Gardening Safe and Sound: Home Landscape Management - Chapter 6

What are the environmental concerns?
Are you using your time and money effectively?

Part 6.1 Designing an Environmentally Friendly Landscape
Risk Assessment 6.1 Environmentally Friendly Landscape Design

Part 6.2 Managing Your Lawns, Gardens and Woody Ornamentals
Risk Assessment 6.2 Your Fertilizer Use

Part 6.3 Taking Care of Your Lawn
Risk Assessment 6.3 Yard Care

Part 6.4 Home Composting
Risk Assessment 6.4 Home Composting
Action Checklist

Gardening is a favorite pastime for many homeowners in coastal South Carolina. If yours is like most homes, it’s surrounded by lawns, gardens, shrubs and trees that require regular maintenance to remain healthy, attractive and pest-free. Unfortunately, the products and practices that keep your yard looking its best can also send contaminants flowing into coastal creeks, rivers and estuaries.

This chapter will examine the potential impact of landscape management on the coastal environment and your family’s health. The following topics will be covered:

• Landscape planning
• Vegetative buffers
• Soil testing
• Fertilizer and pesticide usage
• Lawn type and maintenance
• Woody ornamental type and maintenance
• Ground covers and erosion protection
• Water conservation
• Choosing a lawn care company
• Integrated Pest Management
• Composting

Completing this chapter will help you identify and evaluate pollution risks that can

What are the environmental concerns?

Your home landscape, which includes the natural settings of your home and property, might be the last place you would look for pollution problems. However, behind this beautiful landscape are activities that may threaten your health and the health of the coastal environment.

On average, homeowners use 10 times more chemical fertilizers and pesticides per acre on their lawns and gardens than farmers use on cropland. These chemicals can find their way into wells used for drinking water and pollute nearby lakes, streams and oceans. Closer to home, children and pets are particularly vulnerable to pesticides that are stored improperly, applied improperly or used while ignoring proper safety precautions.

Other problems can occur when exposed soils wash away. Soils moving off your landscape can harm wildlife habitat and choke waterways. Indiscriminate watering of lawns and gardens wastes large amounts of water while washing away fertilizers and pesticides.

Gasoline-powered mowers, weed cutters, leaf blowers and other devices make noise and pollute the air. Powered by a two-cycle engine, a lawnmower in one hour spews the same amount of exhaust as a car driven 350 miles!

keep send 71

Environmental problems can arise as residential and commercial development expands along the coast, imposing modern landscape management practices on previously rural areas. These practices usually involve the clearing of all natural habitats along both natural and manmade waterways or lakes. These natural buffers have provided a filtering system to eliminate the movement of pollutants into the watershed, degrading the quality of the system.

Traditional landscape management also encourages the “perfect lawn.” To achieve this type of landscape, homeowners commonly use a variety of chemicals and fertilizers. Although it may seem that your contribution to pollution is minor, the cumulative effects of chemicals, soil loss and wasted water from hundreds or thousands of homes in your region can really add up.

Are you using your time and money effectively?

Americans spend lots of money on garden items such as flowers, seeds and chemical products. They also dedicate many hours of their leisure time to caring for their lawns, shrubs and vegetable gardens. Valuable time and money may be wasted, however, if you manage your lawn and gardens in a hazardous, environmentally unsound way.

Think about the cost, time and effort it would take to replace a lawn or injured plants damaged by over fertilization or misuse of pesticides. Consider the hard work required for returning unsightly, eroded areas back into productive use. Imagine how much less time lawn care would take if grass clippings were left on the lawn instead of being raked and bagged.

You can have a low maintenance landscape without losing the well kept appearance of your home. Good management practices not only benefit the environment — they can save you time and money as well. Think of an environmentally sound landscape management program as a preventive process. Proper planning, monitoring and tailoring of plantings to local conditions will reduce the amount of pests present, thus reducing the amount of chemicals needed.

Part 6.1 Designing an Environmentally Friendly Landscape

Planning Your Beneficial Landscape
Planning Tips
What plants should I use?
Site Preparation
Riparian Buffers
Recommendations for Establishing Vegetated Riparian Buffers
Developing Windbreaks in Coastal Areas
Coastal Natural Hazards
Risk Assessment 6.1 Environmentally Friendly Landscape Design

Planning a landscape is one of the most important aspects to producing an environmentally sensitive area. Two main components of producing an attractive landscape, while reducing the use of potentially harmful chemicals, are proper site preparation and plant selection. Both goals may be achieved through planning.

Planning Your Beneficial Landscape

The first step in planning your landscape is to draw up a master plan. This map will help you stay on track as you remove, add, replace and nurture your landscape to a finished level. Ideally, the entire landscape should be constructed at one time. However, if the entire area to be developed is large, you may want to divide thelandscape into phases that can be planted in stages as money and time become available.

As you look over your project, think about creating outdoor rooms using various types of plant material and the natural features of the site. The process of developing your landscape should be well-planned before the initial clearing begins on your site. Planning early will allow you to save native plant species and work with the natural contours of the area to eliminate potential erosion problems.

Planning Tips

• Plant native sedges, rushes or grasses in and near the water to filter stormwater runoff.
• Minimize lawn throughout your property particularly at the waterfront
• Add native shrubs and ground cover especially at the top of a slope. Select ground cover instead of hard surfaces to absorb rainfall and reduce heat buildup.
• Position larger shrubs and trees for screening or privacy.
• Vary height and shape of trees to create framed views along the shoreline
• Locate tall trees on the east and west side of the house to shade the roof and walls. On the north and west sides plant evergreens to block winter winds.
• Select mulch, stone or flagstones for paths. Build steps of timber or stone so as to divert rainfall into adjacent plantings.

