Local Lawns
Congratulations! Lawn by lawn, street by street, people are reducing their pesticide use and making our communities a healthier place to live. Here's a few examples of how your neighbours have taken action.
If you would like to add your testimonial to our list of local lawns, please click on the 'contact us' button at the top of the page.
Barbara, Waterloo
My motivation for practicing natural lawn care is two fold - I want to do what's best for the health of my family and for the health of the environment. Numerous scientific studies link pesticide exposure to increased cancer rates and other serious health problems, with children being particularly vulnerable. I want to do everything possible to minimize the chances of my family - or any other family - having to suffer through ill-health or disease. The homes on our street back onto a wetland which is home to a wide variety of frogs, turtles and birds. This environment provides a wonderful educational setting, not only for my family, but for the entire community. I do not want to jeopardize this environment.
I have been caring for our lawn in a natural way for nearly nine years. My methods for doing so are basic: aerating the lawn once a year, top-dressing and overseeding in the spring and fall with a blend of grasses including drought-resistant varieties, cutting the grass high, leaving the grass clippings on the lawn, weeding by hand and watering deeply once a week when necessary.
Barry, Conestogo
I began to reduce pesticide use in order to cut down on pollutants in the soil on our property and to prevent pesticides from leaching into the stream at the bottom of our garden. Also because we didn't want our Lab walking and playing on lawns covered in pesticides.
When we first moved here in 1994, I must say I did apply a weed killer pretty extensively to cut down on the many dandelions in the spring. Occasional top dressing, seeding, and some watering increased the thickness of the grasses, with the result that now I only spot-spray the few dandelions that pop up in the spring.
Lawn care nowadays consists of having a lawn service company fertilize the lawn twice a season, using a granular, bio-degradable material to feed the lawn. We do not use a 'weed and feed' product. We have the lawn aerated every other year.
The grass is fairly thick now. The lawn contains a fair amount of clover which remains green and releases nutrients even if parts of the lawn dry and burn a bit in the heat. When I cut the lawn, I cut it 'long' - about 2 inches - and usually leave the clippings on the grass.
In some areas where large trees take up most of the moisture from the surrounding lawn, we have given up trying to seed these spots and have put in ground covers.
Bob, Kitchener
Until about 15 years ago we cared for our lawn the way many Canadians do. We applied fertilizer, some weed killer, and possibly some insecticide from time to time, plus we watered it to keep it green during dry spells. We noticed that the birds and small animals tended to avoid our lawn when we used chemicals.
After reading a booklet called 'How To Get Your Lawn Off Of Drugs' we made some changes. Since our soil was poor and had a heavy clay base, I dug up the lawn, rotor-tilled some sand into it and planted a mix of 50% clover. In those 15 years I have never again applied any chemicals to the lawn, nor have I ever watered it, regardless of the climate conditions. Weeds are extracted by hand. (That's no watering as in NEVER. My motto is, the lawn has to learn to take a joke.)
The result is that our lawn is actually greener and healthier than many other 'treated' lawns in the area. In dry seasons, ours remains greener since the clover has deeper roots and maintains itself longer than regular grass does. The reason this system works is we're not striving for a monculture lawn. Trying to grow pure Kentucky Bluegrass and nothing else in a lawn requires a person to fight mother nature and mother nature always wins. Ultimately I feel I spend less money and effort on our low maintenance lawn, while making a small contribution to conservation.
Stewart, Elmira
Seven years ago our front lawn (grass & weed) needed a total overhaul. My wife suggested we try mulch & ground cover. We have never looked back. Maintenance is almost nil, just the odd weeding. We haven't watered this year yet and zero pesticides.
We are in the planning stage of removing the little grass we have in the back. Zero mowing. I love it !!!
Margaret, Waterloo
In 2003, we mulched over the existing grass both on our front and rear yards then dug in gardens and bushes. We chose to go this route for ease of maintenance. It hugely reduces the need to water as the thick bed of mulch keeps moisture in the ground for long periods of time.
We have eliminated the use of pesticides. The mulch keeps the weeds at bay and those that pop up are then easily removed. The gardens are beautiful to look at eliminating the ugly brown dormant grass in the middle of the summer. The bushes and gardens can give us privacy when we are sitting on our porch but it also invites conversation with neighbours as they stroll by.
This is our third 'naturescaped yard' and would never consider grass again. Far too much work!
