NO-SPRAY LANDSCAPING
As the dangers of pesticides increase, lawn-care companies are adopting organic treatments, also includes research briefs, gleanings.
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by Greg and Pat Williams
From mutant tomatoes to colored mulch.
Pesticide concern is on the rise. According to a national
Gallup poll of 1,500 households, 88% of consumers rank the
safety of a pesticide they use as more important than its
effectiveness. Indeed, 55% of the pesticideusing
respondents said their worries about the dangers of using
chemical insect controls have risen in just the past three
years.
Such concerns are spreading to the commercial landscaping
and tree-service industries, as well. The nationwide
tree-care firm Davey Tree & Expert Co., for instance,
is reducing its pesticide use on trees and shrubs by 75% by
using customized sprayers and Safer-brand insecticidal
soaps.
A few firms are going 100% cold turkey. Frank Harder,
president of Harder Landscape Contractors in Hempstead,
Connecticut, has quit using pesticides entirely—after
relying on them for 40 years. Why? He felt uneasy about the
presumed "short- and long-term innocence" of pesticides,
the concerns expressed by his employees who were exposed to
the sprays, the high cost of using them and the increasing
risk of liability suits. Now he concentrates on cultural
methods for maintaining healthy plants, saying, "We believe
neglect is the real enemy that is generally fought by
chemical warfare." The results? His business is growing,
and "we sleep nights."
Even some lawn-care companies have gone organic. Mike
Merner, of Charlestown, Rhode Island, dropped the
chemical-intensive lawn-care approach when he saw the
vicious cycle of dependency it created. Now he runs the
Organic Landscape Company and guarantees that the lawns he
cares for won't have insect or disease problems. What
secret ingredient does he use to maintain such wonderfully
robust home turf? Compost. He makes it himself out of
livestock manure, fish scraps and plant clippings.
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