The Obvious Solution Isn't Always The Best

Black, barren earth with patches of dying grass spread out across the front of our church in Derry when the snow melted last year - not the image we wanted to project for the season of life, growth and rebirth, but a sight commonly found in lawns during the springtime.

The landscaping committee wanted to change that image fast. Some of the committee members suggested using a strong pesticide as a quick way to get rid of the grubs that had killed the grass by devouring the roots, as well as the skunks that tore up the soil rooting around for the grubs.

A meditation garden sprawls around the higher points of a wetland that sprawls below the hill. I worried that pesticide runoff might harm or kill some of the fish, amphibians and other wetland creatures. Wetlands are the cradle of new life for frogs, salamanders, toads, turtles and insects. I love the song of the spring peepers as I leave from an evening church service. The peepers are one species among the many creatures that add something to life and our experience. For me they herald the hope of spring and warmer days. I’d read that frogs, salamanders, toads, and other amphibians absorb chemicals through their skin, making them particularly vulnerable to the pesticide our committee wanted to use.

I called the Rockingham County Extension office to learn more about the grub control pesticide. Nada Haddad, the agricultural resources educator, informed me that only state-licensed pesticide applicators can treat public spaces with pesticides. She also warned that the pesticide might contaminate neighboring wells if it wasn’t applied in strict accordance with label directions.

I agreed to take on the task of finding an alternative to the product the committee wanted to use. Time was getting short. We had two weeks to find an alternative before the window for the pesticide application would close.

I wracked my brain. During my training as a UNH Cooperative Extension Community Tree Steward, I’d learned that native plant species are typically better adapted to cope with pests. That got me to thinking that perhaps we could solve our problem by replanting the lawn with hardier, more pest-resistant grass species.

Then I remembered a flyer in which the N.H. Department of Transportation (DOT) talked about using tough, low-maintenance grasses and plants in highway median strips.

I called the DOT and talked to Guy Giunta, the department’s landscape specialist supervisor. He told me the DOT uses something called Highway Mix 45—a mix of species that resists salt, doesn’t need watering and needs minimal maintenance.

Minimal maintenance would certainly be a plus for the church. The few dedicated people who water and mow the grass and do other landscape maintenance for the church neither want, nor have the leisure, to spend all their time caring for the lawn. It takes a generous person to interrupt a beautiful summer day to run over to water the church lawn.

I learned that Highway Mix 45 is durable—the indoor/outdoor carpeting of lawns—and available through a local garden supply center. Its one drawback: it doesn’t make a nice, soft lawn you’d want to picnic on. That was no problem for us, though, because this lawn was near the road where no one would want to picnic anyway. The church just wanted it to look nice, and it came up a nice, solid green.

Last spring I heard the peepers, who reminded me spring was coming after such a hard winter. In the fall, I walked with my son in the meditation garden and sat listening to the birds. When we came out of the woods, we met Bob Lehmankuler, the head of the landscaping committee, who told me the grass was growing fine and that the muskrats and butterflies loved it.

The front of the church now radiates new life and growth. There is also new life and growth in the wetlands, and safe drinking water in nearby wells. We solved our pest problem without resorting to pesticides because people were willing to seek out a creative alternative. People were willing to listen to each other, ask questions, and compromise.

The obvious solution isn't always the best.

By Bonnie Barlow, Community Tree Steward, UNH Cooperative Extension

For more information call the UNH Cooperative Extension's Family, Home & Garden Center's Info-line (toll free) at 1-877-398-4769 or send us an email. Volunteers are available to answer your questions Monday through Friday 9:00am to 2:00 p.m.