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y* <br />; <br />Sethis rose fr anee(7m afreecatak)^ <br />m Snip lMi«l lor todivM <br />m kmbuekmttagtiwm^ <br />m «iriiifgiWii;M»lna.Mt <br />m litM. id tUwr iowwi m fimi, <br />m AlBteaRsloUo(«9«ftpM« <br />M aivise! Ud ID Amatinig IbM, <br />m P.O.fimfl <br />m S0Niii,CASm <br />W <br />P.O. fim W. DipHtiiwni mi. <br />93066. Or (^luMw <br />Ti^.fTrn ~Rm <br />e$t9kiitke4 • l$J9 <br />!■' --V » ' <br />?■'■> V <br />I .Ui>. I <br />(M%MCHiJUSi! <br />MOavOMAMUa <br />fn mmm •* *«wu <br />tAItt r*M* «MA <br />mtmm •§ M ■ • ta <br />^ »iil‘ ■ <br />• niiii'' V <br />mrnmm apn —a <br />mrnitmmt Mill* <br />;r I <br />laM ••! •«»>••) i*. <br />umruiXT <br />IAK8 <br />• I totll <br />twm. UMtM <br />and Ohio ar: coosid^ring sunihui mea ­ <br />sures. <br />No bciger s tl buswess as usuaJ in the <br />bwn care indisiry. Tie chemical compa ­ <br />nies have been pul on notice. <br />ORGANIC APPRCWCH <br />Amid the chemical controversy, a new <br />breed oC lawn care prcfessioaai is emerg- <br />«g. Heahh aad safety ooocems. oupied <br />with growing evidence swppimg crgaoic <br />bwo care pcactices. Inw led an ever- <br />increasing number of operators lo em­ <br />brace a natunl approach to iawa cire <br />Mike Merser is oae of them- Until <br />eight years mp. the Charlestown R.I.. <br />haihfaper rax what se descnbei as a <br />''chemical intensive" kwncare business. <br />But in 1979, lAer years of observng the <br />eflects of chemicab o-j golf courses and <br />lawns serviced by tia company, be <br />awHched to organic naethoda. <br />"What stared to clui^ my mind was <br />the poor track record cf the chemicals be­ <br />ing used in agriculture and turf msnsge- <br />ment," says the 38-yiur oid ownerof the <br />Org;^ Landicape Co. "A bt of tfie in­ <br />secticides, herbicides and (ungiddes 1 <br />wed in the 'sOa and »ify '70s a.e re­ <br />stricted or banned novr. 1 began to malite <br />that using chenbals se: up a viciouacyde <br />hi the lawns C was carmg for." <br />Memer sa^s that ri^ough his initiri <br />results horn cKmicals were good, le be­ <br />gan noticing tlatcli ancf dnease pro-ilenis <br />after about Oree years of treatments. <br />Those problems wouhl lead to inenased <br />use of p^Dckes. <br />"In high-nunagemeIt lawns suxh as <br />those I worked on. the soil is neser in <br />good condlikM," he says. "Chemicals <br />wipe out the sad's ife fcrces—the bdhons <br />of beneScial nicroorganisms tint dgest <br />thatch and produce beritfay sod." <br />Oganic proJucta. on the other nod. <br />feed the sod. Not suipriahigly. tiry’re <br />the heart of M^mer's new bwn care pro ­ <br />gram. "Comfsnt is Uk healthiest thing <br />there is to noiLish a laiMi." Memer »a>*8. <br />"Whh it. you re not coly adding nrtri- <br />ents. you're al<o adding the beneficiil mi- <br />aoorganisins lhat help build good s.nl." <br />Memer has found tint once J <br />tsfslmcots are stopped it takes a mini- <br />nun of three years to restore the bobgi* <br />C4l lealth of the soil. This b done tn* first <br />d thatching a troubled lawn, then fertiliz­ <br />ing wice a year with a blend of o ’ganic <br />nitrents—fish, leather or blmxl meal for <br />nJtmgen. crushed rock phosphates for <br />piofphorus, and greensand for <br />petansium —fdbwed by topdressing the <br />lawn with compost in the f^. <br />AAhough Memer purchases the or ­ <br />gan; feniuer bleed he uses on cus- <br />toners' lawns, the com|osl he uses is <br />vninied up in his own backyard. Horse, <br />ccw sheep, chicken and rat^il manure n <br />cclected boro 24 local larms, and fish <br />scraps are hauled in from a bcal seafood <br />psDCissor. His landscaping business sup- <br />phesplenly of leaves and grass dippings <br />toadd to the enormous pilM. <br />"Orxe a lawn n in good shape, ycu can <br />gel great results from using noihuaj but <br />'ciiifost as a topdressing." Memer ex- <br />pUin. "Contpotl provides a lawn with <br />everifthing in just the right amount <br />Mismer fias put in hundreds of new <br />lawns throughout New England uring tiis <br />natunl approach to lawn care. Orce a <br />lavn b established, his company will pro ­ <br />vide awn care to any customers reqijest- <br />ing il. foBowing the same basic rejiiwn <br />he r4CO{nmenfe for homeowners doing <br />the work tbemseK’es—20 pounds uf an <br />orfuic (ertflizer blend per 1.000 sewi'e <br />fetl af lawn twice « year, phis a lopdiess- <br />ing cf compost in the fall. Of course <br />praper mowing and watering must be <br />pQisnlained. .Additionally. Memer tjeats <br />nev iawns with milky spore disease to <br />cojtcol Japanese beetle grubs, and he <br />liszsif soil tests indicate the need. <br />"At hwig as I maintain a lawn, I guaran ­ <br />tee h for a Izfelinte against insects and dis­ <br />ease. ’ he ^ys. "Initially my pm^ran; <br />co8tw a bii more than chemical tieal- <br />ments. but in the long run it’s much more <br />reasoiable. The mOky spore treatmeri b <br />needed only once to lake care of Japaeese <br />beetle grubs, and other pt-sts won't le a <br />prcM«m in a well niaimamcd bwn." <br />Moeover. a healthy lawn should cboke <br />out nrost we«*ds. 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