What plants should I use?

Proper plant selection is an extremely important aspect to landscape development. Learn as much as you can about native species at your site and how they can fit into your overall design. Clear cutting of the site should be avoided if possible since this will remove those native species that can benefit your design. Soil erosion will also become a problem if plant material is not replaced quickly or exposed soil somehow protected. When selecting plants to add to your landscape, choose those species that are adapted to the site; resistant to pests; drought-tolerant if the area is sandy or able to tolerate wet soils if the area is poorly drained; and expected to mature to a height that you want (see chapter appendix, page 91. Try to avoid using exotic or non-native species as they often are not adapted to your site, may be prone to disease and insect problems, and could possibly be a noxious plant in South Carolina.

Site Preparation

Once plant selection is made according to your master plan, site preparation will be the next important process. Find out all you can about your soil type, soil fertility, natural drainage, existing vegetation and any problems you may have with excess water and how it will flow off site. Soil testing would be a good idea at this point to acquire some important data. The majority of turf and woody ornamentals planted in the home landscape need adequate drainage to produce quality growth without the use of pesticides. Healthy plants can withstand minor infestations of insects and disease and recover without introducing potentially harmful chemicals. To maintain healthy growth, eliminate all poorly drained areas by adding organic amendments to the soil. This will allow water to percolate through the soil, reducing root problems. In very poorly drained soils, the addition of underground drainage may also be needed. Planting moisture-sensitive plants on raised beds is another option to help reduce root rot. Before any planting is done, smooth and slope the soil so surface drainage will carry excess water off-site.

Riparian Buffers

Homeowners who live near surface water bodies are usually not aware that their actions toward landscape management may actually be harming aquatic life. This can occur not only in nearby small creeks but downstream in larger lakes, rivers and oceans as well. Landscaping down to the water with inappropriate species increases riverbank erosion and the potential for flood damage while decreasing the available habitat for wildlife. Scenic natural views are lost as well.

One way to avoid polluting our environment is to establish vegetated buffers on your property. The term riparian refers to areas of land along a stream, river, marsh or shoreline. In its natural state, this land has native plants growing on it,such as trees, shrubs and tall grasses.

These buffers offer a number of benefits to you, your property and the coastal environment. They reduce the amount of runoff that actually reaches a water body in addition to improving the quality of the runoff by removing pollutants. A veg-etated buffer acts as a filter by reducing the amount of sediment reaching the water; by slowing the movement of stormwater runoff, and by allowing more time for sediment contained in the stormwater to settle out.

Vegetated buffers also reduce downstream flooding by slowing stormwater velocity, storing some water in soils, and allowing more water to percolate to the water table. Riparian buffers are also useful for flood zone management by keeping development back from the immediate banks of waterways and out of most floodways.

In addition, many animals either live in the riparian area or use the buffer as a travel corridor. Wildlife diversity within a buffer is linked to a buffer’s size. For example, wider buffers support a greater variety and number of species. A continuous buffer is of particular value in protecting amphibians, waterfowl and coastal fish spawning and nursery areas.

Buffers can even minimize property destruction by maintaining some undeveloped land along waterways and by keeping developing areas away from floodwaters, storm surges and extreme high tides.

Recommendations for Establishing Vegetated Riparian Buffers

For vegetated buffers to provide important protection from environmental pollution, they should be designed properly. Buffers along water bodies are easy to establish and maintain if provided for at the outset of construction (see Figure 6.1).

Figure 6.1. Diagram of a Three-stage coastal Riparian Buffer

For the creation of new buffer areas, native plants that establish rapidly and are suitable for flood zone conditions should be used (see chapter appendix on page 91). Native plants that have an extensive root system work best to stabilize the soil and take up nutrients. The denser the vegetation is in a buffer, the better it will filter runoff and remove pollutants.

The ability of a buffer to provide multiple benefits is also closely linked with its width. Coast-A-Syst recommends buffers of a minimum average width of 50 feet where possible, although wider buffers will provide more benefits. Some professionals recommend buffers of 100 feet or more, with zones of different vegetation and management practices.

Establishing or maintaining a buffer on your property doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to see the water from your window or deck. To have a better view of the water and opposite bank from their home, homeowners can establish a view corridor in their buffer. A view corridor is a small section of the buffer where the vegetation is pruned to a certain height but still contains native vegetation below that height to preserve the beneficial functions described above. Trees can be removed but should be replaced with lower-growing native vegetation. A view corridor allows for a framed view of the water from a house while maintaining privacy for the homeowner from boats and other water traffic.

Developing Windbreaks in Coastal Areas

Landscapes that are designed and installed in very close proximity to the ocean can be damaged or destroyed by high, salty winds that continually blow. These landscapes will need protection from the normal prevailing winds, storm-force winds, salt spray and blowing sand. Natural or constructed windbreaks, walls, fences or other structures will allow plants that are not normally adapted to this harsh environment to survive. Plants in the lee (an area sheltered from the wind) should provide the necessary protection from all but the most severe of storms. Keep in mind that as you move farther from the shoreline, your choice of plant material will increase. Also be mindful that you should not stray from the overall recommendation to use only native vegetation. Use these tips to plan an effective windbreak:

• The optimum solid space or foliage density for a windbreak is about 60 percent. Fences with 1-inch gaps and 1-inch pickets would meet this criterion.
• Windbreaks are most effective when they reach the ground. Do not remove lower branches of trees and shrubs.
• The depth of planting is important as it relates to the ability of wind to penetrate. For most evergreen plants, two to three rows is sufficient to slow wind speed. Deciduous plants will need four to five rows to be effective. Rows should be staggered.
• For smaller landscapes, a well-maintained hedge, wider at the base, would serve as an effective windbreak.

