A Healthier Green for our Brookline Backyards

Eventually the pesticides and fertilizers applied to a lawn make it to sensitive waterways, estuaries and coastal communities. But gardening chemicals impact more than just water supply. The effects of so much home pesticide and fertilizer use, combined with what is now called “conventional agriculture practices,”also create some real problems with nutrient imbalances and toxic substances in both our water supply and our oceans. These imbalances can cause all sorts of issues:

• Toxic algal blooms (sometimes called red tides);
• Overgrowth of seaweed in coral reefs communities; and
• Human exposure to toxic substances through consumption of contaminated seafood. The Gimme Green documentary points out that, of the 30 common pesticides used on lawns, 26 are linked to serious human illness including cancer and major organ disease. 24 are toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms. What we do to our lawns makes a difference to our rivers and oceans.

There are plenty of things you can do to reduce your pesticide and fertilizer use while still maintaining a beautiful yard.

• Go native! Native plants require much less water and fertilizer than non-native plants do. • Make your own compost! Composting kitchen scraps is a great way to create (free!) all-natural fertilizer.
• Set your mower to a cutting height of 2”-3” — which will eliminate undesirable weedy plants.
• Don’t rake your clippings; leave them behind as fertilizer.
• Consider creating a “Healthy Yard” as outlined by the Audubon Society.
• Try square-foot gardening. This method uses 90% less water and 95% fewer seeds than a traditional backyard garden and requires no chemicals!
• Reduce the amount of chemicals used to maintain your lawn/garden and instead change to organic products.

Adapted from the Nature Conservancy