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Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | New meaning to green lawnYou can get a lush, grassy yard without using chemicalsBy TOM AVRIL Among the immaculate lawns in Cherry Hill, N.J., some still a vivid shade of emerald in early fall, the Deppa familys yard is marred by traces of imperfection: A scattering of brown patches and gasp! some weeds. Sarah Deppa endures it willingly. Shes gone chemical-free. I just didnt want any pesticides whatsoever, said Deppa, who hands out flyers urging her neighbors to use fewer chemicals. My feeling is, this stuff is all over the neighborhood. Crabby about crabgrass? Try a product by the earthy-sounding name of corn gluten. Got grubs? The antichemical crowd swears by a natural option a bacterial powder called Milky Spore. Haunted by poor soil? Shovel in some kitchen compost. Lawn care specialists at Rutgers and Pennsylvania State Universities say more homeowners are calling for information about this organic approach, concerned that synthetic pesticides and fertilizers may be bad for them and the environment. Some studies suggest that caution is warranted. In the Journal of the American Medical Association in July, researchers reported that the rate of pesticide-related illness in school children, while low, increased from 1998 to 2002. The ailments included nausea, headaches and wheezing, attributed to chemical use both on school property and on nearby farms. Other studies have linked certain pesticides with higher cancer rates in farm workers. In the Philadelphia area, the U.S. Geological Survey has detected trace amounts of weedkillers in streams and wells throughout the Delaware River basin, albeit usually at low levels. Although individual chemicals generally are not measured at unsafe levels, little is known about the combined effect of multiple substances. Paul Hepperly, research director at the nonprofit Rodale Institute in Kutztown, Pa., which studies and promotes organic farming and gardening, said theres no sense in taking a chance. You cant weigh the aesthetics of a dandelion against the abnormal development of your family members, he said. Supporters say that if done correctly, an organic lawn can be just as green as the chemical kind. But as the Deppas discovered, it is likely to have some weeds. It doesnt have to be perfect, said Jane Nogaki, pesticide program coordinator for the nonprofit New Jersey Environmental Federation. NaturaLawn of America, the company that maintains the Deppas lawn, offers both a chemical-free service and a reduced-chemical option. With the latter, workers use limited amounts of pesticides to spot-treat weeds as needed, company officials said. Lawn Doctor of Bux-Mont in Warminster, Pa., also offers treatment with and without synthetic chemicals; the natural option costs about 15 percent more, said owner Greg Magda. But many organic products are comparable in cost to the synthetic variety, said Drew Carroll, a horticulturist at Feeneys, a Feasterville, Pa., store that sells lawn and garden supplies. Organic products have earned some skeptics, and not just on the subject of effectiveness. In the case of fertilizers, for example, nitrogen is an ingredient both in synthetic products and in the natural variety manure. When you use too much nitrogen, regardless of whether the product is synthetic or natural, it washes into streams and can contribute to excess algae growth. Then when algae decompose, they rob fish of their oxygen supply. But Rodales Hepperly said that when homeowners use organic compost, the need for fertilizer is reduced because compost does a better job of holding nutrients in the soil. Among Butlers tips: Dont mow the grass too short, so it becomes firmly established and crowds out weeds. Leave clippings in place as a natural fertilizer. Water less frequently, but for longer periods. Others favor corn gluten, a milling byproduct whose weed-fighting properties were discovered by accident and patented in the early 1990s at Iowa State University. The material contains certain proteins that inhibit germination, so it must be applied at the correct time in the spring, said Nick Christians, a horticulture professor at Iowa State. Cheltenham, Pa., resident Mark Goodman, who owns a lawn and garden care company called Earthcraft, says the product does a good job of keeping out dandelions.
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