Windbreaks can be any type of barrier that is designed and placed for the specific purpose of slowing down the speed and redirecting the flow of wind. A well-designed windbreak will not cause uncomfortable wind turbulence on the lee side. Caution should be taken when choosing the material for a windbreak. Breaks consisting of plant material will not stop wind completely but slow it to a tolerable level.

Examples of windbreak materials include picket and board fences designed with gaps between the pickets, berms, natural sand dunes, and rows or hedges of plants. Temporary wind-breaks can be made out of snow fencing or shade cloth.

Risk Assessment 6.1 Environmentally Friendly Landscape Design

The assessment table below will help you identify potential environmental risks related to the design of your home landscape. For each question, indicate your risk level in the right-hand column. Although some choices may not correspond exactly to your situation, choose the response that best fits. Refer to the previous pages if you need more information to complete the table.

Responding to Risks

Your goal is to lower your risks related to home landscaping practices in the coastal zone. Turn to the Action Checklist on page 89 to record medium-and high-risk practices. Use the recommendations in Part 6.1 to help you make plans to reduce your risks.

Part 6.2 Managing Your Lawns, Gardens and Woody Ornamentals

Has your soil been tested?
Taking a Soil Sample
What fertilizers are needed for the various areas of your landscape?
Maintaining the Proper Soil pH
Applying the Proper Amount of Fertilizer
What Those Numbers on Fertilizer Bags Mean
Fertilizing Near Coastal Water Bodies
Calibrating a Sprayer for Broadcast Pesticide Application
Steps in sprayer calibration
BE CAREFUL!!!
Risk Assessment 6.2 Your Fertilizer Use

Most homeowners want a well-kept home landscape with attractive flowers, woody plants and a green lawn. Normal usage of lawn- and garden-care products, when applied as recommended, generally poses few problems. A properly maintained home landscape, in fact, can help reduce soil erosion, increase water retention and improve soil fertility. Poor maintenance — either through neglect or excessive chemical use — can lead to soil problems and polluted runoff.

Look over the topics below and read the ones that will help you better understand your yard and garden practices. Fill out the assessment table on page 80 to see where you might need to make improvements.

Has your soil been tested?

Adding fertilizer without first testing your soil is like taking medicine without knowing if you need it. Your soil already has some of the nutrients needed for good plant growth such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. It is important to find out how much of each nutrient is present along with the soil’s natural pH. Soil pH is an important chemical component of your soil, as this will tell you the quantity of nutrients available to your plants. Soil testing takes the guesswork out of how much fertilizer to use. Check with your local Cooperative Extension office, garden supply stores and neighbors about testing your soil.

Testing involves taking small samples from several places in your yard and garden. The soil is analyzed and you receive a lab report that lists the amounts of each nutrient in each sample. Because of local differences, some parts of your property may need regular applications of fertilizer while other areas may need few or no applications. Soil tests should be conducted every three years.

Taking a Soil Sample

You should test only one soil sample from your lawn, home garden or ornamental beds. To obtain a composite sample in these individual areas, you will need to collect samples from several locations as outlined below.

To take the sample, use a soil auger or shovel to collect soil from the surface to a depth of 3 inches. Collect and combine samples from twelve or more locations within your designated lawn, home garden or ornamental beds. Each of these twelve samples should be of equal size. Place all of the samples in a clean bucket and mix thoroughly. Fill a clean, one-pint bag or a soil sample box (available from your local Cooperative Extension office) with the mixed soil. Label and number the box or bag. Take the labeled sample to your local Cooperative Extension office for processing. There will be a small charge for testing each soil sample.

What fertilizers are needed for the various areas of your landscape?

Your soil tests will let you know if your lawn, shrubs or vegetable garden need fertilizer, and if so, how much and where. Nitrogen, for instance, is the key plant nutrient for building a thick, green lawn. Applied at the right time, in the right amount and in the right form, fertilizers will supply the nitrogen your plant needs.

If you apply fertilizer at the wrong time, or in the wrong amount, you may make conditions in your landscape worse. Insect and disease problems can actually increase due to excess fertilizer applications. Excess fertilizer is likely to wash away before plants take it up. This lost fertilizer can move offsite in runoff water and contribute to unwanted plant and algae growth in nearby streams or lakes. Especially in sandy soils, nitrogen and other chemicals can seep downward and enter groundwater used for drinking. On heavier, clay soils water will have a tendency to runoff the site carrying excess nutrients with it.

If you hire a lawn-care service, make sure they test your soil before applying fertilizer. Insist that lawn fertilizers only be applied when the weather is favorable — when rain is not expected for at least 24 hours. Be sure to keep children and pets away from treated lawns for at least 24 hours after fertilizer application. Sweep excess fertilizer off of walks and back onto the lawn before it is washed away by rain. Nonchemical fertilizers — such as compost, fishmeal and other soil amendments — should be applied based on the actual needs of your lawn as well.

