Where to Find Pesticide-Free
Lawn and Landscape Care Products
UPdate Spring 1999
Preliminary
reports suggest you should be able to obtain pesticide-free lawn and landscape
care from:
Larkin's Landscaping, 471-1149
(cell)
Your Private Gardener, 479-1021, total
property care only, not
just cutting lawns.
Manicure Lawn Property Service (Dave
Hacket) 453-6413
(home), 499-3335
(cell).
Pro-Green, 758-3512, 639-9329, 883-1451;
Ann Perry provides
organic grounds
& lawn care; and although Pro-Green is
based in Schubenacadie,
they work frequently in the Halifax
area. Request
no spot spraying.
For Soils: contact "Kel-Ann Organics,"
835-2606.
For SOD: There are no local sources
yet for pesticide-free sods (who will be the first sod producer to market
an organic "Eco-Sod"- with a mixed sward of low-maintenance grass varieties
and clover?).
Elmsdale Landscaping Ltd. (883-2291,
883-2250) provides a limited
quantity of fine
fescue turf.
Paul Boutilier 876-8579 (home), 826-7173
(work), is a distributor for
Eco-Val Products
and other organic lawn care products. Pesticides
are
used in his lawn care services, however.
Companies providing
both (1) chemical/pesticide lawn care and (2) organic lawn care, but who
prefer non-toxic methods, include
Eden Park, 456-6721,
Atlantic Landscape Gardeners, 835-9651,
who although
describe themselves
as using "no sprays whatsoever," do
call in Nutri-Lawn
to apply pesticides,
A&A Lawncare and General Maintenance,
483-3402, and
Edmonds Landscape Services (if specify
in contract "no
pesticides ever")
423-8174 (phone), 455-9956 (fax).
Pesticide-free landscapes that are
beautifully maintained by
Vernon Mingo (of
Edmonds) are on view at the NS Museum
of Natural History,
the Halifax Shopping Centre, and the
playground at the
IWK Hospital for Sick Children.
When contracting
for any landscape work, its a good idea to ask very
specifically for a complete ingredient
list of ALL materials that will be
applied to your lawn, in writing, so
that regrettable confusions do not
occur.
FOR A GREAT
NEW CANADIAN SOURCE OF BIOLOGICAL CONTROLS, CONTACT THE NATURAL INSECT
CONTROL (NIC) CATALOGUE
Phone (905)382-2904, Fax (905)382-4418,
RR#2, Stevensville, Ont. L0S 1S0
E-Mail: nic@niagara.com
Website:
http://www.natural-insect-control.com
NOTE: It is not a good idea to trust
the use of the word "organic" until
third party certification can be provided
by an Organic Turf Care
Association in Nova Scotia. One of
several legitimate meanings of the word "organic" refers to long-chain
carbon compounds such as proteins or gasoline. Using this meaning, pesticides
such as 2,4-D or chlorpyrifos are strictly speaking "organic," but clearly
this is not what homeowners mean when they ask if a garden product is "organic."
They, of course, mean "is it pesticide-free?" which is another legitimate
meaning for the word.
Landscapers
have at times misled homeowners by saying their pesticide product is "organic."
Until only legitimate providers of organic lawn care are permitted to use
this word, you should rely on safe materials such as fully mature compost,
or Eco-Val, or other organic dormant fertilizers to feed your lawn or to
help regenerate your sterile soil. Do not use any products that have so-called
"INERT," "OTHER," "UNKNOWN," or "UNLISTED" ingredients listed on the label,
or ones identified as "ORGANIC-BASED." Suggestions of businesses that should
be added (or removed) from this list can be mailed to RATE, P.O. Box 25188,
HFX, NS, B3M 4H4.
Courtesy of Real Alternatives to Toxins
in the Environment (RATE), PO Box
25188, Halifax, NS, B3M 4H4
Email rate@chebucto.ns.ca
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environment/RATE/
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