THE POPULAR “LESS TOXIC LANDSCAPING” PROJECT HAS
A NEW APPROACH FOR 2011
GROUNDS & GARDENS GUIDE
(For Rhode Island & Southeastern New England)
The New 2011 Replacement for the Popular
Less Toxic Landscaping Resource Directory
THE UNIQUE GUIDE TO ORGANIC-FRIENDLY LAND
CARE & GARDENING – WHY, HOW, & WHO CAN HELP
1. THIS SLIMMER PRINTED “GROUNDS & GARDENS GUIDE”
WITH UPDATED HOW TO FIND IT ADVICE, SOME HUMOR,
AND SOME OF THE MOST HELPFUL RESOURCES
**Important – if you have already been benefiting from
previous Less Toxic Landscaping Resource Directories –
share this one with neighbors, friends & family. It is the
most user-friendly for busy people, & just as informative.
2. THE EXPANDED TIP WEBSITE RESOURCE CENTER
**A place to find the same organic-friendly sources for
supplies, information and services as in our printed LTL
directories - updated as needed, not just once a year. Check it
out at: HTTP://TOXICSINFO.ORG/LESSTOXIC.HTM
3. BRINGING THE EXPERTS TO YOU!
**At the RI Flower & Garden Show - see
schedule at our booth for who will be
available there to answer your questions.
**At your group or school meetings or events. Watch for
a list of exciting and informative speakers you can invite.
WHAT’S “ORGANIC FRIENDLY”?
**When they know their organic stuff & don’t try to talk you into
anything else (like “weed & seed” & other chemical “fixes”!)
Compiled & Edited by Liberty Goodwin
©2011 Liberty Goodwin
UNCHANGED: THE BASICS OF HEALTHY
LANDSCAPING & GARDENING
**Pesticides Are A Quick Fix That Fades
**Pesticides Are Poison & Humans Are Not Immune
**You, Your Kids & Pets – Are The Guinea Pigs
**Chemicals Are Addictive - the Cost Goes on Forever
**The Natives (Plants) Like The Local Climate!
**Organic Has Had Centuries Of Testing
**Lawns Are Dull! (Like Toxic Green Rugs)
**Healthy Kids & Pets At Play Delight The Eye!
From: TOXICS INFORMATION PROJECT (TIP)
P.O. Box 40441, Providence, RI 02940
Tel. 401-351-9193, E-Mail: ltl@toxicsinfo.org
Website: www.toxicsinfo.org
(Technical Production Assistance: Paul Klinkman)
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EASY WAYS TO HELP TIP AND
HELP YOUR HEALTH & PLANET AS WELL !
TAKE US SURFING & SHOPPING!
Every Time You Search or Shop - at
www.goodsearch.com/default.aspx or
www.goodsearch.com/goodshop.aspx
with Toxics Information Project (TIP) as your charity, we will
receive a donation from the site. (Many store selections)
NOTES
When you shop at IGive.com in our
name, they’ll give us a percentage of
the purchase price (Varies with the
store, lots of sites included).
www.igive.com/welcome/warmwelcome.cfm?c=38382&m=0
OR JUST DONATE DIRECTLY TO TIP Go to: www.toxicsinfo.org/subscribe.htm
Choose what you can afford to give from the suggested
membership & donation categories, fill out the form, pay by
credit card or PayPal online, or send a check with your
contact info. Questions? Call 401-351-9193
VISIT THE TIP BOOKSTORE FOR IDEAS!
Browse on our website at: www.toxicsinfo.org/tipstore.htm
We are phasing out our own book sales, but adding new
suggestions for great books periodically.
Choose from the informative and fun titles there, and order
using Igive or GoodShop to benefit TIP.
PERSONAL CONFESSION:
TIP is an official 501C3 Non-Profit organization,
so all contributions are tax-deductible!
TIP Director Liberty G. is a confirmed and
unrepentant “alliteration addict”.
Definition of “alliteration”?
Example: “Peter Piper Picked A Peck Of Pickled Peppers”.
Note: “P” words are particularly pervasive & problematic.
