I should know next year.
Good luck staying on the wagon!
Hi Sylvana, interesting. It sounds like you're on the right track to having a decent lawn without the chemicals. I've never used the corn-based fertilizer before. Adjusting the mower deck a little higher also seems to help with the weed problem. I've learned a lot as well from a book called The Organic Lawn Care Manual, by Paul Tukey. Yea, I'm getting sick of the chemicals, even for commercial property I'm maintaining. I'm going to see if I can talk them into switching to natural lawn care, which takes longer to achieve a nice lawn but it is worth it in the long run. Good luck with the dandelions. Take care. Neil
I totally avoid chemicals. I removed most of my lawn, except for 2 small patches. I found that for my zone 4 garden, wooly verbena and the most low growing thymes will fill in, eventually. Because the lawn is small, in the spring I do dandellion patrol and either dig them up or cut off their flower. Great post! Gloria
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