DC Urban Gardeners

Tukey says: Take your lawn organic this fall

Paul Tukey, one of the top environmental crusaders on the American landscape, brought his message to us at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., and we it was so valuable and inspiring, we just wish you were all there.  Next best thing?  Read on. 

Why is Paul Tukey?  In addition to his writing, magazine editing and for several years, his TV show, he heads up the nonprofit foundation SafeLawns.org with these important goals: 

• Reduce the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides AND gas mowers.
• Reduce lawn size and offer alternatives to lawn.
• Promote organic lawn care and teach homeowners how to transition to it.
• Engage the green industry, towns, and public gardens in this crusade.

ONE LANDSCAPER'S JOURNEY
So what turns a lawn care company owner into an anti-toxin crusader?  In Paul's case, winding up in the hospital with acute toxicity caused by the products he was spreading.  (And acute toxicity doesn't go away; he'll be dealing with it forever.) Despite all that, Paul hasn't turned against turfgrass itself and says he loves lawns.  Where else ya gonna play volleyball, badminton and touch football?  On his own 3 acres he measured exactly the space needed for those forms of family fun, and the rest is planted in trees, shrubs, wildflowers and veggies.

MURDER ON THE NATIONAL MALL
Remember the demonstration organic lawn that the SafeLawns folks installed on the National Mall last fall?  You may remember, too, that it was destroyed by the tarp laid over it for a private event, which tarp was allowed to bake in the summer heat for over a week.  Never mind, says Paul, he's still "thrilled" that they did it and will be renovating the 4-acre plot again this month. That's the spirit.

HERBICIDE HELP ON THE WAY
Paul gave us the good news that two new selective organic herbicides are on their way - one from Canada and one from Germany.  They work, they're safe, and they'll be on the market in 2009.  Overall, Paul predicts a "tsunami" for organics in the next 3 to 4 years.

START YOUR CONVERSION TO ORGANIC
Here's my summary of the fall lawn conversion steps in Paul's talk and his Organic Lawn Care Manual, and I hope he and others will chime in to clarify as needed.  October's a great month (at least here in Zone 7) to put your lawn on the road to health, and here's how:

• Remove weeds, rake up thatch.
• Optional:  Add lime IF a soil test indicates it's needed.
• Mow to 1-2".
• Optional: Aeration is helpful but not required in most situations.  Hand aerators are fine, as are the larger ones you can rent.
• Apply ½ inch fully decomposed compost.  And Paul has a video showing how it's done - using rakes or a broadcast spreader. 
• Apply 1 pound nitrogen per 1,000 square feet, using an organic product only.
• Optional:  For fastest results also apply compost tea.  DIY brewing kits are simple, or use the brew at Whole Foods - he vouches for their DC-area distributor.  (Any doubts about the effectiveness of compost tea are quickly dispelled by Paul's photos of the side-by-side comparison.)
• Lawns need overseeding every fall, so apply a thin layer over the whole lawn and a more concentrated dose over bare spots.  A mix of several species of turfgrasses is best. Cover those bare spots with a thin layer of compost and tamp down with your feet.  Water regularly to keep the seed moist til it's germinated.

If your lawn's still patchy next spring repeat the overseeding, and definitely do another 1/2 inch application of compost - and every spring forever.  If your soil is really bad (like dead), apply more organic fertilizer and compost tea.

Paul told us he's not a big fan of mowing leaves and letting them stay on the lawn as mulch because under snow they can cause winter kill. (Living in Maine, he's no stranger to snow.)  In warm climates the practice may be harmless, assuming there's no more than a thin layer of this leaf-mulch.

OR HIRE SOMEONE
The for-profit part of Paul's crusade (and even crusaders have mortgages) is the Safe Lawns and Landscapes Company, which is franchising organic lawn-care services nationwide.  The first DC-area franchisees will be open for business next spring, and they'll all be giving 10% of their proceeds to the nonprofit SafeLawns.org.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
The SafeLawns website has 20 videos and lots of printable resources.  For you iPoders, there's a radio show.  Also, Beyond Pesticides has compiled good info about landscapes, and has those cool "Pesticide-Free Zone" signs for your yard.

Posted by Susan Harris

Organic lawn care on the radio

Listen up!  Kojo Nnamdi'sinterview with Safelawns.org crusader Paul Tukey should be required listening for everyone who tends a patch of lawn. Here's the link.