Maintaining the Proper Soil pH

Acidity and alkalinity of a soil is expressed as the soil pH. The pH will affect your lawn’s ability to absorb fertilizers and other nutrients. A pH below 7 is considered acid; a pH above 7, alkaline. For most lawn grasses and ornamental plants, the soil pH should be between 6 and 7. This will help the plants as well as earthworms and other beneficial organisms in the landscape.

There may be certain plants that need a particular pH value to survive. As you review your soil pH values, know what plants are growing in your landscape and what pH they may need. The amount of lime required on your lawn should be based on the results of a soil test. The results of the test will determine the amount of limestone required to increase the pH or the amount of sulfur necessary to lower the pH to the desirable level.

Applying the Proper Amount of Fertilizer

Too much fertilizer can be harmful to the lawn, burn roots on plants and may also lead to water contamination through run-off or leaching of nutrients. The general rule for fertilizing shrubs is 1 tablespoon of fertilizer per 1 foot/height of growth. This should be done twice per growing season for mature plants and three times per growing season for newly planted shrubs.

Use a fertilizer that is no less than 50 percent slow-release nitrogen. When using fertilizers developed especially for shrubs, such as polycoated, resin-coated or 100 percent slow-release, follow the manufacturer’s rate on the label. Mulched beds do not need to have the mulch removed to fertilize. Spread the fertilizer evenly under the shrubs from the trunk to the drip line. Be sure to water the fertilizer in after application. Again, follow all label directions on application rate and method.

Centipede and carpetgrass are low-maintenance lawn grasses and do not tolerate excessive use of fertilizer, especially nitrogen and phosphorous. Use one-quarter the application rate for these grasses. For example, if you have a 12- 4- 8 fertilizer, apply 2 1 /2 pounds per 1,000 square feet to your centipede or carpetgrass lawn. For an established lawn, the fertilizer ratios, analyses and rates on the following page are recommended during the growing season:

Table 6.1. Basic Fertilizing Schedule

Treat your lawn with the proper amount of fertilizer at the right time. Use Table 6.1 to determine the appropriate fertilizer application times for your lawn grass.

To determine the proper amount of fertilizer needed, especially if the N-P-K analysis of your fertilizer is not listed above, use the following procedures:

• To apply one pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet, divide the first number on the fertilizer bag into 100. For example, a 16-4-8 fertilizer should be applied at a rate of 6.25 pounds per 1,000 square feet (100/16 = 6.25).
• To apply one-half pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet, divide the first number on the fertilizer bag into 50. For example, a 10-10-10 fertilizer should be applied at a rate of 5 pounds per 1,000 square feet (50/ 10 = 5).

For slow, even, sustained growth, consider using “slow-release” fertilizers. These products make nitrogen available slowly over a long period of time, say several months, which results in gradual, even growth. Slow-release materials include natural fertilizers, such as manure or composted sewage sludge. Synthetic slow-release fertilizers include UF (urea formaldehyde), SCU (sulfur-coated urea), IBDU (isobutylidene diurea) and methylene urea. These slow-release fertilizers are also good choices for areas where the potential for runoff is very high — slopes, compacted soil or sparsely covered lawns. Since the nutrients are released slowly, the potential for runoff and water contamination is less.

If a fertilizer contains a slow-release nitrogen source, it will be listed on the label. For urea formaldehyde-based fertilizers, the portion of the nitrogen that is slow-release is listed on the fertilizer bag as Water Insoluble Nitrogen (WIN). If WIN is not listed on the label, you should assume that all nitrogen in the fertilizer is in the quick-release form. For example, a fertilizer label might provide the following information like that listed in the box opposite.

For applications on sloped areas, choose a fertilizer in which more than 50 percent of the nitrogen is in WIN form.

Fertilizing Near Coastal Water Bodies

As covered earlier, pesticides and fertilizers applied to landscape plants and turf can cause pollution problems to nearby aquatic environments if applied improperly. Most current landscape designs have cultivated turf or open areas directly adjacent to the water’s edge. Not only does this cause a problem in water movement off the landscape but also can cause problems with pesticide and fertilization application near these sensitive areas. If natural or designed buffers are not feasible on your site, use extreme caution when applying chemicals and fertilizers in this area.

Make sure all application equipment is well-calibrated. Thoroughly research the specific problem you have and apply a chemical remedy only as a last resort. If it is determined that a chemical is needed, read all label directions as to the aquatic hazards of the chemical to be applied.

Be very careful not to apply any pesticide or fertilizer directly into any body of water. Leave a buffer zone as wide as practical between the area treated and the shoreline. To avoid this problem altogether, design and implement a vegetative buffer zone to filter out these chemicals.

Calibrating a Sprayer for Broadcast Pesticide Application

When applying a pesticide over a large area, broadcast spraying a uniform application will ensure that you cover the entire area with the amount of pesticide recommended on the product label. Uneven, heavy applications can result in damaged turf and shrubs along with the potential for environmental pollution. An application that is too light will result in poor pest control, wasted money and repeated applications of the product, which can also lead to environmental pollution.

To accomplish a uniform application of pesticides, you must establish some standard practices regarding the sprayer pressure, walking speed during application and height of boom above the area being sprayed. A constant walking speed is critical during pesticide applications. Practice maintaining a constant speed, since slowing down while spraying can cause significant damage to your turf or ornamentals.

Steps in sprayer calibration

There are different ways to calibrate a sprayer. This method is one that is easier to use with backpack or hand-held sprayers.

