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Pouring chemicals? Maybe a few do but I only apply one application of pre-emergent a year and then one application of fertilizer in the fall. That's not reall

Pouring chemicals? Maybe a few do but I only apply one application of pre-emergent a year and then one application of fertilizer in the fall. That's not really pouring chemicals. In fact nature seems to thrive in our lawn.

ericmay 4y ago
From my time in the suburbs, people spray weed killer and similar chemicals throughout the spring and summer and into the fall. Of course each individual is different. We never sprayed and just let them grow and mowed them down and then pulled them out of flower beds. You can also verify that these are used extensively by looking at the number of products sold for this purpose at national hardware retailers. But this is just one issue among many. Lawns are de facto desert areas.
- nightski 4y ago
  There are so many products because people are ignorant and just want an easy fix. It's pure laziness and has nothing to do with having a healthy lawn. There's a lot of money in laziness :) A healthy lawn really doesn't require that much from a chemical standpoint, but it take effort to figure out what it needs and you have to do things at the right time. In fact, the healthier the lawn the less weed killers you need because a thick lawn is a poor environment for weeds. Lots of people blanket apply fertilizers too. But in reality a quick test of the soil can tell you exactly what is out of balance and if you need that fertilizer application at all.
  - ericmay 4y ago
    I definitely agree with you there, but even a healthy lawn is still a lawn, which is still a bit of a problem. Outside of insects in the ground not much can live there. You need a variety of bushes, trees, herbs, flowers, and other types of plants to create a healthy ecosystem there. A lawn simply can't provide that.
    - denimnerd42 4y ago
      that’s the historical point of a lawn. no one wants pests near their home.
      - ericmay 4y ago
        Yea but now we can see the ecological impact of tens (hundreds?) of millions of people doing that and it doesn’t work.
bluGill 4y ago
Those few though in total mean your city is pouring more chemicals on per unit area that farmers who "pour chemical" on every acre. Of course farmers are talking about thousands of acres and so chemical prices add up, while the individual is only talking about 1/10th an acre or less, so the costs add up a lot slower. Thus the farmer has incentive to put on only what is needed, and not let it run away. (not that farmers do a good job here, but they are aware of the problem unlike city residents)
reportingsjr 4y ago
You would be astounded if you looked more deeply in to this. I have tried in vain to get my landlord to stop paying a lawncare company to regularly (every month or two) dousing the patchy, dry, awful grass patches some call a lawn with fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides. There is a huge business around doing this as well, you may not see it if you don't walk suburbs during working hours when much of this is done.
- nightski 4y ago
  Oh no I believe it and I am against those practices very much! But I feel like lawns are demonized when they don't need to be if properly done. There are a lot of benefits to lawns that are just being flat out ignored in a large part of these comment sections.
  - ericmay 4y ago
    I think the reason for this is as follows, if you'll allow: Let's pretend that wine is good for cardiovascular health (there were some conflicting studies so it's truthy enough I think for this point). We're having a discussion and we have a mutual friend who is a raging alcoholic. They drink and drive every night, they get blacked out completely, they can't hold a job. Myself and a few others are like hey friend, you need to go to AA, you need to get help, you need to see a doctor. We find them at bars and take their keys. We tell bartenders to stop serving them. They go to liquor stores and just cannot stop. And you're like, well ya know wine does have some cardiovascular benefits. And it's a great social lubricant. Now of course you aren't really dismissing the problem here, which is that our mutual friend is a raging alcoholic. We all can see that undeniably. But you're also not really helping because you're espousing these health benefits but we're trying to keep someone from killing themselves or others. We're working on a gigantic problem with this person and these health benefits just do not enter into the picture at this point. This maps back to suburban America (and elsewhere) where yea there are well taken care of lawns and sure a few people can have them. But our suburban friend here is a raging alcoholic and no amount of lawn is really good for them regardless of the benefits it may have.

ericmay 4y ago

From my time in the suburbs, people spray weed killer and similar chemicals throughout the spring and summer and into the fall. Of course each individual is different. We never sprayed and just let them grow and mowed them down and then pulled them out of flower beds. You can also verify that these are used extensively by looking at the number of products sold for this purpose at national hardware retailers. But this is just one issue among many. Lawns are de facto desert areas.

nightski 4y ago
There are so many products because people are ignorant and just want an easy fix. It's pure laziness and has nothing to do with having a healthy lawn. There's a lot of money in laziness :) A healthy lawn really doesn't require that much from a chemical standpoint, but it take effort to figure out what it needs and you have to do things at the right time. In fact, the healthier the lawn the less weed killers you need because a thick lawn is a poor environment for weeds. Lots of people blanket apply fertilizers too. But in reality a quick test of the soil can tell you exactly what is out of balance and if you need that fertilizer application at all.
- ericmay 4y ago
  I definitely agree with you there, but even a healthy lawn is still a lawn, which is still a bit of a problem. Outside of insects in the ground not much can live there. You need a variety of bushes, trees, herbs, flowers, and other types of plants to create a healthy ecosystem there. A lawn simply can't provide that.
  - denimnerd42 4y ago
    that’s the historical point of a lawn. no one wants pests near their home.
    - ericmay 4y ago
      Yea but now we can see the ecological impact of tens (hundreds?) of millions of people doing that and it doesn’t work.

bluGill 4y ago

Those few though in total mean your city is pouring more chemicals on per unit area that farmers who "pour chemical" on every acre. Of course farmers are talking about thousands of acres and so chemical prices add up, while the individual is only talking about 1/10th an acre or less, so the costs add up a lot slower. Thus the farmer has incentive to put on only what is needed, and not let it run away. (not that farmers do a good job here, but they are aware of the problem unlike city residents)

reportingsjr 4y ago

You would be astounded if you looked more deeply in to this. I have tried in vain to get my landlord to stop paying a lawncare company to regularly (every month or two) dousing the patchy, dry, awful grass patches some call a lawn with fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides. There is a huge business around doing this as well, you may not see it if you don't walk suburbs during working hours when much of this is done.

nightski 4y ago
Oh no I believe it and I am against those practices very much! But I feel like lawns are demonized when they don't need to be if properly done. There are a lot of benefits to lawns that are just being flat out ignored in a large part of these comment sections.
- ericmay 4y ago
  I think the reason for this is as follows, if you'll allow: Let's pretend that wine is good for cardiovascular health (there were some conflicting studies so it's truthy enough I think for this point). We're having a discussion and we have a mutual friend who is a raging alcoholic. They drink and drive every night, they get blacked out completely, they can't hold a job. Myself and a few others are like hey friend, you need to go to AA, you need to get help, you need to see a doctor. We find them at bars and take their keys. We tell bartenders to stop serving them. They go to liquor stores and just cannot stop. And you're like, well ya know wine does have some cardiovascular benefits. And it's a great social lubricant. Now of course you aren't really dismissing the problem here, which is that our mutual friend is a raging alcoholic. We all can see that undeniably. But you're also not really helping because you're espousing these health benefits but we're trying to keep someone from killing themselves or others. We're working on a gigantic problem with this person and these health benefits just do not enter into the picture at this point. This maps back to suburban America (and elsewhere) where yea there are well taken care of lawns and sure a few people can have them. But our suburban friend here is a raging alcoholic and no amount of lawn is really good for them regardless of the benefits it may have.