Caution, Pesticides!

Learn about the health risks of conventional lawn chemicals by reading our new presentation WHY SHOULD VERONA AVOID PESTICIDES?

Verona is a pioneer on Integrated Pest Managment (approving an IPM resolution 15 years ago). Since 2004, all New Jersey schools have been required to adopt an IPM program. The School IPM Law keeps students and staff safe from pesticides by mandating to use the safest methods available and emphasizing a non chemical approach. Verona schools adhere to IPM practices.

But each year, New Jersey homeowners use approximately 2 million pounds of pesticides on their lawns. Researchers, however, have found links between exposure to pesticides and serious human health problems including several types of cancer, asthma, neurological and reproductive disorders and birth defects. Children are especially vulnerable to pesticides because their bodies are developing.

Learn how to kick the pesticide habit! There are many new and highly effective natural/organic lawn care products and programs that are safe for families and pets. Just this year Canada announced it plans to ban the sale and application of all weed 'n feed type products by the end of 2012. Half of Canada has already banned such products. We encourage you to keep our community safe from unnecessary toxic chemicals.

Proper Lawn Care

With these methods you will mow less, water less, never buy pesticides and have a great looking lawn. You want to make things favorable for the grass and unfavorable for the weeds so the grass will choke out the weeds. Naturally.

Must Do

1. Mow high. Set your mower as high as it goes (3 to 4 inches). Never remove more than one third of the grass blade. A taller cut helps shade out weeds and conserve moisture. Grass needs grass blades to do photosynthesis (convert sunshine into sugar) to feed the roots. When you mow low the grass has to rush and grow fast to make more sugar. This fast growth uses up a lot of the grass' stored sugar, and weakens the plant making it vulnerable to disease and pests! Tall grass can use the extra sugar to make more grass plants (rhizomes), thickening the turf.
   
2. If you have a serious weed infestation mow twice as frequently. The sensitive growing point for grass is near the soil and for weeds is near the top of the plant. So when you mow high you are giving your grass a haircut and cutting the heads off of the weeds.
3. Leave grass clippings on the soil. They will decay to become a source of free fertilizer. This adds organic matter and nutrients back into the soil. The clippings then won’t have to be dragged out to the street using bags. If you don't leave the clippings, your soil will begin to look more like "dirt" than soil.
4. Water infrequently and for longer periods. Water only when your grass shows signs of drought stress. The grass will start to curl before it turns brown. When it starts to curl, that is the best time to water. And then water deeply (put a cup in your sprinkler zone and make sure it gets at least an inch of water). This will force your grass roots to go deep into the soil. Every time you water, you wash away soil nutrients. So the less you water, the more fertile your soil!
   

Optional

• Fertilizer. When you see legumes taking over your lawn (clover, medic, etc.), you know that your soil is nitrogen poor. Sprinkle an organic fertilizer at the beginning of spring and the beginning of fall. Some experts suggest to use half of what the package recommends. Fertilizing in the summer feeds the weeds, not the grass.
  

• Compost. If your soil already seems like dirt or cement, add an inch of compost in the early fall. One part compost to two parts dirt is a good mix for lawn care.

• Why organic fertilizers? Nearly all chemical fertilizers are a salt. As you use it, year after year, your soil becomes poorer and poorer. Healthy soil is loaded with heaps of microbial and macrobial life. Most of these critters are working hard for your grass. Most of those critters don't like salt. By not using pesticides you will also be giving many living things such as butterflies and bees a chance to do all that hard work of pollinating.
  

• Have the pH of your soil professionally tested. Add lime if it is below 6.0 and gardener's sulfur if it is above 7.0. You can have your lawn tested by the county Rutgers Cooperative Research and Extension office.

• DANDELIONS are a sign of alkaline soil and love a pH of about 7.5. Grass loves a pH of about 6.5. BLACK MEDIC (yellow clover) and CLOVER are a sign of low nitrogen soil. Refer to fertilizing above. White and pink clover is often desired in a lawn. It contributes nitrogen to the soil and doesn't compete strongly with the grass. KNAPWEED tries to poison plants around it with niacin. A little water washes the niacin away and the plants around it can have a fighting chance. Mow a little more frequently in late june and early july to wipe out knapweed.

• How much top soil do you have? See how deep a shovel will go into the soil. Four inches of topsoil will make for an okay lawn. Eight or more inches of topsoil will make for a great lawn. Deep watering should be done only in conjunction with deep soil.

• Weeds: The above lawn care advice will eliminate 95% of your weed problem. But there are some weeds that are almost impossible to get rid of, no matter what. The key is to remove the green plant that provides it with sugar. The important thing is to always weed the area you already weeded first. If you don’t do it this way, then the weed would recover in the first section while you are attacking another section.

Safe Tick Control

• Determine that you have a pest before buying a product, and use natural ones such as milky spore and nematodes
  
• Remember that all pesticides are poison, and are considered by the EPA to be hazardous waste. For example, the "Weed" portion of "Weed 'n' Feed" products is a pesticide.
• Poison or Danger, Warning and Caution: These words indicate the level of hazard associated with the product in decreasing order of toxicity.
  
• Just because a product is registered with the EPA does not mean it is safe.
• To dispose of pesticides leftovers read the label and bring them to the hazardous waste collection center.
• The empty containers are not recyclable, so dispose of them as refuse.
• A frequent mistake by many homeowners is to apply unnecessarily chemicals.
• What the turf can't absorb will soon be carried away by rainwater or snow melt, to end up untreated in our regional watershed.
• Never apply chemicals before it rains.
  
• Discover the many benefits of using organic lawn care products and natural alternatives to pesticides such as a corn gluten product.

Rain Barrel Savings

You can use the rain runoff to water your gardens.

A rain barrel placed below the downspout of a gutter lets you catch water as it pours off the roof instead of sending it into the storm sewer. 

• The average U.S. household uses almost 150,000 gallons of water per year with up to 50% of water going to landscaping during summer months.
  
•  Installing a rain barrel is one way to reduce outdoor water use by collecting water during the rainy season that can be used during droughts. By capturing water on a 1500 square foot roof, a family could reduce their water bill by 50% and save 43,000 gallons of water yearly.
  
• A typical rain barrel holds 50 to 100 gallons and has a faucet at the bottom where a hose can be attached. A plastic screen over the top opening prevents mosquitoes from setting up housekeeping inside.
  
• Some models can be easily linked so that the overflow from one barrel runs into the next. One-inch storm produces over 500 gallons of water on a 1,000 square foot roof.
  
• When the barrels are full, the overflow is directed back through the downspout and down its normal route. If possible, route the overflow into a dry well or other infiltration mechanism so that the water can recharge into the ground rather than flow into the storm sewer.
  
• Rain barrels are sold on hardware stores and on-line, if you want to build a rain barrel watch this video. Passaic River Basin: Verona is located in Watershed Area 4

Rain Gardens Catch Runoff

Another way to reduce runoff in your yard is to plant a rain garden.

A rain garden is a shallow (2"-18") depression typically planted with colorful native plants, strategically located to collect, infiltrate and filter rain that falls on hard surfaces like roofs, driveways, or streets. This reduces rain runoff by allowing stormwater to soak into the ground (as opposed to flowing into storm drains and surface waters which causes erosion, water pollution, flooding, and diminished groundwater).