• Add water to the sprayer and spray a small area on the ground or dry pavement to check that the sprayer is operating properly. You should see a uniform spray pattern. If this is not the case, remove the boom and nozzle and check for obstructions. You can also check for leaks while doing this.
• Once the sprayer is checked out, add 1 gallon of water to the tank.
• Mark your starting point.
• Spray the water as if you are actually applying a pesticide to your landscape. If you want to see your spray pattern, a commercially available marker or food coloring can be used mixed with the water. Remember: You must maintain a constant pressure, constant walking speed and constant height of nozzle or boom above the surface.
• When all the water has been sprayed from the tank, stop and mark your final spot.
• Measure the area you have sprayed and calculate the square footage (length of sprayed area times the width).
• Calculate how much of an acre you covered.

  Number of ft 2 you sprayed / 43560 ft 2 /acre = acres sprayed

  If you are spraying small areas, divide the acres sprayed by 43 to change the units to 1000 ft 2 .

• Calculate how many gallons/acre or / 1000ft 2 you sprayed:

  1 gal sprayed / acres or 1000 ft2 sprayed = gal/acre or /1000 ft2

BE CAREFUL!!!

Always read and follow all label directions on all pesticides you use with regard to plants it will be used on, target pest, environmental hazards, applicator safety and disposal of the container and any unused product. Do not deviate from these instructions.

Risk Assessment 6.2 Your Fertilizer Use

The assessment table below will help you identify potential environmental risks related to your use of fertilizers. For each question, indicate your risk level in the right-hand column. Although some choices may not correspond exactly to your situation, choose the response that best fits. Refer to the previous pages if you need more information to complete the table.

Responding to Risks

Your goal is to lower your risks related to the use of fertilizer around your home. Turn to the Action Checklist on page 89 to record medium- and high-risk practices. Use the recommendations in Part 6.2 to help you make plans to reduce your risks.

Part 6.3 Taking Care of Your Lawn

Cut your grass to the proper height.
Recycle your grass clippings.
Use a human-powered mower for small lawns.
Do your yard care practices save water?
Water wisely.
Aerate your lawn regularly.
Are you applying pesticides wisely?
Choosing a Lawn Care Company
Integrated Pest Management
Beneficial Insects
Risk Assessment 6.3 Yard Care
Action Checklist

It will be easier to keep your landscape healthy if the type of grass and shrubs are suited to local growing conditions. This will include rainfall amount, temperature, soil type and available light. Contact your local Cooperative Extension office and the references at the end of this chapter for a list of recommended turfgrasses and shrubs for your region.

Cut your grass to the proper height.

Mow your lawn regularly. A good rule of thumb is to remove no more than one-third of the grass height at any one mowing. For example, if you are maintaining your centipede lawn at 1.5 inches, mow the lawn when it is about 2 inches high. Cutting off more than one-third at one time can stop the roots from growing and would require frequent watering during dry summers to keep the plants alive. Also, following the one-third rule will produce smaller clippings that will disappear quickly by filtering down to the soil surface.

Mow with a sharp mower blade. Sharp blades cut the grass cleanly, which ensures rapid healing and regrowth. When dull blades tear and bruise the leaves, the wounded grass plants become weakened and are less able to ward off invading weeds or to recover from disease and insect attacks.

Mow your lawn at the recommended height for your grass type. Cutting your grass to the right height is important; lawns cut too short invite weeds to invade. Use the table above as a guide to proper mowing heights.

Recycle your grass clippings.

In the early 1950s, the first bagging mowers made their debut on American lawns. Somehow collecting and removing grass clippings and sending them to landfills caught on. Bagging clippings became an established ritual across the country, accounting for 20 to 50 percent of the solid waste entering landfills between the months of March and September.

However, faced with the rapid disappearance of landfills in South Carolina, new legislation prevents grass clippings and other yard wastes from entering our landfills as of May 27, 1993. So where will all the clippings go? That’s easy: adopt the old practice of returning them back to the lawn. “Recycle” the grass clippings by not collecting them.

Recycling your grass clippings makes up part of a lawn care plan designed to produce a healthy lawn with savings in time, energy and money. At the same time, this lawn care plan will benefit your community and the environment. Grass clippings should be left on the lawn — in many cases, they supply enough natural fertilizer so that only minimal additional fertilizer is needed to keep your lawn green and healthy. Grass clippings contain nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and smaller amounts of other essential plant nutrients — basically a 4 -1- 3 fertilizer. When left on the lawn, these nutrients are eventually returned to the soil. Clippings should be swept off of paved surfaces so they aren’t carried away by stormwater.

Use a human-powered mower for small lawns.

Switching to a human-powered mower can cut down air and noise pollution and provide exercise. If you reduce your lawn size and grow plants that require little maintenance, such a mower can be practical. Consider using an electric mower for smaller-sized lawns.

Do your yard care practices save water?

The average American uses approximately 200 gallons of water each day. About half of that water may be used for landscaping and gardening, depending on climate, time of year, and plant species in the landscape. This is an immense amount of clean water — and only a small portion is actually used by your plants. If you convert your landscape plants to ones adapted to your region and climate, you will take the biggest step in conserving water and reducing the amount of pollutants moving offsite into the environment.

In places with dry climates, there are many plants that are drought-tolerant. Consider using drought-resistant turfgrass species like bermudagrass. Perennial flowers conserve water because their roots grow deeper than annual plants and require little or no watering once established. A shallow mulch (about 2 inches deep) of wood or bark chips over bare soil will reduce stormwater runoff and keep water from evaporating.

Water wisely.

Because most plants can tolerate at least short dry periods, watering should be timed to meet the biological needs of plants. Watering slowly and deeply helps develop strong roots and in the long run, your plants will need less frequent watering. The plants that seem to benefit most from shallow watering are the ones you don’t want — weeds!

