Lawns going Green
Here's Harvard's own description of their much-heralded organic lawn care program. And the story about it in the New York Times. And there's great news about some lawns of the federal government around Washington, D.C.
Actions to Reduce Pollutants and Toxins
Five Canadian provinces have banned the use of all pesticides for ornamental purposes, including residential lawns, and the big-box stores have even removed them from their stores country-wide. Here's a quick summary of the Canadian situation.
The city council of Madison, Wisconsin similarly banned phosphorus-containing lawn fertilizers, and a similar measure for the whole state passed in the Assembly.
Actions to Overturn Laws and Rules Mandating Lawns or Resource-I
ntensive Lawn Care
From Wild Ones.org, a great resource about landscape laws to protect native-plant gardens.
In Buffalo, NY a native-plant front yard gardener (photo) got slapped with a hefty fine, which led to a campaign by gardeners and bloggers around the world. The mayor eventually rescinded the fine, saying he'd received "numerous emails from angry gardeners." The story begins here.
Golf Courses
Since 1995 theres' been a Golf and the Environment Initiative, and the USGA funds 56 research projects at 28 universities to find salt-tolerant grasses and other ways to use less water, and 12% of US courses use "reclaimed" water. Source: Washington Post. And Jeff Carlson, organic course manager, has been heralded by the industry. And research is proceeding on poverty grass for golf courses.
Justin Timberlake bought the golf course he grew up with and turned it greener. Wish we knew more about those improvements in water quality and conservation - sounds encouraging!
Organizations
In Canada, the Coalition for a Healthy Calgary tackles the big lawn issues.
Milford, CT does a great job of promoting healthier lawns. In the Los Angeles Times, Rules Requiring Lawns Differ by City. Las Vegas pays one dollar for every square foot of grass replaced with ROCKS.
Cities
In Wisconsin, there's a Greater Madison Healthy lawn Team.
States
In 2009, Florida's Governor signed a Florida-friendly landscape bill, SB 2080, into law. This new law is designed so groups like homeowner associations cannot force you to plant inappropriate plants on your land, which run counter Florida-friendly landscape principles. If you keep planting the same plant in an area because a deed restriction or covenant-enforcing group demands it be planted, at great expense and with little success, even though Florida-friendly maintenance practices are being followed, this law gives you the right to plant more appropriate plants.
Interestingly, lawns and turf grass are not mentioned specifically, but you could conclude that turf, which refuses to grow well on your property, is an inappropriate plant that runs counter to Florida-Friendly landscaping. See www.floridayards.org/ for details of Florida Friendly Landscaping. Unfortunately, last minute amendments changed procedures for regulating water-use and development permits, reducing opportunities for public input, making it easier for developers. Most environmental groups opposed the bill.
