GROWING A SAFER, GREENER GARDEN

By: Nanette Londeree  |   July 8, 2021

Kids and pets can swallow a tiny dose of pesticide when playing on grass treated with a weed and feed product.

Do you have a picture-perfect yard? Weed-free emerald-green lawn, voluptuous roses with nary an aphid in sight, and vegetable beds sporting big juicy tomatoes with spotless foliage?

 

If this perfection was achieved without the use of pesticides, bravo! 

 

If, on the other hand, you’ve lent nature a hand by using fertilizers, weed killers, and bug sprays, you might want to rethink how you use your outdoor space. Your gardening practices and the products you use can have a potential negative impact on your children, pets, wildlife and the environment.

 

Know what you’re using

Weed and feed products for grasses are usually applied across the entire surface of the lawn. The tiny particles contain fertilizer and weed killer that slowly break down, releasing the chemicals. For a period of time after application, the pesticides used on lawns can inadvertently be ingested by your pets or kids. Whether it’s your dog wiggling on his back on the lawn, then licking his fur, or your baby daughter playing with toys on the grass, then sticking them in her mouth, unwittingly, both can swallow a tiny dose of pesticide.

 

Multi-purpose products like “all in one” rose or vegetable care contain systemic pesticides—those that circulate through the plant to prevent disease or kill any pest that may eat it. Visualize liquids moving through a tomato plant, from the roots to tips of the leaves, and transporting the pesticide right into the developing fruit. Pesticides in your delicious tomatoes? Unfortunately, yes. That's what you would be serving up, and you can't just wash it off.

 

Those gorgeous blooms on your roses that attract bees and other pollinators can also contain systemic pesticides, which can be picked up by bees and taken back to the hive where it could contaminate it. 

 

Can you still have a good-looking yard and reduce or, even better, eliminate the use of pesticides? You sure can.

 

The lawn and other plants may not look perfect, but your yard will be a whole lot safer for all that inhabit it. Before reaching for the weed killer or bug spray: Stop. Think. Protect.

 

Ready-to-use pesticide products have one thing in common—they are poisons, intended to kill a particular kind of creature, whether plant or animal. In the process, they can hurt more than the target pest—sometimes, much more! 

 

When you have any type of pest problem:

• Stop – before taking any action. 
• Think – understand what you’re trying to manage.
• Protect –look at treatment options starting with the least toxic method.

 

Begin by adopting an integrated pest management (IPM) approach to prevent pests entirely or reduce them to levels you can live with. Using ecologically based, low-risk tactics for managing pests, you’ll be protecting the health and safety of your family, your pets, wildlife and the environment. 

Favorite herbs like Oregano, Rosemary and Sage don’t need much water once they’re established.

How to grow your own food in a drought

Even though Marin recently experienced one of the driest winters in its history, you can still grow lots of delicious food here! Water limitations are particularly high this year, but given the changing climate, it’s good to think long term about conserving water when growing your own fruits, vegetables and herbs. Here are a few tips to help you get started.

• Grow crops that mature quickly: Crops that mature in 50 to 60 days, like Maximel bush beans, Patio Baby Eggplant, Zephyr Summer Squash, and Sungold Tomatoes will need fewer days of irrigation. 
• Farm water-wise native foods: Golden Currant (Ribes aureum) is an attractive deciduous shrub with beautiful yellow spring flowers followed by half-inch berries, and Wood Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) is a ground-hugging perennial with white flowers and small, sweet fruit.
• Grow water-wise and mini fruit trees: Try some less thirsty fruit trees like Olive, Persimmon, Pineapple, Guava, and Pomegranate, or go for dwarf fruit trees (many types are available).
• Focus on Mediterranean herbs: Favorites like Fennel, Oregano, Rosemary, and Sage don’t require much water once established.

It’s also good to know the critical watering periods for vegetables. For many crops, water is most critical during the first few weeks of development, immediately after transplanting, and during flowering and fruit production.

Grow flowers that provide food for pollinators and beneficial insects.

 

Combat climate change in your own backyard

We know that climate change is happening and caused in large part by human activity. In these challenging times, it’s easy to experience what was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as “climate despair," a feeling that there’s nothing one person can do about global warming.

Not true! Folk singer Pete Seeger writes, “If there’s a world here in a hundred years, it’s going to be saved by tens of millions of little things.” If we all take little steps to reduce CO₂ emissions, we CAN make a difference.

Here are 10 things you can do now to promote a healthy garden and help combat climate change:

1. Protect and improve your soil. Add compost to improve soil texture and “feed” the earth.
2. Cover the soil with mulch to conserve moisture and reduce weeds.
3. Grow your own fruit and vegetables. You’ll cut down on fuel used to transport food. 
4. Compost kitchen and garden waste. You’ll make a nutrient-rich soil amendment that helps soil store more carbon. It also reduces the need for synthetic fertilizer that takes a lot of energy to produce, package and transport.
5. Conserve water. Irrigate using the right equipment and techniques to minimize surface water runoff.
6. Create habitat for pollinators and beneficials. Provide them with food, water and shelter and you’ll support nature’s method for controlling pests.
7. Use California native plants and other low-water use types that also welcome pollinators and natural enemies. 
8. Reduce the use of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizer.
9. Use organic methods and materials whenever possible.
10. Choose low-emission garden practices and tools. Swap out gasoline-powered mowers, blowers, and trimmers for rechargeable battery-operated types. Better yet, use manual tools whenever possible.

Gardeners are an optimistic bunch. By implementing some of these relatively simple steps we can do good for our plants, our gardens and our planet.  

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