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JennGM
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| Posted: May 08 2006 at 8:02pm | IP Logged
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lapazfarm wrote:
I find this fascinating! Especially since ds and I just finished doing a nature study of flower anatomy just from the various flowers growing in our VERY unmanicured lawn! We looked at clover, buttercups, violets, dandelions,wild roses, wild strawberries, and some sort of wild pea flowers all from our lawn!  And here I was thinking how lucky we were! 
I just love the diversity of lifestyles on this board! |
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I don't like clover to walk on, but I agree about all those wonderful varieties you had. I especially miss buttercups. I haven't seen them in years. We used to have them in Houston all the time.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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Christine
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| Posted: May 08 2006 at 8:11pm | IP Logged
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Jenn, I agree about clovers and bees. I just don't know how to get rid of it, naturally.
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Christine
Mommy to 4 girls, 5 boys, & 2 in God's care
Memories of a Catholic Wife and Mother
Pretty Lilla Rose
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~Rachel~
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| Posted: May 09 2006 at 5:26pm | IP Logged
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I *like* clover... my kids bring me some of the flowers to smell (which they do) and hunt for four leaved clovers 
I'm to scared to go barefoot over here because of snakes... and I grew up with the English grass (I'm from England) so...
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~Rachel~
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Lighting a Fire
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Dawn
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| Posted: May 09 2006 at 6:11pm | IP Logged
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Another good reason to let your lawn go a bit "wild" ... we watched a golfinch feast on the seeds of the dandelion puffs all over our yard this afternoon - during a rainstorm no less! I just posted about it on my blog. 
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The Nature Corner
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Tina P.
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| Posted: June 15 2010 at 10:48am | IP Logged
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Elizabeth wrote:
| Definitely a spousal debate. Between the financial aspect and whatever the male wiring is that compels them to compare color and quantity of grass to the guy next door ... |
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It's true! Men and women are wired so differently. My husband notices the lushness, or lack thereof, of grass when we pass a yard. Me? I notice the flowers, whether everything gels together, how wild or civilized a garden looks. Even in our own garden, when I plant something, it takes me to SHOW him what I planted for him to notice it.
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DianaC
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| Posted: June 18 2010 at 5:53pm | IP Logged
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We just began having a lawn care service come and spray - the weeds had literally taken over our lawn.
We noticed immediate results: the grass was lusher, greener and many (not all) of the weeds have shriveled and gone. All this happened in just a couple of weeks. The scary part, though, is that our dog will no longer walk on the grass. She goes to great pains to walk along the perimeter of the yard or stays on the driveway or sidewalk.
So, although our lawn looks very pretty, I think we'll stop the service and look for a healthier alternative.
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Karen T
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| Posted: June 19 2010 at 9:50am | IP Logged
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We've only used organic lawn care for about the last 6 years but we moved into a new (to us)home about 3 yrs ago. The previous owner had obviously had a company spraying etc b/c there were NO weeds when we moved in. I have not even bothered to get the corn gluten meal from Gardens Alive since we've moved here, just done our usual mowing with a mulching blade and handdig the weeds (one of the most dreaded punishments at our house is to hand the child a bucket and a weeding fork and say fill it up). We definitely have a good bit of clover, a few dandelions and worst of all, thistles (ouch). My neighbor just started having chem-lawn spray her lawn - it's been done twice now I think and ours still looks much better IMO. Our grass is nice and green and thick. I meant to get the Gardens Alive stuff this spring but with all the garden prep (I have been adding new raised beds each year) didn't get to it. It's mostly a pre-emergent type product so summer is too late I think.
Those chemicals which promote rapid, green lush growth contribute to thatch buildup in addition to just being toxic to earthworms and good bugs.
Anyway, last week a man from TruGreen knocked on my door trying to sign us up (guess he noticed our clover and thistles). When I told him we prefer to stay organic, he said they have an organic program which involves putting chicken parts on the lawn! Ugh. No thanks. First, I don't trust a chemical company to be doing "organic" and second, really, chicken parts? I thought he was going to say chicken litter but chicken parts? Not sure how a meat byproduct is going to take care of the weeds.
But it started me wondering about something like the Gardens Alive corn product. Yes, it's natural, but is the corn they get this from grown organically? The US grows SO much corn now simply b/c of government price supports, which is why it's now used as a sweetener, car fuel, etc. They have to keep finding uses for it to justify the growing of so much (read Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma). But somehow I doubt that there is a huge surplus of organically grown corn waste.
Karen
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JennGM
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| Posted: June 19 2010 at 10:08am | IP Logged
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I guess to me, I was thinking organic as from natural vs. chemically made sources, and not certified organic, which is a different "official" class.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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Karen T
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| Posted: June 19 2010 at 10:40am | IP Logged
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You're right, I don't think GA is claiming "organic" in big letters in that way. It just started me thinking about the chain of chemicals in everything. I buy raw milk and pastured eggs and beef from a certified organic farm, and to be certified, he has to show that everything he uses is organic to begin with, going back to his compost, etc. So his pasture has to come from organic seed, or if established pasture, not been treated for so many years, and then so on. And he has to maintain a certain buffer of land between him and a non-organic neighbor, so that no run-off or wind-drift affects his pasture.
so when I make compost from our kitchen scraps to put on my garden, it's not technically organic b/c not all of what we eat is organic at this point. Not that I'm trying to get certified 
Karen
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Organic Lawn Care
