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Topic: ~Rated PG~ Random Thursday Questions
| Author | Message |
| wineaux | Posted – 10/9/2007 11:36:24 PM | show profile Oh, that lawn issue puts a bee in my bonnet too. I don't own this house, so I refuse to drop any money on it, or effort, for that matter. I have a guy come every other week and mow the lawn, trim, clean up dog poop and pluck weeds, so the yard is presentable. He asked me the first day what sort of fertilizer I wanted on the lawn and I said, "None," very firmly. He looked at me like I was insane. I told him my boys like to roll around and wrestle on the grass and my dog naps on it. It's gonna be chemical free on my watch, dammit! He still thinks I'm a nut bag, but that's ok. My kids don't get rashes when they lay in the grass and that's all I care about. My neighbor across the street has a lush, brilliantly green lawn with little yellow flags jabbed into it every few feet or so, with warnings emblazoned upon them about just how toxic the blades and soil are. How frickin' sad is it that people would rather have a visually pretty lawn that could make you sick? I'm totally baffled. |
| voracious reader | Posted – 10/10/2007 8:21:29 AM | show profile http://www.deliciousorganics.com/Controversies/lushlawn.htm Wineaux - Here's a link for you and especially Foto on tips to having a nice chemical free lawn at little cost! It's not difficult. And like I said to Foto, perhaps you can enlighten your neighbors. You can contact your local newspaper to do an article on this subject. If they chose not to, you can write a letter to the editor. Surely if anyone can write, it's US!!! The important point that you make is that at least your lawn is "presentable." Granted, what's presentable to one person may differ to another. However, from the tone of Foto's exchange, I feel Foto derives pleasure from keeping an unkempt lawn and is doing it to release his/her frustration of living in his/her community. My philosophy is you make lemonade from lemons. To do that you have to have a recipe! Read, learn and enlighten yourself and others. You'd be surprised what you can accomplish. Now if I could only get my neighbors to STOP putting that awful stucco on their houses!!!!! Humm.... |
| wineaux | Posted – 10/10/2007 9:22:12 AM | show profile I checked out the link. I do some of the things they mentioned, like using the clippings as mulch, using compost and not clipping it too close. Well, the gardener does that. It's a small yard, so it's easy to keep nicer. The lawn actually looks pretty good, even compared to the other lawns. There are lots of big oak and maple trees in the yard that keep it shaded so that it stayed fairly green up until about two weeks ago when it was really hot and the rain stayed away. I'd like to look into an organic alternative to getting rid of mosquitos for next summer! |
| voracious reader | Posted – 10/10/2007 10:11:43 AM | show profile Wineaux - if you want to get rid of mosquitoes-- now THAT is going to require the community's effort! Simply put, that requires viligence on the part of the community whereby neighbors have to report neighbors to the local health department and building codes department. For example, as I mentioned earlier, tall untended grass must be mowed. Pools must be properly maintained. Storm drains must be cleaned and roadways that have standing water must be reported to the local government's highways department so they can be repaired. While some people may argue that rules are meant to be ignored or broken, they were originally put in place for a reason. These are all examples of how, a pro-active community can create a healthy environment for raising families. And taking it a step further, Wineaux, I think you're on to something in getting people to move towards chemical free lawns! Here's your opportunity to meet those "pockets" of like minded people! :) |
| keltoi2 | Posted – 10/10/2007 11:11:22 AM | show profile My front lawn is the size of a postage stamp and currently being ravaged by a voracious mole or three, but my back lawn is about a 1/4 acre and looks wonderfully green. The irony is, the green is from about 12 different types of weeds mixed in with the regular grass. As long as it looks good from my window, I'm OK with that. And the resident groundhog enjoys the mixed salad. |
