Thursday 24 May 2018

backyard tails, lawns, and health risks

We love our backyard visitors. We know we have grubs. Our lawn isn't that important to us. There are many who spend hours pruning their lawns for dandelions.
CBC has done a good piece on this. Our Federal government regulates toxic chemicals used in these products. Ontario further regulates products, as do 5 other provinces.  David Suzuki has done a report. Read the full Suzuki Foundation report  (PDF)  

For more information on what's banned...
Class 9 pesticides are banned for cosmetic purposes because they may pose an unnecessary risk to human health, particularly children’s health.
Grubex is banned in Ontario, yet people are smuggling it across the border.
In a Lowes store in the US, There is a $5000 fine in Ogdensburg for decanting pesticides. (This is the closest border crossing to Ottawa.) People are doing it. They find empty pesticide containers in the ditches.
Sure enough, out in the parking lot of the very same Lowes, William Mallette of Brockville, Ont., was just finishing a bi-weekly shopping trip to the U.S. Mallette admitted to buying banned chemicals for his yard. He uses herbicides to kill weeds around the border of his lawn, applying them at night when no one can see him.
CBC Ottawa radio did a report this morning. One guy tried to bring a truck full of Grubex across the border only to be turned back. He wasn't fined, but returned it to the store. It is simply shocking. These products cause cancer. 


Ottawans are heading to NY State to buy pesticides that are banned here, but legal there. An organic farmer with a part-time job at a garden centre in Ogdensburg blows the whistle on @ottawamorning  pic.twitter.com/HIIL2emyg6
— Hallie Cotnam (@HallieCBC) May 24, 2018

 Hubby was in the store looking for something for our apple trees. Another gentleman was told a product he was trying to buy was banned. He asked, "Well, where else can I buy it?" The clerk suggested a nursery. Professionals can still use these products, as they know how to properly handle them.

How To Care For a Lawn

It is important to understand how to take care of lawns in 2018. People have to leave them longer to let the roots grow strong. This helps them fight the grubs. If you have grubs, you can use a biologic nematodes, which kills them in the fall.

How to get rid of grubs in lawn naturally
  1. Let your lawn grow longer than 10cm/ 4"...
  2. Check for grubs. ...
  3. Use beneficial nematodes to get rid of any type of grub. ...
  4. Seed and fertilize your lawn in the fall. ...
  5. Don't overwater.
These are the critters we see on our lawn. The bees love the dandelions. I cannot imagine putting chemicals on it.


We see many beautiful wildflowers on the lawn over the spring.

7 comments:

Cloudia said...

Thank you for sharing your beauties and your wisdom, Jenn

Ella said...

I think I'll die if I touch a snake ...:)
I'm afraid of frogs too.
I am a real city girl!!! LOL

Nancy J said...

Hooper and two deer, and dandelions, they grow in our lawn too, and we do NOT use pesticide at all. They get mown off, and grow again, daisies grow there too.I love your words, as always.

William Kendall said...

Best to let such things be natural.

Olga said...

i used nemotodes to get rid of grubs (and the moles and skunks hat liked to feast on them). If I had tried to kill the weeds, i would have been left with bare ground. Now the condo association takes care of mowing. I have never seen them do anything else to the lawn, but it looks pretty good and they don't cit it so short at all. Have to admit I like looking at if from my deck better than from a riding mower.
It's kind of maddening that some think they are an exception to following rules meant to make the planet safer for all. Boo! Hiss!

Red said...

People too often look for an easy way to control things. I'm not sure what grubs would be?

Anvilcloud said...

We are pretty well converted to mulch and a little garden, but then we have a small property.