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(See P. 3 & 4 for more proof of that)
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+
TWO THINGS QUITE DIFFERENT: A NO-HEAT COST
GREENHOUSE & AN ORGANIC LAND CARE CHARITY
KLINKMAN SOLAR DESIGN
Paul Klinkman & Liberty Goodwin, Owners
Providence, RI 02906 Tel. 401-351-9193 E-mail:
paul@klinkmansolar.com Web: www.KlinkmanSolar.com
Grow vegetables all winter in your
own sustainable no-heat greenhouse
– or use it as a sunspace or for
supplementary heat for your home
or business.
The KSD patentpending, affordable, concentrating
solar greenhouse delivers sunshine &
retains good heat even in midwinter. Normal building
materials, insulation and thermal mass are used instead
of a chemical-venting plastic skin or heat-leaking glass.
Come visit the 16-foot prototype greenhouse in Attleboro.
***************************************************************************
EXCITING NEW CHARITY – “SIMPLY SAFER FOUNDATION”
WILL HELP SCHOOLS & COMMUNITIES GO ORGANIC!
THE 2011 GROUNDS & GARDENS GUIDE
TIPs on Being Organic-Friendly & Sources
for Information, Supplies & Services
© 2011, Liberty Goodwin
TABLE OF CONTENTS
P. 2 WHY NOT PESTICIDES?
P. 3 PESTICIDE HUMOR
P. 4 ORGANICS – CAN THEY DO THE JOB?
The new Simply Safer Foundation (SSF) will provide
organic lawn care (fertilizing, weed control, insect
control, etc.) to parks, athletic fields, municipal lawns,
& church grounds. They will improve the turf on
which kids play sports in a way that eliminates chemical use &
potential toxic exposure to children & the environment.
P. 5 ORGANICS – HUMOR
Mike Powers, SSF founder & organic land care professional, will
donate care for 5 or 6 fields & schools for free this year. He hopes
to work with other groups that help share costs, which will be less
than Chemlawn & yield a better job using all organic products.
P. 16 AND NOW FOR SOMETHING QUITE DIFFERENT!
These activities will need funding for raw materials (fertilizers,
limestone, grass seed, mulch, compost, topsoil, etc.), to rent &
purchase equipment (trucks, trailers, hydroseeders, spreaders,
topdressers.), to lease or buy office & storage/maintenance space
& to hire employees. SSF will operate as a public charity & seek
donations of time, materials, money. CONTACT: Mike Powers,
508-922-0509, Saferlawncare@Yahoo.Com
P. 6 –7 LAWN FLAG SONG & PESTICIDE THOUGHTS
P. 8 HOW TO FIND RESOURCES FOR YOURSELF
P. 9 -15 SAMPLE RESOURCES FOR INFO, SERVICES & SUPPLIES
DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT THE EXTRA MATERIAL ON
OUR WEBSITE. WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF ADDING
MORE ORGANIC-FRIENDLY RESOURCES & ARTICLES AT:
HTTP://TOXICSINFO.ORG/LESSTOXIC.HTM
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WHY NOT USE PESTICIDES IN MY YARD?
**PESTICIDES ARE POISON. That’s why
they are used – they kill things (bugs, bacteria,
plants – and animals).
**HUMANS ARE NOT IMMUNE TO PESTICIDES.
Animal testing is done because the canary or rat will show
results sooner, and human testing is dangerous, and unethical.
Nevertheless, many studies show that serious health effects
are associated with exposure to the toxic chemicals in
commonly used pesticide products.
**LOW LEVELS = SLOW POISONING. Large amounts of
toxic chemicals cause acute, immediate reactions, even death.
Smaller, dilute exposures cause damage over time.
**YOU, YOUR KIDS & PETS – ARE THE GUINEA PIGS.
The pattern is simple.
Most testing is not done by
government, (and companies have been successfully sued for
lying about safety findings). Products are approved for
marketing, based on manufacturers’ claims. Years later, some
of them are removed from the market because
they have proved to be dangerous to animals, the
environment, or humans. DDT & Dursban are
examples. Others are in process of removal.
THE WORM LADIES OF CHARLESTOWN
161 East Beach Road, Charlestown, RI 02813
Nancy Warner, 401-322-7675; Susie Fehrmann , 845-559-4561
Website: www.wormladies.com , E-Mail: wormladies@cox.net.,
Red Wiggler Worms (Eisenia Fedita) for composting household &
garden waste. The worms produce "castings" from the waste,
making a great soil enhancer & high nutrient plant food.
