Lawn Care: An Ecosystem Approach
Like forests or prairie grasslands, lawns are dynamic ecosystems: communities of plants, soil, and microbes; insects and earthworms and the birds that feed on them; and humans who mow, water, fertilize, and play on the lawn. The interactions of all these community members shape the dynamic equilibrium we see as a lawn. Understanding and working within the natural processes that shape the lawn and its soil community can yield a durable, beautiful lawn that is easier to care for. As it turns out, these ecologically sound methods will also help reduce water use, waste generation, and water pollution.

Why Make A Change?
The ecological approach to lawn care described in this report has several advantages, including:

• Reduced mowing time and fertilizer needs, and improved turf color, quality, and density.
• Enhanced resistance to diseases and weed invasion.
• Improved nutrient availability, and less soil compaction, acidification, and thatch buildup.

What you will find in this guide:

Chapters 1- 4: The “how to” part
These sections introduce the basics of pesticide-free lawn and garden care and ideas for how to plan and care for a natural lawn and garden. Each section concludes with a summary of key points.

Chapter 5: Pest Management
This section describes the typical urban lawn and garden and how to manage common (and some not-so-common) pests, weeds and diseases.

Chapter 6: Troubleshooting
This chapter highlights some of the challenges that may arise when you start a natural lawn and garden program and suggests solutions and tips.

Chapter 7: Your Natural “Toolbox”
This chapter describes the tools and products that can be used as part of a natural lawn and garden program. It describes lower risk pest control products permitted for use under Toronto’s Pesticide By-law.

The main purpose of spring lawn care is to get the grass through the summer. Cool-season grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, and the fescues need to develop a strong root system in order to survive summer’s heat and dry conditions.

Ideally, our lawn care calendar should be from September 1 through August 31, and not April 1 through March 31. This would encourage nine months of cool-season growth before summer’s conditions. Thinking that lawn care starts in the spring only allows a couple months of growth before demanding environmental conditions.

However, there are several practices that you can undertake in the spring to make sure your lawn has the best chance.

MOWING
As soon as the grass needs cutting, mow it. Don’t wait. Most cool-season grasses should be cut at a 2- to 2½-inch height. This means mowing the lawn when it reaches 3 to 4 inches to avoid cutting off more than you leave. If you allow the grass to get tall before mowing, you run the risks of stressing the plants and encouraging diseases.

CREATING YOUR LOUISI ANA-FRIENDLY YARD

A Louisiana-Friendly Yard doesn’t merely offer a good-looking landscape, it also becomes an asset to the local environment, protecting natural resources and preserving our state’s unique beauty. An important part in creating a Louisiana-Friendly Yard is recognizing that the home landscape is connected to and a part of a larger natural system.

Designing a landscape more in harmony with the environment requires commitment and careful planning and largely depends on what you and your family require from the landscape. You should consider:

1. Your family’s needs and desires.
2. The conditions of your site.
3. Maintaining a healthy environment.

Understanding a few basic concepts will help you make environmentally appropriate decisions when planning your landscape and avoid potential problems.

PROPER PLANNING IS CRITICAL

On average, a welldesigned landscape provides enough energy savings to return your initial investment in less than 8 years. An 8-foot (2.4-meter) deciduous (leaf-shedding) tree, for example, costs about as much as an awning for one large window and can ultimately save your household hundreds of dollars in reduced cooling costs, yet still admit some winter sunshine to reduce heating and lighting costs. Landscaping can save you money in summer or winter.

Summer
You may have noticed the coolness of parks and wooded areas compared to the temperature of nearby city streets. Shading and evapotranspiration (the process by which a plant actively moves and releases water vapor) from trees can reduce surrounding air temperatures as much as 9° F (5°C). Because cool air settles near the ground, air temperatures directly under trees can be as much as 25°F (14°C) cooler than air temperatures above nearby blacktop. Studies by the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory found summer daytime air temperatures to be 3°F to 6° F (2°C to 3°C) cooler in tree-shaded neighborhoods than in treeless areas. A well-planned landscape can reduce an unshaded home’s summer air-conditioning costs by 15% to 50%. One Pennsylvania study reported air-conditioning savings of as much as 75% for small mobile homes.

Florida Neighborhoods: Connecting Our Yards to Florida’s Water

Our yards and neighborhoods are channels to our waterways. Your yard is the fi rst line of defense for preserving Florida’s fragile environment. The health of Florida’s estuaries, rivers, lakes, springs and aquifers depends partly on how you landscape and maintain your yard. You don’t even have to live on the water to make a big difference. Rain that falls on yards, roads and parking lots can wash into waterways or leach into ground water, carrying pollutants — including fertilizers, pesticides, animal waste, soil and petroleum products. Improperly applied fertilizers and pesticides from residential areas pose a serious threat to the health of Florida’s waters.

Creating Your Florida-Friendly Yard
A Florida-Friendly Yard doesn’t merely offer good-looking landscapes; it also becomes an asset to the environment, protecting natural resources and preserving the state’s unique beauty. Recognizing that the home landscape is part of a larger natural system will help in creating a Florida-Friendly Yard. Designing an aesthetically pleasing Florida-Friendly Yard begins with good decisions based on what you and your landscape require: