10 Tips to Go Green in Your Yard

product purchases. Re-buy opportunities for the yard are growing—from recycled plastic deck lumber and yard furniture to recycled bricks and stepping stones made from old glass bottles to garden hoses made from old tires. Consider purchases for your yard for their recycled content, water-efficiency, energy-efficiency and environmental impacts. Re-buying is essential to sustain recycling markets and aid in the development of technology that conserves resources and prevents waste. LEHR’s Eco Trimmer, the first in its Eco Series line, is fueled by a standard 16.4-ounce propane canister. (c) LEHR 10. Stop the invasion. Invasive alien plants are having catastrophic effects. Learn if they are in your yard and how to safely remove them. Check the “least wanted” list of the Plant Conservation Alliance’s Alien Plant Working Group. Some of the invaders originally were intentional choices for erosion control or livestock grazing while others escaped from arboretums and homeowner yards. Invasive plants alter soil characteristics, change fire intensity and frequency, interfere with natural succession and repel or poison native insects. For example, garlic mustard threatens native plants and animals in forested areas of the eastern and midwestern U.S. Native wildflowers such as spring beauty, trilliums and Dutchman’s breeches that complete their life cycles in the spring occur in the same habitat as garlic mustard. Once there, garlic mustard outcompetes natives by monopolizing light, moisture, nutrients, soil and space. Wildlife that depends on the native wildflowers for foliage, pollen, nectar, fruits, seeds and roots are deprived of essential food sources when garlic mustard replaces them. Grow Your Own Take your interest in your yard environment one delicious step further: Grow your own fruits and vegetables. Start small. Learn as you grow. It’s a great way to reconnect with the Earth while also producing fresh, tasty food. Here are a few tips. •  Decide what to grow. Preferences and growing zones will figure into garden choices but health interests also may drive decisions. Check out the Environmental Working Group’s Guide to fruits and vegetables that have the most and least pesticides. If your favorites rank high in pesticide test results, see if they can grow in your yard organically. According to EWG, “There is growing consensus in the scientific community that small doses of pesticides and other chemicals can adversely affect people, especially during vulnerable periods of fetal development and childhood when exposures can have long-lasting effects. Because the toxic effects of pesticides are worrisome, not well understood or in some cases completely unstudied, shoppers are wise to minimize exposure to pesticides whenever possible.” •  Check for contaminants. If a garden is part of the plan and your yard is in an urban area or near a building where lead-based paint chips may have contaminated soil, get your soil tested for lead and other contaminants before starting your garden. •  Determine soil pH. The pH scale is a measurement of soil acidity or alkalinity. It ranges from 0 to 14—seven is neutral, less than seven is acidic and more than seven is basic or alkaline. Most plants grow in soil with a pH between 5.2 and 7.8. Most turf grasses thrive in a range of 6.0 to 7.5. If you fancy blueberries, azaleas or rhododendrons, for examples, they prefer acidic soil between 4.5 and 5.2.   •  NPK. Good soil is a mix of essential nutrients and proper texture. There are three primary plant nutrients and each has a role to play. N (nitrogen) is key to plant growth and production of chlorophyll. P (phosphorus) is important for seedling and root development, flower development and bloom. K (potassium) increases stress tolerance. Commercial fertilizer bags contain at least three numbers related to those main nutrients. The numbers indicate the percentages by weight of the three major soil nutrients, always listed, in order, of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. A bag of 10-10-10 fertilizer would contain 10 percent of each. A bag marked 32-10-10 would contain 32 percent nitrogen and 10 percent each by weight of phosphorus and potassium. The remainder of the bags are other nutrients and filler materials.

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