Composters & starter kits are also carried. Check the website for
their Open Houses, Workshops, Clinics & Schedule of Events.
**ANYONE FOR A CHEMICAL COCKTAIL? What you put
on your lawn winds up in the ground water, and you may be
drinking it. Studies are finding household chemicals, including
pesticides, in streams and wells.
Most municipal water
treatment does not remove them.
Paul Thompson: 401-861-3616 (cell) 401-368-0832
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SUPPLIES & SERVICES
PRUDENT PRINCIPLES FOR PREVENTING PUTRID
PESTICIDE POISONING OF PEOPLE & PETS IN
PROXIMITY TO PERSONAL PALACE & PROPERTY.
SPURRING YOURSELF TO ANTI-PESTICIDE ACTION
1.Spend 12 hours straight staring a toxic green rug (“lawn”)
containing 200,000 identical sprigs of 2-inch high straight
green sticks (“lawn”), with no variations or life in sight. (Get
your spouse to poke you out of your stupor as you doze off
from boredom}.
THE GOOD EARTH ORGANIC GARDENING CENTER
1800 Scituate Ave., Hope, RI 02831
Joyce & John Holscher, 401-826-3130,
info@goodearthri.com Website: www.goodearthri.com
The Good Earth is RI's only certified organic gardening center.
They grow organic herb & vegetable plants, plants with edible
flowers, "Heirloom" varieties like tomato plants & certified organic
produce. Fertilizers & pest control products sold are approved for
organic land care. They also sell flowering plants & shrubs, grown
without chemical pesticides, but not "certified organic".
2. Do an audit of the hours of work, costs of
chemical applications, expense for veterinarians
and people doctors incurred by maintenance of
that “perfect” pesticided plot. Spend the money
saved by shedding that on a trip to Hawaii.
PESTICIDE-FREE NEIGHBORHOOD OPTIONS
1. Live in the NYC borough of Manhattan, where there are
no lawns, and no weeds.
2. Ensure that your neighbors are members of Sierra Club,
Audubon, Clean Water Action, ASPCA, Greenpeace,
PETA, and the Wild Plant Society. They’ll be all organic.
3. Start a neighborhood movement to replace
lawns with tennis, badminton & volley ball
courts, playgrounds, bike path mazes, covered
dance floors (for neighborhood parties) & ping
pong tables. Become a local hero when the group loses an
aggregate total of 2,000 pounds from the resulting exercise.
4. Plan a “Peer Pressure Posse” to stand in front of a
pesticided property, & laugh loudly together at the little green
sticks on the “lawn” (If an application was recent, wear
carbon filter masks to avoid being overcome by pesticide
fumes). They’ll switch – or move.
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HOW ABOUT EFFECTIVENESS & LOOKS
(And Cost!) – CAN ORGANIC METHODS DELIVER?
**PESTICIDES ARE A QUICK FIX THAT FADES. They
provide instant gratification, but long term, they are not really
good for your lawn. Natural means, in general, take a bit
longer to “work”, but offer more long-lasting solutions. Cost,
however, goes on forever with pesticide-based gardening.
Organic land care becomes less expensive when established.
**ORGANIC HAS HAD CENTURIES OF TESTING. Folks
have been gardening and farming organically for thousands of
years. Today, they are doing it even better.
**THE NATIVES LIKE THE CLIMATE! Native plant species,
an important part of less-toxic gardening, thrive in local
conditions. They have fewer problems, and require less care
than fragile foreigners.
**LAWNS ARE DULL! The typical American lawn, consisting
of thousands of little green shoots, all sporting the same crew
cut, isn’t very interesting. It’s rather like a toxic green rug.
Bushes, shrubs, flowers, rocks, bricks, and other alternative
landscaping options can be unique, creative, exciting!
**HEALTHY KIDS AND PETS AT PLAY
DELIGHT THE EYE AND WARM THE
HEART! How much is it worth to have the
peace of mind of knowing your favorite
critters can romp and roll around in your yard
without being exposed to dangerous toxins?
HERETICAL STATEMENT:
“Weeds” = Pretty, unPlanned Plants Presented & Provided
by a greater Power as a Pleasant surPrise.
CHIP OSBORNE, OSBORNE ORGANICS
11 Laurel Street, Marblehead, MA 01945
, Tel. 781-631-2468, E-Mail: co@osborneorganics.com
Website: www.osborneorganics.com
Consulting service for business, municipal,
institutional, & residential clients, to create &
maintain natural, self-sustaining turf without
synthetic fertilizers & chemical pesticides. Onsite evaluations, public presentations; product
specs, maintenance schedules; construction
design; training programs: Chip is a foremost
authority on organic land care, especially turf.
(See also Living Lawn Project listing)
SHARON VIEW NURSERY (AMERICAN LANDSCAPE LLC)
Jim Zoppo,
630 S. Main St., Sharon, MA 02067
Tel. 781-784-5858, E-Mail: jfzoppo@comcast.net
Website: www.american-landscape.com
Organic & natural fertilizers, plant
food, soil amendments. Large & hard
to find trees & shrubs, statuary,
garden accents, pottery, plants.
Horticultural Consulting, Garden &
Landscape Design & Renovation,
Masonry, Irrigation.
Visit the new,
state-of-the-art greenhouse! Informed
personnel, in Sharon & on weekly
Garden Guys radio show: (www.garden-guys.com)
RIVER STONE DEVELOPMENT, LLC, Patrick Merner
89 County Drive, Charlestown RI 02813, 401-741-3035
E-Mail: riverstonedevelopment@gmail.com
Years of experience with 100% Organic landscape & lawn care in
southern RI. Now provides commercial organic lawn services
(playgrounds, ballfields, etc). Lawn renovation services include
dethatching, topdressing with compost, aeration, overseeding with
a grass blend that deters insect problems, Milky Spore powder
with a lifetime guarantee against beetle grubs damage. Moving
towards green building with focus on native materials & masonry.
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Elm Street Gardens
Jenifer LoVetere
§
Native Garden
Restorations
§
Garden Design with
Native Plants
38 Elm Street
Westerly, Rhode Island
Phone: 401-714-2239
Fax: 401-315-2549
E-mail: jeniferlovetere@cox.net
Web: www.organiclandcare.net
RI Certified Horticulturalist
NANCY WEISS-FRIED, Garden Designer
10 Pleasant Hill Road, Cranston, RI 02910
Tel. 401-943-3743, E-Mail: nwf_la@yahoo.com
Nancy designs gardens & works with owners who want to install
the gardens themselves, in RI & nearby MA. With a degree in
landscape architecture, her designs emphasize native plants,
are ecologically sound, & provide a living space for people too.
As a Master Gardener active in the RI Wild Plant Society, she
teaches sustainable gardening practices.
OPTIMAL ORGANIC OUTCOMES/APPROACHES
**Where the Wild Things Are: Native plants, bushes
& flowers covering all of your grounds, happily
proliferating without human help. Advantages:
No mowing, No sowing No spraying. A place to hide?
**Walkways, Inanimate Spaces & Structures
Tiles, stone fences, statues & patios.
(Also Bushes – especially if you’re
Republican - or want a place to hide)
Advantages: Same as above + no
watering needed.
** Garden Glory:
Grow your own food & decorative
plantings. Better still, persuade your spouse to become
an avid gardener, engaging in healthful
exercise such as hoeing and weeding!
Advantages: Same as above, except
that you’ll get yummy organic fare,
(and you may NEED a place to hide).
**Sharecropping: Allow a friend or neighbor to farm
your land, and take a share in the harvest as your reward.
Advantages: Same as #3.
**The “Snowbird Approach”:
Approach #1 or 2,
BACK: Natural, low maintenance grass & clover,
Advantages: The front looks pretty to impress the
Joneses. The back keeps the kids active and healthy.
FRONT:
GET YOUR TOWN OR SCHOOL TO GO ORGANIC!
SEE RESOURCES ON P. 11-18 (ONE IS FREE!)
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THE LAWN FLAGS SONG
By Paul Klinkman
I’m sorry that birds don’t read the little flags on the lawn.
They ought to wait for three whole days
Until the flags are gone
They hop around the lawn. They get stuff on their feet
And soon they get a pesticided Wiggly worm to eat.
Wiggly worm to eat
I’m sorry that cats won’t read.
They’re smart enough but they don’t.
They ought to read those little lawn flags
But as you know they won’t.
They ought to wash their paws In the sink like people do
But all they want is to drag home birds.
Mew – Mew – Mew. Mew – Mew – Mew.
I’m sorry that dogs don’t read. It’s really an awful pain
The dogs come through the doggie door
And shake off all the rain
I’m sorry that kids don’t read. You know they really should
But once in a while they try to eat some
Bugs – dirt – wood. Bugs – dirt – wood.
The studies and statistics have gotten pretty blue
I’m sorry adults don’t read I would if I were you
I’m sorry adults don’t read It really is a crime
But taking care of kids and pets
They never find the time. They never find the time
So if you see some yellow upon your nice green lawn,
Please spare the neighbors’ kids
Don’t use that weed -be-gone
You’re supposed to love your neighbor
You’re living cheek by jowl
So if you see a dandelion
Dig it with a trowel. Dig it with a trowel
DESIGN, CONSULTING & SERVICES
FRANK CRANDALL, HORTICULTURAL SERVICES
PO Box 132, Wood River Junction, RI 02894
E-Mail: FrankCrandall3@gmail.com
Homeowner Services: Horticultural designs, small installations,
organic plant health care, selective pruning, landscape
assessments, southern RI and Southeast CT.
Horticultural
Businesses: consultations, seminars on estimating, attracting
employees, job costing, sales tips, and management suggestions,
speaking engagements, and offering my new book for sale:
(The Essential Horticultural Business Handbook).
DANA DESIGNS... NATURALLY, Dana K. Millar
32 Hillsdale Road, West Kingston, RI 02892
401-486-0495, dkmillar@cox.net
All Organic Installation, Maintenance, Restoration.
Plants Not Doing What you Want?
Often, the organic precept of “Right
Plant, Right Place” prevents problems.
Dana can improve the well being of
your plants & grasses by: removal,
pruning, thinning, aerating, raking, top
dressing, mowing, mulching, & dethatching. With this, a soil analysis as
a basis for the organic land care program he provides. Dana
is a NOFA Accredited Land Care Professional.
TELL THEM YOU SAW IT IN
THE GROUNDS & GARDENS GUIDE!
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MARBLEHEAD PESTICIDE AWARENESS COMMITTEE
Chip Osborne, Marblehead, MA 01945. Tel. 781-631-2468
Web: www.livinglawn.org. E-Mail: info@livinglawn.org
Model: A Living Lawn...A Lawn for Living: Marblehead's Organic
Lawn & Garden Demonstration Project: A testimonial to benefits
of organic lawn care - beautiful, self-sustaining, healthy turf. Also,
Seasonal Classes on “Simple Steps Towards Organic Lawn
Care”, Audio-Visual: "People Places and Plants" – a DVD on how
Marblehead went organic on town land, including athletic fields.
NORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING ASSOCIATION OF RI,
Dan Lawton, Contact. 247 Evans Road, Chepachet, RI
02814, 401 523-2653, nofari@live.com, www.nofari.com
NOFA-RI is an organization of farmers, consumers, gardeners, &
environmentalists working to promote organic farming & organic
land care practices through advocacy and education. The goal is
to increase the acreage of organically managed land and access
to local organic food in RI.
RHODE ISLAND WILD PLANT SOCIETY (RIWPS)
Jules A. Cohen, President, P.O. Box 414, Exeter, RI 02822,
Tel. 401-789-RIWPS (789-7497) E-MAIL: office@riwps.org
Web: www.riwps.org RIWPS advocates for preservation of
native plants & habitats, offers guided nature walks, educational
programs, garden tours, & events. They publish a newsletter,
“Wildflora”, Invasive Species Alerts, & monthly E-Newsletter
(subscribe on website). Volunteer propagators (Seedstarters)
grow wildflowers to sell at plant sales. They specialize in plants for
difficult situations like dry shade, moist places, sandy soils, etc.
SOUTHSIDE COMMUNITY LAND TRUST (SCLT)
109 Somerset Street, Providence, RI 02907
Website: www.southsideclt.org (401) 273-9419
E-mail: sclt@southsideclt.org
SCLT oversees the Providence Community Growers Network,
which connects and supports community gardens, home gardens,
and market gardens throughout the city. It offers regular
workshops related to growing food through the Plant Providence
calendar (plantprovidence.org) as well as educational programs
for youth, and holds an annual rare and unusual plant sale in May.
LESS HUMOROUS NOTES –
PESTICIDE APPLICATION RESULTS
TIP is aware of significant numbers of people
& animals that have been harmed by
pesticide applications. These include:
**Fleeing Canaries: People, especially in Florida, often flee
their homes to escape the illness brought on by neighbors’
spraying. Some are permanently sick & chemically sensitive
as a result of previous exposure to agricultural or residential
lawn pesticide applications, & have a difficult time finding
any place to live that doesn’t trigger adverse reactions.
**Kids & Toxic Play: Children in Georgia were taken to the
hospital from a soccer field because of asthma attacks
triggered by pesticide treatment of the playing area.
**Pet Poisoning Reports. At TIP’s booth various visitors told
us of 5 different cats & 4 dogs dying from lawn
chemicals, & one cat getting sick but recovering.
Worse, a man who used to work as customer
service rep for a large lawn care company said that
over half his job was going to people’s homes, picking up
dead animals off lawns & offering compensation to owners.
**A Lasting Headache: TIP Director Liberty G. once went to
her bank & saw pesticide applicators outside, treating the
tiny grassy space. Hurrying inside, she got a terrible
headache & could smell the stuff permeating the small
building. Leaving, she learned that it was Monsanto’s
Round-Up. The pesticide headache persisted for days,
unlike brief ones after exposures to fragrance chemicals,
BE A GOOD & HEALTHY NEIGHBOR, PARENT,
& PET OWNER! GO ORGANIC! 
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HOW CAN YOU FIND YOUR OWN
FAVORITE – AND BEST – RESOURCES?
(How to Get the Real Scoop)
THE PROBLEM: TOO MUCH INFORMATION – AND LOTS OF
“GREENWASHING”. Huge amounts of info & advice on how
to do successful organic gardening is out there, in books,
magazines, websites, on the radio. But, who’s got time to find
and digest much of it? And, lots of retailers and services
claim to be “green” – but many are fibbing!
**EXPERTS SAVE TIME. A person who knows is the quickest,
best advisor. Non-profit organizations are a useful, objective
source of information. Also, some people selling supplies &
services really understand & encourage organic gardening,
**SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL.
Large retailers tend to sell
products from big corporations – usually synthetic chemical
brews. They have many employees coming & going, & don’t
train in organic gardening. So, you never know who you might
get – today someone helpful, tomorrow a person who is
clueless. Smaller retailers emphasize service, & are often run
by an owner who thinks organic, and hires others that do also.
**LOOK FOR AN ORGANIC-FRIENDLY ATTITUDE.
When
you call or go in, will you be encouraged or discouraged from
using less toxic means and materials?
**SEEK THOSE WHO OFFER LOTS OF LESS TOXIC
OPTIONS. Nobody’s perfect – and few are 100% organic. But
sources that believe in healthier methods and materials have
more organically oriented services & supplies than those that
don’t, and can help you better to choose and use them.
TELL THEM YOU SAW IT IN
THE GROUNDS & GARDENS GUIDE!
RESOURCES FOR INFORMATION
**BEYOND PESTICIDES, www.beyondpesticides.org
701 E St. SE, Washington, DC 20003. Tel. 202-543-5450
Contact: Stephanie Davio. info@beyondpesticides.org
ALSO: National Coalition for Pesticide-Free Lawns:
www.beyondpesticides.org/pesticidefreelawns
These folks offer helpful brochures, packets, articles &
contacts online & at their office to help you care for
your lawn without using pesticides. They follow local &
national legislative actions, promote alternatives to toxic pesticides
& hold an annual National Pesticide Forum.
ECOLOGICAL LANDSCAPING ASSOCIATION,
841 Worcester Rd, #326, Natick, MA 01760
Penny Lewis, Executive Director, ELA.info@comcast.net
Tel. 617-436-5838. Website: www.ecolandscaping.org
Are you concerned about the health of the lawn your family & pets
play on? Do you want to learn to develop healthy soils, maintain
an ecological lawn, harness rainwater potential, control invasive
species, produce edible landscapes and more? Attend an ELA
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educational event soon. See: www.ecolandscaping.org/events
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