FUSF Green

Growing "Greener" Grass

The best time of year to plant new grass is between August 15 and September 15.  However, many people wait until late autumn to plant for next season as the grass will remain dormant through the winter and begin sprouting in early spring.  If you have an opportunity to plant new grass in a large area regardless of the time of year, you might want to consider Eco-lawn.

You might be asking yourself what makes one variety of grass more environmentally friendly than an other.  You might want to start out by thinking about what makes grass environmentally harmful and then the benefits of Eco-lawn will be quite obvious:

• loud smelly mowers spewing CO2 into the atmosphere
• expensive and resource depleting water required
• toxic chemical fertilizers and pesticides

Springtime: Ahhh, Smell the Poison

Springtime. Time to make your lawn beautiful again! Time to play keep up with the Joneses.

But do we really have to dump all those bags of poison on our yards? In the US, we dump 67 million pounds of poison on our lawns each year (http://www.ejnet.org/rachel/rhwn247.htm) , and that poison makes its way into our drinking water, our lakes, our food, and even all the way up to the Artic. It even poisons our own children   (http://www.grinningplanet.com/2004/07-01/children-effects-of-pesticides-article.htm).

It's possible to have a great looking yard without all the bags of poison. If you don't do your own lawn, here's a service that will take care of your property in an environmentally responsible way, and they have a branch in Marlborough, MA:  http://www.lawndawg.com/   If your more of a mow-it-yourself-fer,  here are some of the best tips I have seen for taking care of lawn problems in a more responsible way: http://www.organiclawncaretips.com/    Take a gander, and happy mowing!

FUSF Sanctuary Grounds Guide

Early Spring (April 1 through April 15) Sweep parking lot and walkways. Aerate lawn. Overseed thin lawn areas with a high fescue content seed mix at manufacturer’s recommended rate and rake over aeration plugs. Apply an organic fertilizer to all maintained lawn areas (along drive, parking lot islands, around buildings) using a broadcast spreader at manufacturer’s recommended setting. Topdress organic mulch as necessary in shrub and annual/perennial beds; do not allow mulch to build up over 3” depth (overly built-up prevents water from getting to roots). Prune dead branches from trees and shrubs and spread in understory as additional habitat. When installing new trees and shrubs, deeply water upon installation and water subsequently twice a week (less if good spring rains) until established. Early May Begin mowing maintained lawn areas once overseeded grass has fully germinated and is 2-1/2” tall. Set mower height at 2 1/2” and use a mulching mower to use clippings as a natural fertilizer. Hand-pull weeds from beds while still easy to do so! Much easier right after a rain. Mow once a week through the end of June. Do not mow areas where bulbs are planted. Mid-May Install perennials and annuals in selective beds after last frost. Still do not mow areas where bulbs are planted; foliage feeds the bulbs. Summer (July 1 through August 30) Raise the mowing height to 3” (or higher) and mow every other week during the hot and dry summer months when the grass goes dormant. This reduces gas consumption and related air and noise pollutants by keeping turf roots shaded to minimize rainfall needs. It also consequently reduces browning of turf and suppresses growth of crabgrass. The above also corresponds with the church’s quiet season, a time for reflection. If a weed whacker must be used, use a corded electric model at the building areas. Gas weed whackers are notorious for both noise and air pollution and should not be used. Early September Once weather has cooled, apply an organic winterizing fertilizer to maintained lawn areas (along drive, parking lot islands, around buildings). Lower mowing setting back to 2 1/2”. Freshen appearance of beds with low maintenance perennials and annuals prior to first Fall service. Late October through Mid-November Remove fallen leaves to compost pile (or spread lightly in woods). Mow lawn for last time and overseed thin areas. Winter Use sand but not salt in parking lot snow removal. At walkways, if salt must be used for safety, mix with sand to minimize amount needed and use calcium chloride rather than sodium chloride (sodium is a plant stressor and pollutant of groundwater).

FUSF Sanctuary Site Action Plan

The Green Committee has developed an Action Plan to help guide our practices for outdoor maintenance of our facility. This includes the following items at this time:

• Allow additional areas to go “rough” through replacing lawn with native vegetation, thereby enhancing habitat value while also reducing gas consumption and related air and noise pollution  from mowing.                                                                                                                        
• Where lawn is desired, apply environmentally sensitive practices such as a sparing use of natural fertilizers without herbicides, reducing mowing in dormant summer periods to reduce gas consumption and noise, raising mower height in summer to shade roots and minimize browning, and leaving clippings in place as mulch.
• Provide a community garden space for members and the community to apply organic practices in growing vegetables and flowers.  This can also be actively used as a learning tool by RE.
• Interplant native trees and shrubs with habitat value and low maintenance requirements in detention basins.
• Introduce native wildflowers on edge areas as an attractive buffer for wildlife habitat.
• Introduce a nature interpretation and bird identification trail through the woods and near to the seasonal pond to raise public awareness of our natural environment.
• Place discrete informational signage in the landscape describing natural areas and also how we are applying our Green principles.
• Plant the parking lot island with native shrubs and ground cover to reduce mowing.
• Install a compost bin for lawn clippings and organic waste
• Add a bike rack at the front door to encourage less use of cars

Ideally, we should be able to attract the general public to our “nature” sanctuary, providing community awareness with a possible side benefit of attracting new members to our spiritual sanctuary.  For at FUSF both types of sanctuary, natural and spiritual, are one