"...my neighbor is once again having his entire yard saturated in chemicals...."
You certainly have my sympathies, and I can "co-anger" with you on this. I am grateful that neither I nor my neighbors on all sides are using chemicals on the lawn. Some chem-lawn operations put flags out after spraying--those read "Do not let children or pet…
"...my neighbor is once again having his entire yard saturated in chemicals...."
You certainly have my sympathies, and I can "co-anger" with you on this. I am grateful that neither I nor my neighbors on all sides are using chemicals on the lawn. Some chem-lawn operations put flags out after spraying--those read "Do not let children or pets on this grass..." (for a certain amount of time). Still, I'm concerned about the use of those toxins on any lawn. Wind drift can bring them to surrounding properties; saturation of toxins into ground will kill all beneficial microbes and deeper down they will be absorbed into the water table. We are all affected by that. Round-up, Agent Orange, and all their variants are produced and sold by Monsanto, Dow, DuPont, et al, making those corporations extremely wealthy and destructive of human health.
When I started gardening 30 years ago, it was organic gardening. I went to the hardware store/plant nursery nearby to buy organic fertilizers but found that there were only 3 or 4 organic products while there was shelf after shelf of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, et al. Speaking with the clerk, I told him of my preference for organic growing. He replied, "I'm with you, but the money is in chemicals." And that's the way it is: people choosing chemical blasts instead of healthily nourishing soil, plants, and humans. As the old saying goes, "Follow the money."
You are lucky that your neighbors don't use chemicals. I'm happy for you. The ones on both sides of me do and the damage to my yard, where I decidedly don't use chemicals of any kind and grow indigenous plants for the insects and wildlife, saddens and angers me. Yet where I live the attitude of "control it, destroy it or hit it til it gives in" prevails. I do what I can for my yard but every year brings more negative change and in no small part due to all the chemicals flying back and forth from my neighbor's poor poisoned yards.
Condolences...especially to your yard. Why are people so obsessed with the dark green, manicured lawns? When it's not even safe to sit or lay on the grass? In my garden, I like to mix vegetables with flowers. They draw in the pollinators even more. My favorite flower for the pollinators is the Tithonia (Mexican sunflower). They draw hummingbirds, butterflies, and bumblebees.
I grow Tithonias every year too. I have three this year and they are easily 6' tall and 5' wide. Unfortunately, they aren't producing a lot of flowers yet and normally by now they would have 30-50 per plant, continuously blooming until the second frost late in autumn. At least there are a few flowers with more buds slowly appearing. I keep a garden full of black adder agastache and normally there are so many bees - bumble and honey - that when I walk through they bounce off my head and shoulders. This year I can count on one hand how many there are each time I check. I wish these changes were just a one-off for this year but I doubt it.
It is my opinion that people who insist on tightly planned and rigidly controlled, manicured lawns might have control issues of one sort or another and their lawn and yard become the arena for that expression. Just my observation.
I have about a dozen Tithonia bushes now, and they're between 4 and 5 feet high. But still no flowers, and that is odd. I've only seen 2 or 3 butterflies so far. That's ominous.
The bees are another part of the same issue. I see fewer bees each year, and the bulk of those are bumblebees. The honey bees seem to come out at dusk and head to the flowering basil or clover. Our yard has some nice clover patches and a number of dandelions. I've made salads from the dandelions.
Ref. rabid lawn manicurists, some may have a control issue as you mention. Another reason may be neighborhood associations who control lawn requirements for a group of homes. Super-duper fertilizers with an overabundance of phosphate have caused control issues. I'm thinking of the fertilizer runoff from sugar cane lands which have caused overgrowth and subsequent blockage in the Everglades. Subsequently, that water from the Everglades is probably at the root of Red Tides. Woe is us if we don't get a grip on the corporations pushing the chemical fertilizers and herbicides.
"...my neighbor is once again having his entire yard saturated in chemicals...."
You certainly have my sympathies, and I can "co-anger" with you on this. I am grateful that neither I nor my neighbors on all sides are using chemicals on the lawn. Some chem-lawn operations put flags out after spraying--those read "Do not let children or pets on this grass..." (for a certain amount of time). Still, I'm concerned about the use of those toxins on any lawn. Wind drift can bring them to surrounding properties; saturation of toxins into ground will kill all beneficial microbes and deeper down they will be absorbed into the water table. We are all affected by that. Round-up, Agent Orange, and all their variants are produced and sold by Monsanto, Dow, DuPont, et al, making those corporations extremely wealthy and destructive of human health.
When I started gardening 30 years ago, it was organic gardening. I went to the hardware store/plant nursery nearby to buy organic fertilizers but found that there were only 3 or 4 organic products while there was shelf after shelf of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, et al. Speaking with the clerk, I told him of my preference for organic growing. He replied, "I'm with you, but the money is in chemicals." And that's the way it is: people choosing chemical blasts instead of healthily nourishing soil, plants, and humans. As the old saying goes, "Follow the money."
You are lucky that your neighbors don't use chemicals. I'm happy for you. The ones on both sides of me do and the damage to my yard, where I decidedly don't use chemicals of any kind and grow indigenous plants for the insects and wildlife, saddens and angers me. Yet where I live the attitude of "control it, destroy it or hit it til it gives in" prevails. I do what I can for my yard but every year brings more negative change and in no small part due to all the chemicals flying back and forth from my neighbor's poor poisoned yards.
Condolences...especially to your yard. Why are people so obsessed with the dark green, manicured lawns? When it's not even safe to sit or lay on the grass? In my garden, I like to mix vegetables with flowers. They draw in the pollinators even more. My favorite flower for the pollinators is the Tithonia (Mexican sunflower). They draw hummingbirds, butterflies, and bumblebees.
I grow Tithonias every year too. I have three this year and they are easily 6' tall and 5' wide. Unfortunately, they aren't producing a lot of flowers yet and normally by now they would have 30-50 per plant, continuously blooming until the second frost late in autumn. At least there are a few flowers with more buds slowly appearing. I keep a garden full of black adder agastache and normally there are so many bees - bumble and honey - that when I walk through they bounce off my head and shoulders. This year I can count on one hand how many there are each time I check. I wish these changes were just a one-off for this year but I doubt it.
It is my opinion that people who insist on tightly planned and rigidly controlled, manicured lawns might have control issues of one sort or another and their lawn and yard become the arena for that expression. Just my observation.
I have about a dozen Tithonia bushes now, and they're between 4 and 5 feet high. But still no flowers, and that is odd. I've only seen 2 or 3 butterflies so far. That's ominous.
The bees are another part of the same issue. I see fewer bees each year, and the bulk of those are bumblebees. The honey bees seem to come out at dusk and head to the flowering basil or clover. Our yard has some nice clover patches and a number of dandelions. I've made salads from the dandelions.
Ref. rabid lawn manicurists, some may have a control issue as you mention. Another reason may be neighborhood associations who control lawn requirements for a group of homes. Super-duper fertilizers with an overabundance of phosphate have caused control issues. I'm thinking of the fertilizer runoff from sugar cane lands which have caused overgrowth and subsequent blockage in the Everglades. Subsequently, that water from the Everglades is probably at the root of Red Tides. Woe is us if we don't get a grip on the corporations pushing the chemical fertilizers and herbicides.
If you haven't already, check out permaculture and bioneers.
Thanks. I'm checking on permaculture now. I haven't heard the term "bioneers," but I'll check it out. Sounds like it holds a lot of promise.