Remember that plants can absorb only so much water. Over-watering wastes water, can injure certain plants and lead to runoff carrying hazardous fertilizers and pesticides. Placing several containers with 1-inch marks under your sprinkler will help you gauge how much water your lawn or garden is getting (see Figure 6.2).

Figure 6.2. Placing containers with 1-inch marks under you sprinkler will help you measure how much water you are applying.

When designing an irrigation system, place shrub beds on separate valves so they can be watered differently than your turf grass. Shrubs and trees need longer and slower water applications to thoroughly wet their root systems. If watered the same as turf areas, shrubs will usually develop shallow, weak root systems making them prone to diseases and insects. Shallow roots are also not able to absorb a large amount of the fertilizer applied. These nutrients may leach into the ground water.

You can choose not to water your lawn. During long, dry hot periods in the summer, you have two choices: (1) water the grass and keep it green, or (2) do not water and watch the lawn turn brown. Each choice has consequences. Watering will increase the need for mowing, raise your water bill and may stimulate disease outbreaks and weed growth. If you do not water, you can expect warm-season grasses, such as centipede, bermuda, St. Augustine or zoysiagrass to remain alive, and resume growth when conditions become more favorable. Cool-season grasses, such as tall or red fescue may be severely injured or killed.

If you irrigate your lawn, water early in the morning for efficient water use and to discourage the development and spread of diseases. During the driest part of our year, from April through September, plants and soil lose about 1.5 inches of water every seven days. Therefore, our lawns require about an inch of water every five to seven days. This will vary depending on soil type, turfgrass growth and rainfall. Sandier soils will require more frequent irrigation than do heavy soils. Apply a half-inch of water on coarse, sandy soil and an inch of water on heavy or finer-textured soil.

Most hose sprinklers apply 1 /4 to 3 /4 inch of water per hour, so they would need to run about four hours in one spot. If water runs off the lawn before an inch is applied, turn the sprinkler off, let the water soak in for about an hour, and then continue watering.

Use the following techniques to identify signs or indications of water need:

Color Test: When water is unavailable for an extended period of time, your lawn will turn a bluish-gray color.

Footprinting: Walk across your lawn and examine the lawn behind you to see if your steps left any “footprints.” Your footprints will appear in a lawn when the grass plants have low levels of water in their tissues. When you press the grass blades down with your feet, the low water levels prevent the grass blades from springing back up. If your footprints remain for an extended period, the lawn should be watered to prevent the grass from turning brown and becoming dormant.

Screwdriver Test: Press a screwdriver or similar tool into the lawn. If the soil is very dry, it will be difficult to push the screwdriver into the ground. Use this test to confirm the results of the footprint method to help judge when you should water your lawn.

Leaf Check: During dry periods, grass leaves respond by wilting, rolling or folding. Use these symptoms as signs that you need to water your lawn to prevent it from becoming dormant.

 

Aerate your lawn regularly.

Physically removing cores of soil and leaving holes in the lawn is called core aeration. Aeration loosens compacted soil and improves your lawn’s growing conditions by making air, water and nutrients available to the grass roots. It also creates ideal conditions for the growth of earthworms and microorganisms that break down clippings and thatch.

Are you applying pesticides wisely?

Although removing weeds, insects and other pests by hand is safest for the environment and your health, pesticides, if properly used, may pose only a minimal risk. The key is doing your homework before you start treatment. Correctly identifying the pest is the first step. Many plant problems are not caused by insects or disease but are related to temperature extremes, waterlogging, drought, damage caused by lawn mowers or an overuse of chemicals.

Learn when and where pesticides may be needed to control problems. Apply them only where pests occur. Select chemicals that are the least toxic or that break down quickly into less harmful substances. Check with your local Cooperative Extension office or garden supply stores for information. Remember to read the pesticide label carefully and follow the directions for application rates and methods.

Pest prevention is often simpler (and cheaper) than pest removal. If you have disease-resistant grasses or other plants and keep them healthy, pests will be less of a problem. Be sure to ask yourself, for the sake of clean groundwater and an environment with fewer chemical pollutants, if you can tolerate a few more weeds and “bugs” around your home.

Choosing a Lawn Care Company

Most gardeners interested in a beautifully landscaped home want a healthy lawn. To accomplish this some people may want or need to hire a lawn care service to maintain their turfgrass. Before selecting a lawn care company, decide on the quality of turf you desire. An average quality lawn can be obtained with a minimum of money and effort. An above-average or superior lawn will require additional care that may need to be preformed by a lawn care company.

Inexperienced homeowners can be more likely to make mistakes than lawn care professionals in mixing the right chemical dilutions, calibrating application equipment, employing safety measures to protect the applicator, and properly storing or disposing of containers.

If you choose to have a company meet your level of lawn quality with chemicals, follow these guidelines to help you make an informed choice:

• Know what lawn or landscape care services you want provided. Ask several companies what services they offer if you are not sure what level of care or management you want. Once you decide what services you want, get several cost estimates from companies offering these services. Ask neighbors and friends who have had such service for recommendations.

• See if the company is willing to listen to your concerns about your lawn or landscape and if they can provide effective and acceptable solutions to your problems. If they are unwilling to address your concerns, look elsewhere. Lawn care companies should have competent personnel who can respond to your questions and diag-nose problems. Ask how much training and experience the company’s consulting employees have with lawns in your part of the state.

