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Urban Agriculture

Protecting the Environment One Lawn at a Time

Lawns in the Richmond area are getting smarter – with the SMART lawns program offered by Virginia Cooperative Extension’s local Master Gardeners. What is a SMART lawn? According to Karen Carter, Extension agriculture and natural resources agent in Henrico County, it’s a lawn that is beautiful, healthy, adds value to the home, and achieves those goals without putting an undue strain on the environment or the homeowner’s time and money.

“Homeowners in our urban area often feel pressured to maintain a perfect lawn,” says Carter.” An attractive lawn adds value to a home, but sometimes homeowners are unsure how to achieve it.” Busy homeowners often do not have the time or interest to research the best ways to obtain an attractive lawn and can resort to using too many chemicals, or the wrong chemicals, in a misguided effort to improve their lawns. The incorrect application of lawn fertilizers can cause chemicals to wash off lawns and into water sources, creating a negative environmental impact.

A healthy lawn, however, can be an asset to the environment while also adding beauty to the neighborhood. Grass with a healthy and strong root system helps prevent soil erosion and sediment runoff. “Sediment that washes off a homeowner’s property and into the storm-water drainage system goes directly into our watershed,” says Carter. “That sediment is a pollutant, and it can also act as a carrier for chemicals and other toxic materials.”

Master Gardeners implement the SMART program by forming teams of volunteers who personally visit homeowners and help them get started on the five-step process, each step represented by a letter in SMART. During the 2006 season, the Master Gardeners formed 18 teams of three volunteers each to handle the volume of requests.

Get SMART
The “S” in SMART stands for “soil test,” a critical, yet often overlooked, step in determining the needs of a lawn. Master Gardener teams visit a homeowner and perform a soil test. The volunteers take samples from several points in the lawn, and send a representative sample to a soil-testing laboratory.

The second function carried out by the Master Gardeners is the “M” step – measurement. Lawn-care products such as fertilizers and herbicides specify an application rate “per thousand square feet” so it is important for homeowners to know the size of their lawn.

Homeowners receive information on how and when to aerate their lawn (the “A”). Then, with the results of the soil test in hand, the Master Gardeners develop a Nutrient Management Plan customized to the specific conditions of each lawn. This plan allows the homeowner to apply just the right amount and right type of fertilizer at the right time (the “R”) for the lawn. Finally, the “T” is addressed – the homeowner is given guidance on maintenance practices that help avoid future trouble.

James A. “Jim” Smith of Glen Allen credits the SMART lawns program with helping him grow a beautiful lawn. He first got involved with the program when he moved into a newly constructed home and tried to establish a lawn on soil that had been harmed during the construction process. Smith says, “My first inclination, was to throw out a lot of grass seed and hope for the best.” Through the program, however, Smith learned his lawn would need a significant amount of lime before it could sustain grass. He was able to create a lawn that has his neighbors stopping by to ask for his secret.

Smith became a Master Gardener in 1996 and since then has personally visited many home lawns to help others benefit from SMART lawn strategies. “People get excited when spring time rolls around,” Smith says. “They can waste a lot of money buying expensive seed and fertilizer that they don’t need or that should be applied at a different time of the year. We give them educational information on how to use the proper products at the proper time and in the correct amounts.”

Homeowners who want more information can attend Lawn Care Seminars offered several times during the spring and summer, or they can get specific questions answered by calling the Henrico Master Gardener Helpline. “SMART Lawns Experts” are also on hand to help homeowners tackle tough problems like establishing a lawn in a difficult area or completely renovating a neglected lawn.

“We tell folks they can be environmentally conscious and still have a beautiful lawn,” says Carter. “The secret is establishing a healthy lawn in the first place.” v

Chemical run-off and erosion are topics the typical homeowner may not think about on a daily basis. But home-landscaping practices, particularly in the urban areas of Virginia, can have a significant impact on these environmental issues.

“The way homeowners manage their landscapes has an impact on environmental quality,” says Adria Bordas, Extension agriculture and natural resources agent in Fairfax County. “Overuse of pesticides, for example, can create toxic run-off that impacts water quality.”

The Fairfax County Master Gardener Association has been addressing these issues, and more, for over 30 years by providing educational programs in the community. For many years, they have held plant clinics to help homeowners learn how to react to problems with the plants in their home gardens. This spring and summer, the chapter’s 240 plus members will hold weekly clinics at sixteen locations around the area.

“Over 60 percent of the problems homeowners bring us are not pathogenic,” says Bordas. “That means they are not the result of insect damage or disease, and often can be solved without chemicals.”

By providing accurate diagnoses of plant problems – anything from soil compaction, to too little or too much water, or to simply poor plant choices for the growing conditions – the Master Gardeners help homeowners choose the least toxic approach to solving lawn and landscape problems.

Candy Burt of Great Falls, the Fairfax plant clinic coordinator, recalls a homeowner who arrived at a clinic with an insect he could not identify. “He asked me what it was and what he could spray to kill it,” says Burt. “I told him he had Japanese beetles, and he didn’t need to spray.” Burt’s recommendation was that the homeowner take a bucket of soapy water out to his shrub and shake the beetles off into the bucket. Because he had only one shrub affected, and very few insects present, this method provided a cost-effective and environmentally friendly solution.
Eco-savvy homeowners
The Greenspring Master Gardeners is another group of Fairfax volunteers who work to educate homeowners on environmentally friendly practices. They offer the annual Eco-Savvy Gardening Symposium, a daylong session that sells-out each year. The session features experienced Master Gardeners and local experts who teach homeowners how to have beautiful and lush landscapes while still protecting the environment.

Participants attend sessions on creating a backyard habitat for wildlife, managing storm-water drainage, landscaping with plants native to the area, and more.

Martha Romans, Master Gardener and previously co-chair of the event, comments that the most important aspect of the day is teaching participants that what they do in their yards has an impact on the greater environment around them. For example, townhouse dwellers can have problems with rainwater running off large roof areas and draining into their yards. Sometimes homeowners divert this run-off out to a sidewalk or parking area, which can create further drainage and erosion problems. “We encourage homeowners to find ways to deal with the rainwater in their own yards,” Romans says. “Using plantings that can tolerate high levels of moisture, or landscaping with materials that will absorb the water can help.”

Both Master Gardener groups occasionally advise homeowners to consider replacing portions of their lawn with mulched or landscaped areas. Sometimes homeowners will attempt to grow grass in an area that is not ideal. For example, an area with heavy foot traffic can be a difficult place for grass to thrive. “Homeowners may over use chemicals trying get grass to grow in an unsuitable location,” Bordas comments. “We advise them to convert these areas into mulch or other landscape. The result is a better appearance, and also a reduction in the amount of chemicals used.”