Posted by Susan Harris

Mulch and Mulching, with Local Source Info

Time to compile more super-useful information, gang.  Please add to this article any details about particular mulches and especially about good local sources for it.  You can contribute by leaving a comment below or emailing me.  Posted by Susan Harris

Gardeners agree that mulching bare ground and around plants is THE single most important thing they can do to create low-maintenance, healthy gardens. (Gardening guru Paul James calls it "the greatest labor-saving gardening product ever invented.")  It's right up there with choosing the right plants and watering adequately.   

Why

Oh, where to start?  What's not to like about something that does all this?

• Suppress weeds
• Prevent drying out of soil
• Prevent erosion
• Reduce compaction of soil
• Moderate soil temperature
• Prevent mud splatter on plant and hard surfaces, like your house
• Add nutrients to soil, plus enable the soil to better use soil   nutrients from any source
• Increase the populations of earthworm and beneficial soil microbes.
• Make gardens look well kept and amenable to planting - like gardens.   

When

• Every year, when soil has warmed, which is midspring in most of North America, earlier in hotter places.  Gardeners in cold climates often do their mulching in the fall, however, to prevent soil heaving through the winter months of freezing and thawing. More mulch can be added in the spring, as needed.
• AND immediately after disturbing the soil, especially for planting  something. 
• AND to cover bare ground at any time.

Help Write our Rain Barrel Round-Up

Update:  We've incorporated all your comments, as well as many more from across the U.S. and even England, into this much longer article on our site:  "Rain Barrel Round-up."

Why all the interest in rain barrels?

• They save on our water bills.  One test showed that one barrel saves about 1,300 gallons every summer.
• They reduce or eliminate runoff of stormwater into our watershed, which means less downstream pollution and sedimentation.
• They reduce the load on our municipal water supply.
• They collect naturally soft, chlorine-free rainwater for use on our plants, which often results in improved plant health.

WHICH TO BUY?
Here's what I've learned from my Web research and advice offered by local gardeners on the DC Urban Gardener Yahoo group:

Size Matters
The bigger the better, and whatever you use, have an overflow system because rain barrels can fill up in as few as 5 minutes.  Surprised?  Well, a quarter-inch of rain falling on an average-size house yields slightly over 200 gallons!

 

DC resident Kate McLynn first bought 4 Deluxe size (75-gallon) barrels from Gardener's Supply, one for each corner downspout.  After several years one of them froze and cracked, but she reported finding an even better barrel. "It's produced by the RiverSides Program in Toronto, holds 132 gallons in the same footprint as the Gardeners Supply 75 gallon, AND it is designed to withstand freezing."

Cheaper by the Group
Kate continues: "If anyone is interested in purchasing one, please let me know.  We purchased ours through a group buy and saved a lot - $190 instead of $250 plus.  We’d like to get another and& know others who want one as well." 

 

More about Sizes, Sources and Prices
The University of Rhode Island site offers this guidance about prices: "Ready-made rain barrels range from $89 to $135 each depending on size, style and added features."  Well, that's not much help, is it? A little web-surfing turned up these sources (unfortunately, many sell barrels no larger 55-60 gallons).

• Spruce Creek Rain Saver.com (recommended on the site of Maryland's Dept. of Natural Resources) sells a 54-gallon barrel for $155.   Not exactly a bargain, huh?

• Gardener's Supply's 75-gallon Deluxe costs $135.

• As Kate mentioned, the RiverSides 132-gallon costs $190 as a group or $250 individually. 

• RainSaverUsa sells their 80-gallon for $300!  Another nonbargain.

BUILDING YOUR OWN

• How to build your own [pdf]

• Home and Garden Television's website on How to make your own   

• Maryland's Department of Natural Resources how to build your own

OPERATING AND MAINTAINING ONE

Yahoo group members offered these suggestions:

• Use mosquito dunks in summer.
• Set the barrel on overturned barrel halves to give sufficient height for gravity to deliver water to the garden.

And from the University of Rhode Island comes this advice, which I don't understand.  Can someone please edify?  Or just tell us how yours works.

• Fine mesh screen should be used to cover any openings in the rain barrel to prevent mosquitoes and to trap debris.
• Rain barrels can be installed upon blocks or wooden crate to provide height for gravity flow purposes.
• Rain barrels should be drained and removed for the winter months to prevent ice damage. It is recommended that you remove the existing downspout and elbow intact and store for reinstallation in the late fall. (Huh?) You can then add another downspout section that will need to be custom cut to an appropriate height above your rain barrel. Two, connected downspout elbows (forming an S shape) or hinged extension should sit about two inches above the rain barrel inlet hole. (Is this whole bullet point about what to do in the winter?)

MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON LINE

• Here's a US government site about water usage   

AND IN PRINT

• Water Storage by Ludwig   

Posted by Susan Harris  Photo by Goforgr33n