Last January I called Mitch Baker, Vice president of American Plant Food and a question–-why am I seeing ChemLawn trucks going around my neighborhood in December and January? Grass is not growing! Mr. Baker said there is no benefit to turf with any application in the winter in our climate. "The only reason to apply anything in December and January is to make money."
I later called ChemLawn in Maryland and they said that customers were getting the last two phases of "winter fertilization."
According to turf experts, there is no such thing. Fall fertilization is the most critical, as it encourages root growth. Many homeowners and companies like spring fertilization with a very soluble source of Nitrogen, to green up the lawn. But nitrogen in the spring fertilizes the weeds as well and gives them a head start.
Mitch Baker explained that modern turfgrass came from Scotland and England, and this whole family of plants is unhappy in the US The turf grasses from Britain grow better in cooler summer nights, where the change in temperature from the day to the night is significant. They also do better in a different soil structure than our clay-heavy soils. The warmth here makes them more vulnerable to plant diseases, fungal attacks, and warm-season weeds.
Lawns were invented in England with the development of mowing machines, which could imitate the grazing of sheep. A small landholder, or a suburbanite could appear to be a landed gentry with machine-mowed grass which simulated a herd of sheep. Clover was an accepted part of a lawn in England, as it provided nitrogen to animals for forming protein. And the nitrogen in root nodules were made available to the grass plants as well, providing free fertilization. It was only in the "last 50 years" that Scotts or Ortho made the determination that clover was not to be acceptable, because they had developed and popularized selective herbicides which could kill only broadleaf plants, not grass. And clover was defined as a "weed."
Baker and his company believe in using soil testing, slow-release organically based fertilizers, such as Fertilgro from Eastern Shore chicken litter, and others. He said that because of the vulnerability of the British turfgrass here, lawn companies formulate a "cocktail" of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides to apply every 14 days if weather permits. They deliver the same materials to all their customers to make it more economical for them, even if most lawns do not need all the chemicals. As long as customers stick with the program, it can work. But it is like an addict on drugs.
At what cost? The evidence is still coming in. Two common herbicides used in these "cocktails" were part of Agent Orange, a defoliant used in Vietnam with profound health effects to the Vietnamese and to troops. Dioxin, the most toxic substance known, is a contaminant of the phenoxy herbicides used in many "weed and feed" formulations. It is the same chemical that was suspected in the poisoning of the opposition candidate in the Ukraine election campaign.
Baker, a resident of Chevy Chase DC, told the Chevy Chase Community Association this spring that $45 million is spent on US home gardens, 78 million pounds of pesticides are applied to nonagricultural land in city and suburb, and 30% of all water used on the East coast goes to water lawns and gardens. He said that most of us get our information on gardening from commercials, and from products for sale at drug, grocery and hardware stores. Yes, these products can work, but what is the cost to our pets, children and the environment.
In the last 50 years we have been told to treat the effect, the pest, and not look for the cause. It is the medical model, Baker said. Often the cause of lawn and garden problems is poor soil conditions which have destroyed the biology of the soil. In addition, a lot of insect damage is strictly cosmetic, and does not threaten the plant. Often an insect brought in to the garden center for ID is a beneficial or harmless insect, and has not caused any damage. Just because you have insects, it is not necessary to kill them. Broad-spectrum insecticides, such as to kill grubs, end up wiping out many beneficial insects. He said that Healthy Soil=Healthy Plants (referring to Bulletin #94, at www.americanplantfood.com). Organic materials build the biology in the soil. Synthetic fertilizers lead to turf with shallow root systems. Fungicides destroy the beneficial fungi that displace pathogenic fungi. Using synthetic chemicals guarantees you'll have another outbreak of disease in a few weeks, Baker said. Building healthy soil is very easy. In a couple of seasons, turf will be deeper-rooted, and will remain greener in dry periods, and into the winter.
Answering questions, Mitch Baker encouraged homeowners to build compost piles of leaves and grass clippings. Compost is a source of good microbes, and can be top dressed in a 1/3 inch layer on lawn, trees and shrubs. He recommended leaf-type ready made composts such as LeafGro, made from Maryland leaves. He recommended turf-type tall fescue as the best overall grass seed for this area. To a question on poison ivy removal he said to ask an individual who is not sensitive to ivy to carefully dig out the roots, wearing gloves, etc. Herbicides are not the ultimate solution to poison ivy. (Your Biopestman has had good luck with 10% borax and two or three squirts liquid detergent applied to PI leaves will kill the plant. The dish soap helps keep the borax on the leaves. Then you can dig the roots out after the plants wither.)
Happy Autumn and Thanksgiving to all!
Alan Cohen, President
BioLogical Pest Management, Inc.
202-237-7509
Please send your pest management questions to info@mdpestnet.org for the Bio Pestman.
Alan Cohen is a licensed commercial pest control applicator in Maryland and DC, and the president of Bio-Logical Pest Management, Inc. He also serves as the Integrated Pest management advisor to the Maryland Pesticide Network, and is a board member of Beyond Pesticides.
Click here to read Alan's Previous article about keeping pests out of your home.