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October 25, 2008 - Sustainable Lawn Care Continues into Fall
Fort Collins, CO - Time, energy and money was spent all summer maintaining your lawn. The work is not done just yet. The fall season has brought us colder temperatures, holiday anticipation and more yard work. During the fall season, at least 20-50% of the solid waste sent to landfills is made of tree leaves, grass clippings and other compostable landscape debris. Investing time into sustainable lawn care will save landfill space by using a compost system and ensure your lawn returns even stronger in the spring next year.
If you have the time to do it yourself, then gather helping hands and start working. Mowing the lawn should continue into the fall. The length of turf grass should be maintained at all times of the growing season. Cutting the grass until the air temperature is consistently below 50 degrees is important. Leaving your grass to grow tall into the winter is detrimental to the turf’s health. The big issue with fall yard work is the leaves. In addition to the fallen leaves, trees have shed their weak limbs and all of this material is now covering the lawn, sidewalks, and flower beds. A thick layer of leaves may smother the grass and potentially do permanent damage. Cleaning up leaves and dead plant matter will minimize the potential for recurring disease issues and enable the air, water, and sun to reach your growing grass. While it is important to remove leaf matter from turf areas, your plant/flower beds may benefit from a thin 1 inch layer of mulched leaf matter. This mulched leaf matter will breakdown throughout the winter months adding nutrients to your flower beds and insulate plants from cold temperatures. Keeping some of the leaf matter on the property will also reduce the amount of material needed to be hauled away from the property. This saves transportation and disposal costs while providing essential nutrients to your soil. The gas-powered equipment you may use to accomplish this work may be obsolete in the near future.
The EPA just passed stricter standards that will take effect in 2011 for gas-powered lawn equipment. That includes mowers, leaf blowers, trimmers and other lawn care equipment that are traditionally gas-powered. As you work on fall clean up, consider using equipment that is easier on the environment or do things manually to get a great fall workout. Leaves and plant debris should be composted instead of ending up in the landfill. One-third of landfill waste is made up of compostable materials. Therefore, composting can divert as much as 30% of household waste away from your garbage can. If you do not have the time rake the leaves yourself, there are also some companies that offer sustainable fall clean up services.
Clean Air Lawn Care is a lawn maintenance business that uses clean electric
and bio-diesel powered equipment. The vehicles hauling this equipment have
mounted solar panels which charge the electric equipment during the workday.
The equipment is clean and quiet; the fertilizer is organic; the business is
carbon neutral. Clean Air Lawn Care can provide a carbon-free sustainable
solution for your fall yard work needs.
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