How to Create Safe and Healthy Landscaping
Insecticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers and other landscaping chemicals may pose health risks to you and your family. Excess chemicals can be picked up by rainwater runoff and carried through the storm drain into local rivers and streams, harming fish and wildlife and impacting water quality.
Don’t over-fertilize. Too much fertilization actually weakens plants, and it promotes thatch build-up in lawns. Apply fertilizer only when needed. For lawns, that is generally in the spring or fall after thatching and aerating. Use compost tea or slow-release organic fertilizers to minimize leaching into groundwater and rainwater. Keeping the soil healthy with organic fertilizers will give you healthy plants that are less susceptible to pest infestations.
Reduce pesticide use. Use pesticides only as a last resort when pest infestations have been identified, not on a pre-determined spray schedule. Use hand-weeding and other cultural methods instead of herbicides.
Go native. Landscape your workplace with native plants and other low-maintenance plants that require little use of chemicals and fertilizers. You’ll make the maintenance job easier, reduce chemical use, and provide habitat for wildlife such as birds and butterflies.
Put it in Writing. Stipulate these ecological requirements in the contract with your landscaping company, if you use one. Sample contract language is available from the Oregon Environmental Council; contact teresa h at oeconline.org.
Hire an ecologically-certified landscaper. The Ecobiz program takes the guesswork out of choosing someone who will do the job in a way that’s healthy for you and the environment. Find a list of ecologically-certified landscape professionals at www.ecobiz.org. If your landscaper is not on the list, encourage them to get certified.
