The days are getting longer, and thoughts are turning to spring. Seed catalogues command our attention and old fishing line is being replaced in anticipation of the return of open water. Another sign of spring is the arrival of contracts for lawn care and the ever more ubiquitous mosquito and tick treatments. As a homeowner concerned about the environment, there are some things you ought to consider and questions you ought to ask before committing to any lawn care or pest services.
Nutrient pollution is the primary source of water quality degradation on Cape Cod. Lawn fertilizer is a significant, and easily remedied, part of the problem. The best option is to refrain from lawn fertilization. Putting green-type suburban scale lawns are poorly suited to Cape Cod soils and require lots of water, fertilizers, pesticides, and money to maintain. Those little yellow flags pesticide applicators are required to post in the yard are there because you have just authorized the use of poisons (herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides) on your lawn. Ask yourself if that is really what you want, is that what brought you to Cape Cod, and if you want to be part of the problem or now part of the solution?
If lawns are important to you, consider a more traditional Cape Cod lawn that is a mixture of grasses, clover and moss that occasionally has hints of brown but also one that supports a healthier ecosystem and better water quality. You live here now, so it’s better for you to adapt to what works for the Cape rather than trying to impose a foreign landscape on this environment. Reduce your lawn area: Here’s a list of native plants that can serve as lawn alternatives.
Pest control services are marketed as ways to control target species like ticks and mosquitoes and appeal to a natural impulse to live pest-free. It’s a nice idea, but reliance on a strategy that utilizes toxic compounds, synthetic or organic, brings along with it many undesirable impacts to non-target species that are generally absent from the glossy marketing pitch. Mosquito and tick treatments also kill pollinator species like bees and butterflies and make for a less robust and imbalanced ecosystem. Rather than employing a killing-based yard management strategy, a more environmentally appropriate approach relies in reducing lawn and planting more native species that provide the habitat required to support the insect predators and birds that keep the pest in control naturally. Birds and bats eat lots of mosquitos, so attract them. Pay attention to eliminating the standing and stagnant water in which mosquitos breed and your yard will be a better place.
Mosquitos fly in and out of your yard. If you have a neighborhood mosquito problem, it’s more productive, and likely more successful, to contact the Cape Cod Mosquito Control Program for a more system wide approach to controlling problem mosquito populations at no cost to you and without many of the negatives that come from individualized efforts. If this is just about sitting on your deck in the evening, use a fan and most of your trouble will go away. (Mosquitoes are poor fliers). Worried about ticks? Take precautions to protect yourself. Spraying can give you a false sense of security. And yard treatments affect the good and the bad bugs.
An informed consumer makes better decisions. Educate yourself before talking to your contractor; you will get more from the discussion if you have prepared in advance. Also, you can avoid the hard sell all together if you just say “no.” Walking away from the chemical treatment focus is the first step toward approaching your yard with the purpose of restoring balance to the landscape. We have heavily altered the natural environment and made it hard on native systems to regulate themselves. That approach has allowed less-desirable species to proliferate and become a nuisance, and our toxic response has further degraded natural checks and balances. This downward spiral leaves us more and more reliant on the use of the toxics. It is incumbent upon each one of us to break the cycle and support the return of natural landscapes as one small step we can all take toward healing the world.
