Greener Lawns with Fewer Pesticides

Recently, the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Voorheesville held a seminar on lawn care without pesticides, offered by a man known as "The Sodfather," David Chinnery.

The nickname fits. For two hours, David, a turfgrass specialist, shared his immense knowledge with the 25+ people in attendance. He had the uncanny ability to make a dry subject quite humorous. Now that's talent!

Although I've learned a lot from my father, Bob Horn - a Master Gardener with the Cooperative Extension, the information on lawn care and how it directly affects our water quality was definitely an education.

I'll do my best to provide a recap what I learned.

According to Chinnery, a thick lawn is better for the environment than a thin, sparse lawn because a thick lawn will filter much of the chemicals and phosphates that can enter the storm sewers and lower the quality of our drinking water. 

Chinnery spoke of using common sense when it comes to using pesticides on your lawn. For example, if you don't have a grub problem, don't put down grub control.

He led the class through a 12 month planning process starting with learned about watersheds to seeding right through to pre-winter care.

Here are the highlights:

Why is Water Quality Important?
Properly managed water resources provide high-quality drinking water, fishing and swimming, and support habitats for a variety of plants and wildlife.

Learn what Watershed You Live In
A watershed is the land area that drains into a particular water body.

Learn to Live with the Dandelions
Decide what kind of lawn you can live with. Does it have to be golf course quality or can you stand some imperfection? There is no organic way of getting rid of dandelions. Consider the health of your children and pets; do you really want them rolling around in chemicals?

Test your Soil
Test your soil before seeding by taking 1/2 cup samples from several locations in your yard and mixing them together. Bring the sample to the Cooperative Extension in Voorheesville and they'll tell you its quality and PH levels which will indicate whether you need to put down lime or fertilizer. Lawns like a PH of 6.5 to 7.2.

Choosing Seed
Identify how much sun or shade your lawn gets and buy seed accordingly. You really can't grow grass in dense shade, so why try? Consider other plantings and ground cover instead.

Kentucky Bluegrass: considered the Cadillac of grasses, expensive, long germination time.

Perennial Ryegrass: great for sun, not shade, good for rapid germination, great for patching and overseeding. Watch out for annual ryegrass which will germinate fast but not last.

Fine Fescue: very fine, not good for kids, grows best in shade, good in bad soil texture, 2 weeks to germinate.

Tall Fescue: coarser texture, tolerates drought and low fertility, needs full sun to light shade, 2 weeks to germinate. Avoid Kentucky 31 tall fescue because it's ugly grass!

Wait Until August 15th - Sept 15 to Reseed
Don't reseed in the spring because the grass competes with the spring weeds. The best time to reseed is between August 15th and September 15th here in the Albany area.

Do use starter fertilizer. Germination requires phosphorus contained in the fertilizer. Do not reseed if we're expecting heavy rains because the seed and phosphorus will wash into the storm sewers which is bad for our water quality. Calibrate your seed spreader before beginning to ensure correct covereage. Keep seed and fertilizer off the driveways and road where it gets washed directly into the storm sewers.

Use aids to assist in the germination process. For small areas use geotextiles such as reemay or row cover.

Hint for established lawns: Forsythia blooms when the soil is at 51 degrees which means it's time to apply pre-emergent crabgrass to your lawn.

Water only in the Morning
Watering at night is bad for the lawn because it can cause mildew or rotted seed since it stays damp all night. You newly seeded lawn needs between 1-1 1/2 inches of water per week. Most people over water their lawns.

Mowing Tips
Sharpen your mower's blade annually. Set your mower's height to 2 1/2 - 3 inches. Let the grass grow to 4" and then cut, never cutting off more than 1/3 of the grass. Clippings are best left on your lawn contrary to popular belief. Lightly rake clumps left on the lawn if you waited too long before mowing.

Follow all these guidelines and you should end up with a thick, healthy lawn that's healthy for your family and healthy for the environment.

Comments

[Amy]

I thought readers of your blog might be interested to know that the Town of Bethlehem is using pesticides on playing fields again. My kindergartner was practicing soccer on a town park field last week when I realized there was a little yellow sign indicating that it had been sprayed that afternoon. Kids were rolling in the grass, falling face down in it.

I wrote to the Parks supervisor about spraying fields on the same day that 5 year olds are playing on them (and the general use of pesticides on Town park grass) and cc'd the person in charge of storm water and the Town Supervisor and no one got back to me. The town has sent out information to residents urging us to limit the use of pesticides on lawns because of run-off and yet, they're spraying large tracts of land in the town. Seems crazy, so I thought I'd share.