OUR CHANGING ENVIRONMENT
Appeared in the Condo News Volume 2
2008
Written by Nathan Helder, President - Jan
Gelderman Landscraping Ltd.
Over the last several years evidence of fluctuating weather patterns have been at the forefront of the public consciousness. We have seen documentaries and news reports of melting polar ice caps, depletion of the rainforest, increase smog and greenhouse gas emissions. The environment has dominated the headlines. We read of anti idling and pesticide free bylaws, of an increase focus on health and fitness, and protecting our diminishing green space via the Green Belt legislation. Is there a shift towards Green? With the changes in the environment we also see changes in people's attitude and culture. For many of our "people" or our customers, their expectation is that Perfection is what we as landscape professionals will and can provide. But how do we manage people's expectations when keeping the environment in perspective? How do we tell them "Perfection is not natural and is not sustainable". This article will try to put into perspective what the true "Green Industry", the horticultural trade, is and can do for the environment. As with anything in life it is important to be informed and then as informed citizens of the planet make informed decisions about our immediate environments that are our homes and properties.
Pests are defined "as a harmful, noxious or troublesome organism including insects, weeds, diseases and rodents." Pests compete with humans, domestic animals and desirable plants for food or water. Pests can injure humans and animals. Pests can damage desirable plants, structures and possessions. They can spread disease to humans, domestic animals, wildlife and desirable plants.
A pesticide "is anything that is intended to prevent, destroy, repel, attract or manage a pest. Pesticides may be developed from chemicals, found in nature, synthesized by man, or living organisms like bacteria, fungi, nematodes and viruses which attack pests" The most common types of pesticides are herbicides which control weeds, insecticides-insects, bactericide-bacteria, fungicides-fungi and rodenticide rats, mice.
|
Roundup
(herbicide) |
LD
50 (rats) >5000 mg/kg |
|
Alcohol |
3600
mg/kg |
|
Anti-freeze |
3500
mg/kg |
|
Table
Salt |
3300
mg/kg |
|
Aspirin |
31750
mg/kg |
|
Bleach |
500
mg/kg |
|
2,4-D
(herbicide) |
350-700
mg/kg |
|
Tylenol |
338
mg/kg |
|
Moth
balls |
31
mg/kg |
|
Brodifacoum
(rodenticide) |
0.27
mg/kg |
Pesticide toxicity is measured by LD50. Toxicity is the harm a particular pesticide can cause to an organism. Measures are statistical estimates of a "Lethal Dose which will kill 500/0 of the test animals within a stated period of time. It is measured in milligrams per kg of body weight of each test animal. The lower LD50 number the more toxic that compound is. Conversely the higher LD50 the safer the product is.
Table salt is not very toxic to mammals, but it is nearly twice as toxic as Roundup (glyphosate). What this chart demonstrates is the relative toxicity of an compound is in the dose that is applied.
IPM - Integrated Pest Management is a decision making process for preventing pests from reaching damaging levels and for determining what actions to take when pest problems occur. IPM does not eliminate pests, but rather reduces the pest population. The IPM program consists of prevention- planning Et managing ecosystem, pest identification-identify pests and the beneficial organism, monitoring-monitor pest damage and environmental conditions, threshold limits-set limits to determine when to treat pests, taking action-select which pest control practice, if any to achieve acceptable control with the least harm to humans and the environment, and evaluation-evaluating the effects and success or failure of the pest management strategies. The advantage of using IPM versus blanket application of pesticides is that the IPM method provides long term solutions, it protects the environment and human health by reducing pesticide use and it provides pest control options other than pesticides.
A proactive multi step program is needed. How can we maintain thick healthy turf and reduce turf diseases and pests? Why is the lawn doing poorly? Over/under watering? Poor soil conditions? Over/under fertilizing? We need to identify the conditions and problems. The first step is to perform a soil analysis. The soil analysis focuses on six major nutrients (Nitrogen(N), Phosphorus(P), Potassium(K), Calcuim(Ca), Magnesium(Mg), Sulfur(S)) and Soil pH. Depending on the soil conditions, correcting soil pH and nutrient levels will take time.
