Edmonds Landscape and Construction Services Ltd.

A brief explanation of how turfs became addicted to lawn chemicals

At one time, healthy turfs were maintained with little or no input of fertilizers or pesticides.The herbicide 2,4-D was introduced in the 1950's as a quick way to get rid of broad leaf weeds, particularly dandelion. It also got rid of white clover, which until then had been considered an esthetically desirable component of turfs. Clover "fixes" nitrogen in its nodules and makes this critical nutrient available to the grasses; with clover gone, a lot of N fertilizer had to be applied for the grasses to grow well and appear dark green. Also water requirements increased. New types of grasses were selected under chemically managed regimes and in turn became dependent on high rates of fertilizer use, on a lot of watering, on herbicides to keep weeds out, and on other inputs such as fungicides and insecticides.

The initial use of nitrogen fertilizer and 2,4-D, was well intentioned. However, today we can see that it initiated an addictive process whereby the turfs evolved to require more and more inputs in order to "stay healthy". By the 1980's, typical inputs to turfs equalled or exceeded those of the most intensively fertilized crops such as cotton and corn - even though there was no cash crop coming off, and we only wanted to make the grass green!

Further, evidence was accumulating that the pesticides were endangering the health of humans, pets and wildlife, and that excess nutrients from turfs were contributing significantly to deterioration of lakes and coastal bays. In the year 2000, a Canadian Parliamentary Committee stated it was convinced that " once Canadians are aware of the consequences of pesticide use in the environment, there will be a gradual reduction in pesticide use for cosmetic purposes in urban areas." The committee recommended that " the new Pest Contol Act prohibit the registration or re-registration of pesticides intended for cosmetic uses."

Sooner or later, we will again have to do without chemicals on our turfs. In Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) sooner is now. After much public debate, on June 11th, 2000, council adopted By-Law P-800 to eliminate cosmetic use of pesticides in HRM.

Some relevant Web sites and documents:

Canadian Parliamentary Committee	This site provides the entire document tabled by a Canadian Parliamentary Committee in May 2000 entitled PESTICIDES: MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE FOR THE PROTECTION OF HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT
By-Law P-800	The by-law restricting cosmetic use of pesticides in HRM, approved July 11, 2000
RATE	The Web Site of Halifax based RATE (Real Alternatives to Toxins in the Environment). It provides access to details of the pesticide by-law, and to many documents dealing with effects of toxins on health and environment.

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