• Obtain a written service agreement. Ask if the service is automatically renewed each year. If so, request an annual written confirmation. If you choose to cancel your service agreement, ask if there are any penalties.

• Do not simply accept service over the telephone without other contact with the company. Ask that a company representative visit your property. Many companies provide a free on-site landscape survey to determine problems, level of maintenance and pricing.

• Ask if the company is licensed and insured. Don’t be afraid to ask for proof.

• Ask if the company is a member of a trade association, such as the Professional Lawn Care Association of America or the International Society of Arboriculture. This can be an indication of the company’s dedication to good service. Trade associations often have consumer protection codes of ethics to be followed by their members. Also, these associations help keep their members informed of the latest technical information in the industry, as well as keeping members educated in the safe use of pesticides.

• Pesticides and other lawn care chemicals should be used only as needed. Ask the company to tell you what lawn care chemicals it plans to use and why. Some companies will provide you with a copy of the label and material safety data sheet (MSDS) for pesticides they apply.

• A company should always provide advance notice of chemical applications so that lawn furniture, sports equipment, toys, and pet accessories can be removed from the area before treatment, The company should also tell you how long to keep children and pets off the lawn after treatment.

• Ask if the company will put up notification signs after any chemical application.

• Lawn care chemicals must often be watered into the soil to be effective. Determine if the company will do this, or if you will be responsible. Ask for detailed instructions on the tasks that you will need to perform.

• Ask if the individual(s) applying pesticides will be a Certified Commercial Pesticide Applicator or be working under the supervision of one. While this is not a requirement by law for general use pesticides, a Certified Pesticide Applicator has studied for and passed a licensing examination on the safe use of pesticides.

• Request that the company properly dispose of any fertilizer or pesticide containers.

• Check on the company. A common complaint against some companies is that lawn care chemicals are applied without the knowledge or consent of the home-owner. Other complaints include delays in services and, occasionally, damage to desirable plants with herbicides or chemical applications that may be made on — or drift onto — a neighbor’s property. Check with the Clemson University Department of Pesticide Regulation
(864-646-2150) to see if the company has any pesticide-related violations. Check with the Better Business Bureau to see what types of complaints, if any, have been made against the company. Ask the company for references from local customers.

Integrated Pest Management

It sounds fancy, but integrated pest management, or IPM, is simply a systematic approach to controlling pests in your landscape.

Although the use of nonchemical controls is preferred, chemicals may be used selectively as a last resort when nothing else has worked to reduce pest damage. Weeds can be controlled by hand-pulling (See Figure 6.3) or hoeing, and bugs can be removed by picking them off vegetables and garden plants. Proper planting techniques along with selecting plants adapted to your local site are also important. Try to plant native varieties that are resistant to common pest problems. Cleaning up dead leaves and debris removes potential homes to pests. Using natural predators to control pests is another method: you can release beneficial insects and microorganisms that feed on pest insects into your garden and allow them to control pest problems naturally.

Figure 6.3 Pull weeds by hand instead of controlling them with chemicals.

When you have no other choice, try to find nontoxic or low-toxic chemicals such as insecticidal soaps. Follow directions carefully, and mix only the amount you need. For IPM strategies to work, you will have to give more time and attention to your yard and garden.

It’s very important to identify the pest problem and understand its life cycle before choosing appropriate control measures. Consider controlling pests with cultural methods, such as properly mowing and fertilizing, or use biological controls, such as milky spore, to control Japanese beetles. If cultural or biological controls are unsuccessful, or if the pest population has gone out of control, then consider pesticides. It is best to avoid general, catchall pesticide applications. Remember to read and follow all label directions with any pesticide used.

Beneficial Insects

There are many beneficial insects. Listed here are varieties you’ll likely see around your garden. Find a book with color pictures of both adult and larval form of these insects and protect them when you see them: spiders, ground beetles, bees, lady beetles, lacewings, hover flies, predatory mites, ants, predacious bugs, centipedes, and wasps.

Risk Assessment 6.3 Yard Care

The assessment table below will help you identify potential environmental risks related to your yard and garden maintenance practices. For each question, indicate your risk level in the right-hand column. Although some choices may not correspond exactly to your situation, choose the response that best fits. Refer to the previous pages if you need more information to complete the table.

Responding to Risks

Your goal is to lower your risks related to the way you care for your lawn and garden. Turn to the Action Checklist on page 89 to record medium- and high-risk practices. Use the recommendations in Part 6.3 to help you make plans to reduce your risks.

Part 6.4 Home Composting

Location
Volume
Pile Maintenance
Avoiding Pests
Composting with Worms
Risk Assessment 6.4 Home Composting

Garden trimmings and food scraps make up more than 25 percent of what is thrown away in an average household. Composting is a cost-effective, natural way to handle leaves, grass clippings and other yard trimmings — materials that might otherwise end up in a landfill. Composting creates an organic, slow-release fertilizer and soil-enhancing material. It takes advantage of nature’s recycling system for breaking down plant and other organic materials.

Most natural organic matter will be effective in your compost pile. However, not all material belongs in a compost pile. Some wastes will attract pests while others can contain pathogens that will survive the heat of composting. Fatty food waste such as meat and bones should be avoided. These products will attract animals that can leave manure deposits in your compost containing harmful bacteria. You should also avoid adding diseased plants and extremely noxious weeds such as morning glories and those grasses that have tuberous or rhizomatous root systems. The composting process may not kill these weeds and you can spread them as you use your compost.

