A Lawn as Healthy as It Looks
By JULIE SCELFO
Published: April 1, 2009
IN honor of spring and the ongoing quest for the perfect lawn, the Green Home asked Bill Duesing, an educator with the Northeast Organic Farming Association, a nonprofit group devoted to sustainable farming and gardening, for tips on achieving an attractive yard without wreaking environmental havoc.
Americans bought 4.5 million tons of bagged fertilizer in 2007. Does that pose any problems for the environment?
Conventional fertilizers contain more nitrogen and phosphorus than your lawn usually needs, which disturb the soil’s ecosystem. They also wash away and end up in bodies of water, where they can kill plants and fish. A lot of conventional fertilizer also contains herbicide and insecticide, which have other chemicals that can potentially harm human health.
What’s a greener alternative to conventional fertilizer?
Use compost, which is organic and is the best food for your soil. Good soil has more than 6 billion living organisms in a small handful — bacteria and fungi that are able to take nutrients out of rock particles and organic matter to feed the grass.
More……