Once the analysis is performed decisions can be made regarding what combination of nutrients is needed. Ensuring a balanced diet of N, P, K will result in robust, strong, disease and insect resistant turf. Proper timing of application is vital for maximum results. Corn gluten meal is 1000/0 natural corn by-product and can also be used as both a natural slow release fertilizer and used to inhibit weed germination. Application is extremely important, in that to inhibit germination it must be applied in early spring or late fall according to Iowa State University.
To ensure thick healthy turf, consideration for slit seeding, core aeration and topdressing should be given. Slit seeding slices rows into the lawn and drops seed at a predetermined rate into the slits. Since the seed is placed in direct contact with the soil, seeding success is usually high.
Core aeration physically removes cores of soil, leaving holes or cavities in the lawn. Core aeration improves nutrient and moisture absorption, promotes root development through reduced soil compaction and discourages thatch development.
By topdressing the lawn, the organic matter of the soil is increased. This enhances the soil's ability to hold water. Topdressing also is used to fill in bare patches, enhance the lawn's colour and density and to establish improved grass varieties.
The average Canadian resident uses about 120,000 L of water per year. Demands of fresh water increase each year due to increased populations. Demands can be met either by capital investment or by water conservation. New technologies in irrigation systems have been made. SMART Watering Systems (SWS) is an industry leader in weather based irrigation scheduling, central control and rainwater harvesting. Daily watering will cause shallow root growth which reduces the durability of the turf, ensure 1-2" of water per week.
How are your contractors reducing their carbon footprint? How can we become better environmental stewards for the future generation? What is your contractor doing to enhance the environment? Do they have an environmental policy in place?
As green industry members, by definition, we are all environmentalists. Our day-to-day activities have positive influences upon the environment. The horticultural industry has been growing and maintaining plants, trees and turf that sequester carbon dioxide, produce oxygen, attract birds and other wildlife. Plants and trees have shown to provide cooling to buildings and outdoor spaces(Rosenfeld, 1997). Deciduous trees allow radiation in the winter months to warm buildings and provide windbreaks resulting in 10-12% savings (McPherson, 2005). Plants enhance human health, lower blood pressure and produce a calming effect.
For many years landscapers and horticulturists have been informing themselves and utilizing "good practices" to maintain properties. However, we still need to do more! We must all become better environmental stewards. With the creation of Landscape Ontario's Environmental Stewardship committee, this is all about to change. The mandate of the committee is twofold:
Recognizing that we need to get our own house in order, as well as quantify our efforts before we start spreading the word to the public, the committee is working to develop an internal audit procedure, or sustainable practices report card for all sectors of the green industry.
Environmental sustainability is an all-encompassing concept. The committee is beginning with generalities and working towards specifics. The first action involved meeting with each of the ten commodity groups (landscape contractors, nurseries, growers, retail, irrigation, grounds maintenance etc.) to collect sector specific feedback with respect to environmental issues and opportunities. Group members were asked to answer the questions, what are we doing that enhances environmental stewardship, and what issues are affecting the commodity from an environmental perspective? Once specific information is collected, it will be used to develop best-practice templates or report cards. The report card will be looking at Resource Consumption - energy Et water use, air quality, Waste Reduction Et Recycling - green waste, Materials - technology, equipment, materials and Education - increase tenant awareness and communicate environmental issues. The eventual goal is to create an ecoaccreditation program that can be promoted to the public.
Although the evidence of fluctuating weather patterns was perhaps the catalyst for the "Green" industry to assess its position and how it can demonstrate leadership in the situation, we as members of the industry know that we have a responsibility to respond and educate ourselves and our customers. We know that the day of blanket spraying of herbicides, insecticides and fungicides is not supportable and have been actively pursuing a more "Green" approach so that we work with the balance that we see in creation all around us. We all must accept that the perfect lawn is not natural, but it can be maintained properly and soundly; it will take more effort and knowledge to keep it that way. The technicians that are on the lawns are better trained and the actions and remedies are much more labour intensive. We are looking forward to a more informed customer so that we all can see the best results for our environment that we are all part of.
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