The Green Room

Judith Lodi of Kitchener, Ontario writes:

I am hoping that you can offer some advice. I have been trying, without success, for the past three years to eliminate the dandelions, plantain, etc. that are spreading and choking out my grass. I also have numerous two leaf plants coming up that look like they could be seedlings from my maple. On top of all this, I am sure that I have some form of lawn infestation, but definitely do not want to turn to pesticides and weed and feed type solutions. However, my lawn is unsightly and because it borders my neighbour’s property, they are also impacted by my inability to solve these problems.

Last weekend, I visited my parents and relatives in the Peterborough area, which as I am sure you know has a stringent pesticide by-law in place. That weekend the Peterborough Examiner was filled with editorial comments and news articles about the massive patches of dead grass and exposed dirt that now seems to be the off-shoot of white grubs and no alternative means to control these pests. (My aunt did say that she is going to apply Nematodes and hopes they may help.) I expect that the battle over maintaining the green will only become worse, as Ontario struggles to institute a law governing the use of cosmetic pesticides. Those in opposition will either dig in their heals because the proposed legislation is a water-down version of what their community has in place or they will argue against instituting such laws because golf courses, etc. are exempt.

What we can do to ensure that the laws we have put in place, or are struggling to achieve, aren’t way-laid because we don’t have readily accessible alternative answers to pesticide?

This is a timely question, Judy, because we are just putting together our July issue of David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge newsletter, where we will be featuring earth-friendly strategies for attracting beneficial predators and recipes (from our Queen of Green, Lindsay Coulter) to make yards and gardens inhospitable to unwanted pests. Watch for this early in July.

In the meantime, can any readers offer some wisdom?