Caring for your house landscape can dramatically improve toxicity to your surroundings and adjacent habitats.  Lawn care using fertilizers and insecticides add tons of possible toxics to the environment each year.  Broadcast spraying for insect control also can contribute to toxics in the house landscape. Decreasing the amount of fertilizer and insecticides assists prevent leaching and run off of these merchandise into surrounding habitats.  Spraying herbicides to control weeds also can contribute to toxicity in your yard.

Five Guidelines to minimize toxics

1.  Toxic run off from lawn care can be reduced in a number of techniques.  First decreasing the size of your lawn will minimize the amount of fertilizer or pesticides needed to maintain it.  It also saves water and funds spent on your water bill. Use less fertilizer or slow release fertilizer that is less likely to leach out into the surrounding environment.  Control weeds utilizing mechanical approaches.  In other words:  good old fashioned weed pulling.  This will also encourage a smaller lawn size.

2.  Use organic amendments for lawn health.  Fish emulsion mixed in a typical hose sprayer container will give your lawn a nitrogen increase with out all the other additives and insecticides in many lawn care merchandise.  A top dressing of weed free garden compost helps maintain your lawn healthier and reduces the require for fertilization.

three.  Control insects utilizing Integrated Pest Management.  IPM is an environmentally sensitive approach to pest management according to the Environmental Protection Agency.  IPM programs use data about the life cycles of pests and their interaction with the environment.  For example, rather than spraying your tree each and every year for a certain pest, monitor the tree in the Spring when insects turn into active.  Often helpful insects will control pests without spraying.

4.  Use non-toxic or low-toxicity pest control merchandise.  Many soft bodied insects are surprisingly easy to control.  Aphids are a prevalent pest that can be killed by simply spraying with soapy water.  Liquid ivory soap mixed in a garden hose sprayer and applied thoroughly to leaves can be efficient at controlling aphids.  A mixture of dried chili peppers ground up with powdered garlic is also an efficient insecticide.  Commercially accessible items that have low toxicity are also widely accessible.

5.  Use mulch in the residence landscape as an option to herbicides.  When mulch is applied to a depth of four inches it is really successful at reducing weed growth.  I suggest arbor mulch as an economical and readily obtainable mulch. As mulch breaks down in the soil it adds organic matter, nutrients, and humic acid to the soil.  Mulch is also effective at lowering the amount of irrigation required for plants and trees when placed around their drip lines.  Be positive not to mound mulch around trunks of trees or shrubs considering that this contributes to root fungi.

For a lot more info on caring for your house landscape check out our web site at treeprosonoma.com

 

 

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