So, what can you add to your compost pile? Any carbonaceous material will work fine. Be sure to finely chop all woody material before adding it. The finer the organic waste is the faster it will compost. When adding these “brown” materials, be sure to add an equivalent amount of “green” material, such as grass clippings, to help feed the microbes.

Materials that break down slowly should be mixed with easily decomposed material to allow the pile to get hot. If high-nitrogen sources, such as manure or grass clippings, are not available, you can use the material as mulch or add a small amount of fertilizer to the pile. Although materials such as wood chips and straw break down slowly, they add bulk to the pile allowing air to circulate. Remember, a compost pile is a living product and needs air to run. When composting a large amount of dense high-nitrogen materials such as manure, the addition of this bulking material may be needed to facilitate the process.

Never add pet wastes (from cats and dogs) to compost piles because of potential parasite and disease problems.

Location

A good location is helpful for a successful compost pile. Direct sunlight in the summer dries the pile. Exposure to high winds can dry and cool the pile, slowing the decomposition process. The pile location should not interfere with lawn and garden activities. Water should be readily available. There should also be enough space for temporary storage of organic wastes. Good drainage is important; otherwise, standing water could impede the decomposition process. The compost pile should not be located against wooden buildings or trees; wood in contact with compost may decay.

In the coastal environment, precautions should be taken about your compost pile’s proximity to water. Try to locate your pile well away (at least 100 feet) from any wells, lakes or rivers.

Volume

A pile should be large enough to hold heat and small enough to admit air to its center. As a rule of thumb, the minimum dimensions of a pile should be 3 feet x 3 feet x 3 feet (1 cubic yard) to hold heat.

If space is a limiting factor, the pile sides should be insulated so that higher temperatures can be maintained in a much smaller volume. Smaller, commercially available units can be insulated with foam board. Piles larger than 5 feet tall and wide may need to be turned to prevent their centers from becoming anaerobic. As the material decomposes, the pile will become smaller.

Pile Maintenance

Maintenance of the compost pile involves turning the pile and adding water to maintain conditions conducive to the composting process. If the pile is not turned, decomposition will occur, but at a slower rate. The following maintenance procedure will yield compost in the shortest time.

In a properly constructed pile, the temperature will increase rapidly and soon reach about 110 F. After about a week, the pile should be opened to the air and any compacted material should be loosened. Then the pile should be reconstructed; material previously on the top and sides of the pile should be moved to the center.

Figure 6.4. Compost piles will remain relatively odor-free if they are turned and aerated regularly.

At the second turning (after about another week), the material should be a uniform coffeebrown color and moist. The outer layer, relatively undecomposed, can be scraped off and turned back in to the center of the pile. The center material should be spread over the outer layer of the reconstructed pile. By the third turning, the original materials should not be recognizable. At each turning, the moisture content should be checked so that squeezing the compost material would produce a slight trickle of water. Water should be added, if necessary.

During the first few weeks of composting, the pile should reach apeak temperature of about 140 F. If temperatures surpass 140 F, the pile should be turned to cool it off. Extremely high temperatures can kill many beneficial organisms. If the pile does not reach at least 120 F, more nitrogen or water may be needed. Cold weather can also prevent the pile from heating. Piles that give off strong ammonia smells contain too much nitrogen, and may need more high-carbon ingredients.

Simple carbohydrates and proteins provide most of the energy for the initial, rapid stages of decomposition. When the more resistant materials, such as lignin and cellulose, become the main food sources, the activity in the pile will slow down. Less heat will be produced, and the temperature will begin to fall to about 100 F. Even after the temperature falls, the compost will continue to stabilize slowly.

The compost will be finished when the pile cools off and decreases to about one-third of its original volume (depending on the original ingredients). It will be dark, crumbly and have an earthy odor. Unfinished compost can be toxic to some vegetation, especially seedlings and newly established plants. Therefore, compost must be allowed to decompose thoroughly before use.

Check with your local Clemson Extension office, garden stores, the library and your neighbors for other ideas.

Avoiding Pests

Given a comfortable or even nourishing environment, rodents and other animals may be attracted to your compost pile. Rats are probably the most undesirable pests. In a hospitable environment with plenty of food, they can multiply very quickly and can become disease transmitters. Therefore, it is crucial to keep high-protein and fatty food wastes out of the compost pile in areas where pests may be a problem. Meat and fish scraps, bones, cheeses, butter and other dairy products should be excluded. Bread and other high-carbohydrate or high-sugar wastes can also attract pests.

Many flies, including houseflies, can spend their larval phase as maggots in compost piles. To control their numbers, compost piles with food in them must be turned frequently to encourage heating (larvae die at high temperatures). The piles should also be covered with finished compost or a dry material that has a lot of carbon, such as straw. Pest-proof sides and covers may also be installed on compost units to help control pests.

Composting with Worms

The process of worm composting involves worms digesting food waste and leaving behind high-quality castings called “vermicompost.” Worms work most efficiently at 50 and 70 F. This makes worm composting ideal for some type of semi-heated area indoors or out. If you’re not too squeamish, you can even vermicompost right in your own kitchen! “Red worms” are used for the composting process, not soil-dwelling worms. They are placed in a bin with bedding and food waste. These red worms, sometimes referred to as red wigglers, evolved in manure piles and are efficient processors of food and other organic material. You can find these worms sold in the back of many fishing magazines or local fishing stores. Worms do not need elaborate accommodations to work. A shallow box with a lid will serve as a good composting bin. For the worms to do their job they need a dark, moist environment. They will also need to be “bedded” within these box