Recently I heard a knock at my front door and when I answered the door the conversation went like this.
guy dressed in a uniform: “Hello ma’am, I am working in the neighborhood and I thought I would stop by and give you information about my company. I can help you with this clover patch in your front yard.”
me: (I immediately recognize the uniform, they have stopped at my house many times before) “Thank you for noticing my yard, but we don’t treat our lawn.(obviously) I have kids and a dog(well, we had a dog, but he doesn’t need to know that) and I don’t want the harmful chemicals in our yard. I also don’t want the harmful chemicals running off into the water basin.”
guy dressed in a uniform: “Our products are completely safe. We treat the lawns of some local day cares. We just ask that you wait about 1-2 hours after an application before you walk or play in the yard. Did you know that clover attracts bees?”
me: “Why no I didn’t know that, but we are not interested. Thank you anyways.”
guy in uniform: “Thank you and have a good day.”
The above conversation was very polite and the lawn man was courteous and took my “no thanks” well and went on the the next house with a disastrous yard. These guys have stopped by before. They no doubt are in the neighborhood treating lawns, I see the trucks quite a bit and many of our neighbors have beautiful lawns without a single clover or bee. I know that some of the neighbors do the lawn care themselves too.
As much as I would love a beautiful, lush lawn, we decline these promotional offers for several reasons:
- Like I told the guy in the uniform, we have kids and at one time a dog and I don’t like the chemicals on the yard. My kids are outside playing all summer long, I have a hard time believing that the chemicals aren’t harmful.
- Water run off. After a rain, the water runs off the treated yard, down the street and into the water pipes, and, in our case, eventually reaching the Chesapeake.
- Bees are good for my garden.
- Finally…money. As much as I would love a beautiful, lush lawn devoid of weeds, I am not willing to pay for it. Some of our neighbors try to save money by treating the lawn themselves with products that can be bought in a store, but, for me, also see #1 and #2.
Our approach to lawn care has been:
- My husband mows when the lawn needs mowed. With all of the rain we have had in the northeast this summer, he has mowed about once a week.
- He usually lets the grass clippings lay, although I have read that is not a good idea when your yard is pretty weedy, regardless the clippings remain on the ground.
- ………..ahhh that’s it.
Good news about my clover mess, in my search on-line, apparently clover is not a weed and is actually good for your lawn, so THERE, mister guy in uniform!
Do you treat your lawn chemically, organically or not at all?
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We actually do pay for someone to treat our yard, but it is a reasonable amount (I’m told). Personally, it is not a big deal to me, but I’m sure my neighbors appreciate it though 🙂
We actually do pay for someone to treat our yard, but it is a reasonable amount (I’m told). Personally, I don’t see what the big deal is, but I’m sure my neighbors appreciate it though 🙂
LOL
I am laughing as I was reading this.. why would someone not like bee’s??? I mean.. you want flowers right? yea well you need bees. you want a veggie garden right? need bees..
I cut our lawn.. and I know it is not perfect looking.. but I like it.
sue in NJ
When I read the first few sentences and he mentioned the clover, I thought, ‘great, she’s got clover to feed the bees’ then I read on and screamed out loud!
We raise bees and when I set a beehive at my parents home I asked them if they could go around to their neighbors letting them know they have bees and to reconsider spraying chemicals in their yards. My mom was apprehensive but when I told her the honey would contain any pesticide within her neighborhood she marched right out there. Her neighbors were not only cooperative but when she gave them a bit of information about the benefits of having a thriving beehive close to their gardens the thanked her!
Roshawn – So far I haven’t heard my neighbors complain about our yard. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Sue & Molly – I don’t mind the bees. We have a garden, so I know how valuable they are 🙂 Thanks for the comments.
I totally agree! Beautiful lawns are overrated! I would rather my daughter play in an uglish lawn then a chemically saturated one! 🙂
When I’m out walking the dogs, I hate to see those signs in the lawns saying that it was just treated. I swear my dogs always want to bee line for those lawns!
We went chemical free a few years back and have been embracing the success of the clover. But… the dandelions… they are disturbing. Anyone got any suggestions? Is there a natural treatment that would work for that? My husband is getting so frustrated its hard to keep him away from the chemicals…
OK – we’ve embraced the clover since going chemical free, but the dandelions are really pushing our limits of tolerance. Anyone got any natural solutions for battling the dandelions?