LEAVE IT A LAWN

 

An acre of lawn needs more than 27,000 gallons of water every week. But Americans use even more than that; we routinely overwater our lawns by 20 to 40%.

 

BACKGROUND.

 

Lawn care isn't something you normally associate with saving the Earth. But when you consider that thereare an estimated 20 million acres of lawnand some 600 trillion grass plantsin the U.S., you can see the impact that watering, fertilizing, and mowing them might have.

 

If you have a lawn, it's worthwhile to learn a few environmentally sound ways of taking care of it.

 

mow, mow, mow Some Mower Facts:

 

 Set your mower blades high. Don't be a victim of "golf course syndrome." Many Americans believe a healthy lawn looks like a manicured golf course; but the opposite is true. For most types of grass, the proper length is 2" to 3" high. This encourages longer, healthier mots, and provides natural shade for the ground around each plantwhich enables it to retain moisture in the soil.

 

Keep mower blades sharp. Dull blades tear grass (instead of cleanly cutting it), weakening the plants, and making them more susceptible to weeds and disease.

 

Grass Clippings:

 

 "Cut it high and let it lie." During dry periods, leave grass

cuttings on the lawn. This works well if you keep grass long and cut

small amounts each time. Cuttings will serve as a moisture­

retentive mulch and a natural fertilizer.

 

At other times, use grass clippings and other lawn and garden waste to make a compost pile. It will provide your garden with natural mulch and fertilizer ‑‑and help reduce contributions to your local, landfill. (See p. 86)

 

FILL ‘ER UP

 

Most established lawns need about 1" of water a week, applied slowly to prevent runoff. This is considerably more effective than shorter, more frequent sprinklings.

 

How can you tell if it's an inch? Put 3 cans around the area you're sprinkling, at varying distances from the sprinkler. Check them every five minutes to see how long it takes for an inch of water to accumulate in each. Add the 3 times together, and divide by 3 to get an average. That's how long to water.

 

Watering Tips:

 

Due to outdoor watering, water use in America increases by as

much as 30% in the summer months.

 

Water from sprinklers evaporates 4 8 times faster during the

heat of the day than in the early morning. Watering at night is bet­

ter than middaythere's no evaporation problembut it can

cause fungus in the grass plants. Best choice: water in the morning.

 

In a drought, don't waste water on grass beginning to turn brown.

It's dormant and will revive after normal rainfall begins again.

 

ABOUT PESTICIDES

 

Homeowners use up to 10 times more toxic chemicals per acre than farmers. * The average homeowner uses 5 to 10 pounds per lawnfor a na~ tional total of some 25 to 50 million pounds! Many scientists believe these chemicals endanger the songbird population (by contaminating the worms they eat), as well as polluting groundwater.

 

A green, healthy lawn is possible without chemical pesticides.

(See Source below)

 

RESULTS

 

If every lawnowner composted grass clippings, we could cut the

landfill congestion by a whopping 18% during summer and spring.

 

Avoiding overwatering can save about 12% of a homeowner's water use during the summeran average of over 50 gallons a week. If 100,000 lawnowners do it, 5 million gallons are saved.

 

If even 10% of lawnowners began using organic pesticides, it would remove 2.5 to 5 million pounds of toxic chemicals from the environment every year.

 

SOURCE

The ChemicalFree Laum, by Warren Schultz (Rodale Press, 1989).