More Lawns Go Green, Organically

It's hard to believe anything so green could be bad for the environment, but Americans' love affair with their lawns and gardens may be getting out of hand.

From snowy New England to the desert Southwest, Americans have planted 30 million acres of grass lawn. Each weekend in the summertime, an estimated 54 million people mow their lawns, consuming 800 million gallons of gasoline a year.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that gasoline-powered landscape equipment - mowers, trimmers, blowers and chainsaws - account for more than 5 percent of urban air pollution.

As much as two-thirds of urban freshwater is used to water lawns in some cities. And Americans annually apply 70 million pounds of pesticides to home lawns, trees and shrubs every year, roughly 10 times more per acre than is used on farms.

Nitrates and phosphates from lawn and garden fertilizers pollute the water table, leading to algal blooms that choke the oxygen from ponds and lakes.

Millions of acres of wildlife habitat are being lost each year to urban sprawl, as farm fields and woods are replaced by shopping centers and subdivisions.

Even the ornamental trees and shrubs planted in yards and gardens are often a problem since they are as likely as not to be non-native species, displacing the native plants and trees that wildlife rely on for food and shelter.

"Everybody likes a little patch of lawn, but I think it has really gotten out of control," said Paul Green of the National Audubon Society.

"I look at those big lawns and the only living thing I find on them is robins. And if those lawns are under a regime of herbicides and pesticides, even the robins aren't going to find anything to eat," Green said.

Indeed, bird poisonings in residential areas are referred to among wildlife biologists as "lawn care syndrome."

There are signs, however, of a growing movement toward more eco-friendly lawn care and gardening. Suburbanites are packing organic-gardening classes and an increasing number of landscapers advertise themselves as specializing in organic landscaping and the use of native plant species.

Communities throughout the arid West are adopting xeriscape regulations, which require or encourage homeowners to use drought-tolerant plants and alternatives to grass lawns. Some water utilities are offering rebates to customers who xeriscape.

Societies dedicated to the preservation of native plant species are flourishing in every state and dozens of cities and counties. The societies urge homeowners to pull out non-native "invasive" plants and replace them with domestic species.

Bill Duesing, executive coordinator of the Connecticut chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association, said he was deluged with requests for information on organic landscaping and use of native species at a landscaping-industry conference six months ago in the suburbs of New York City.

"A lot of people who came up to me said they were interested in an organic program because their customers are asking for it," Duesing said.

Even the nursery industry, which historically has not been much interested in organic landscaping, often incorporates recommendations now that are consistent with organic practices in their advice to consumers, Duesing said.

In Canada, dozens of cities and towns, including the city of Quebec, have passed ordinances in the last several years preventing or restricting homeowners from the aesthetic use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.

In the United States, restrictive ordinances have been limited primarily to schools, athletic fields and parks. But the lawn-and-garden industry is so concerned that U.S. communities will copy the Canadian laws that it has formed a foundation to counter the movement.

In a July survey of 2,000 households for the National Gardening Association, only 53 percent of respondents said they read and follow the label carefully when using pesticides and fertilizers.

"Very few Americans measure (pesticides) accurately," said Gordon Gebelle, co-author of "Redesigning the American Lawn: A Search for Environmental Harmony." "Many people say, 'If I'm going to put in one capful, I might as well put in two capfuls and get twice the benefit.' But doubling the amount can mean the difference between a bird or dog dying."

Meanwhile, big-box home and garden centers have begun stocking a variety of organic pesticides with names like "Anti-Pest-O" that are made from garlic, pepper juice and other natural ingredients. The products tend to repel, rather than kill, insects.

"The larger companies like Home Depot and Lowe's are now offering alternative pesticides. It used to be you could only find them at small garden stores or through mail-order catalogues or on Web sites," said Lori Ward of the National Wildlife Federation. "I definitely think there's a trend."

Scotts of Marysville, Ohio, the world's largest lawn-care products company with $2.2 billion in annual sales, is coming out with its first line of organic fertilizers.

"Our belief is that to the extent consumers are looking for more organic choices in plant food and fertilizers, we want to lead that effort. A lot of our research dollars are going toward that effort," Scotts spokesman Jim King said.

The movement has spurred the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, environmental groups and most segments of the lawn-and-garden industry to form the Lawn and Environment Coalition.

At a three-day meeting in San Antonio, Texas, in March, the coalition presented a draft set of environmental guidelines for responsible lawn care and landscaping.

"It does encourage people to reduce their pesticide use or to choose the least toxic alternatives and use them in a responsible manner," Ward said. The wildlife federation and other groups would have preferred guidelines that urged no pesticide use, but a compromise was necessary to win industry cooperation, she said.

Doug Fender, executive director of the Lawn Institute, which represents the turf industry, said lawns have been demonized by "anti-grass" environmentalists who "feel the solution to reducing outdoor watering is to reduce or eliminate lawns."

"Our position is it should be a matter of individual choice - if you want your property wall-to-wall grass, that should be your choice and no one should be able to come in and say you have to do it differently," Fender said.

The institute and companies like Scotts have responded to the movement by touting the environmental benefits of lawns: Lawns soak up rainfall, absorb certain air pollutants and pump oxygen into the atmosphere.

"Consider, a 50-foot-by-50-foot area of healthy turf will provide enough oxygen for a family of four," according to an article by the Lawn Institute posted on the Scotts Web site.

"The position we would take here is that your well-maintained lawn is an environmental positive," Fender said.

Nevertheless, Fender said he was moved by an impassioned presentation by a wildlife federation representative at the March meeting about how unfriendly back yards are to wildlife and how relatively minor adjustments - adding a source of water and more plants for food and shelter, using fewer chemicals - can make a big difference without eliminating a lawn.

"I walked into that meeting feeling there are these great chasms between us," Fender said, "but when I came out, I thought maybe we're not so far apart."