Our Approach
Lawn Masters adopted the Eco friendly approach in Late 2009 and is now
offering this service to customers (who like us) are sensitive to the
environment and are caring enough to start protecting it.
Our approach consists of three parts:
1. New lawn and plant maintenance techniques
2. Machinery changes
3. Recycling
New lawn and plant maintenance
The methods of lawn and plant care in the eco friendly realm has changed
significantly with new organic products, the use of traditional type
gardening techniques and the ability to be creative with new harmless ways
of addressing weeds and insect problems.
Our desire to grow a lush and healthy lawn is second only to the commitment
of being environmentally conscious. Here are some of our organic lawn care
techniques that we have implemented. From soil balancing agents to organic
fertilizers like sea kelp these new ideas are designed to leave the Earth
unscarred.
The trend of trying to make this land our own without permanently altering
its natural beauty and function is upon us. Our new eco friendly approach
will get the most from your yard without doing damage to the balance of
nature.
Here are some other techniques we've implemented:
Periodic Mowing. Keep your lawn at a height of three inches throughout
the year.
-
Aerating. Using spiked Golf shoes to aerate the lawn as we pass over with
the mower.
-
Organic Herbicide. Applying an herbicide that is made from corn gluten is one of the most organic approaches. Other products include white vinegar and citric based liquids to knock out nasty weeds on a hot sunny day.
-
Organic Fertilizers. Sea kelp amongst other products are natural and eco
friendly. (Must apply 6 times per year)
-
Testing Soil. It allows us to identify deficiencies and plan for the
problems that may plague your lawn throughout the year.
We can create a beautiful and natural lawn that will blend into the
environment and cut down on excess chemical runoff. We might just start an
organic lawn revolution in your neighborhood.
Tree and Shrub care
Environmental changes: We might need to do some different things to the
environment that the trees and shrubs are in. This may include removing
competing plants that create problems for each other, adding plants that
help one another, trimming parts of your plants that are causing problems,
removing dead, damaged and dyeing branches, or changing watering habits
Soil aerification will help with soil compaction and get organic nutrients
down into the roots for the tree to start absorbing.
As more and more organic products become available with good results, it is
has become our standard to use organic products for your health and
especially for ours since we do this every day! We have had good results
implementing organic steps into our traditional, regular lawn application
programs. Lawn Masters has long been using concerted efforts to minimize
pesticide use by using selective insecticides and only applying products
when absolutely needed. Using the least amount of chemicals is what's best
for the plants. We want the plants to naturally be immune to these insects
and diseases, and overdoing pesticides makes the trees and shrubs reliant on those chemicals.
Pruning shrubs by hand and removing infected areas has become the most eco-
friendly way to deal with insects. Some diseases such as Wooley Adelgi can be simply treated with oil. The most important part is the frequency of
treatments. Constant monitoring of trees and shrubs are the most critical
aspect of protecting your landscape today. Our programs allow us to visit
once a month or even weekly, upon those visits our eyes are the best
preventative weapons we offer organically. Once diagnosed we can treat
accordingly, no need to treat unwarranted.
As a last measure, if your trees or shrubs are struggling with an insect or
disease that can't be cured 100% organically, we can use an injection system
to put a cure into the tree. This can be a one-time procedure to stop the
death of the plant. By injecting straight into the tree, we are not putting
pesticides into the soil or air. The hope is that by stopping the attack of
a pest, we can then start an organic program after the plant problem has
subsided to a normal level. If the one time treatment does not work then the
complete removal of the plant or tree would be advised and a new disease
resistant variety would be recommended in its place.
|
|
Machinery Changes
The Bad
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a typical 4-hp
gasoline lawn mower engine generates nearly six times as many VOCs (volatile organic compounds) per hour of use as the family car.
Each weekend, about 54 million Americans mow their lawns, using 800 million
gallons of gas per year and producing tons of air pollutants. Since this
equipment is used mostly during the hot summer months, when ground level
ozone is the highest, it causes problems for asthmatics and aggravates other
respiratory conditions.
The air pollution from cutting grass for an hour with a gasoline powered
lawn mower is about the same as that from a 100 mile automobile ride,
according to a new study from Sweden. The report, which the authors say is
the first to compare lawn mower pollution with auto mileage, recommends
using catalytic converters on mowers.
Most people do not associate air pollution with mowing the lawn. Yet
emissions from lawn mowers, snow blowers, chain saws, leaf vacuums, and
similar outdoor power equipment are a significant source of pollution.
Today's small engines emit high levels of carbon monoxide, a colorless,
odorless, poisonous gas. They also emit hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides,
pollutants that contribute to the formation of ozone. While ozone occurs
naturally in the upper atmosphere and shields the earth from harmful
radiation, ozone at ground level is a noxious pollutant.
Ground-level ozone impairs lung function, inhibits plant growth, and is a
key ingredient of smog.
Besides all the air pollution, homeowners could spill gas and 2cycle fuel
while filling the equipment, evaporation of fuel on the pour, noise
pollution, and injuries just to mention a few more hazardous environmental
issues!
The Good
Lawn Masters has changed all of its mowing, trimming and blowing machines to operate solely on propane.
Why?
- Propane is more reliable, efficient, easier and safer to use,
environmentally friendly and reduces dependency on foreign oil.
- Propane is non toxic to ground water and soil.
- Propane has zero evaporative emissions
- Propane has zero ozone depleting hydrocarbons.
- Propane has 97% fewer particulates
- Propane has 96% fewer carcinogens and exceeds 2011 EPA emission standards.
- Over 85% OF PROPANE IS PRODUCED DOMESTICALLY.
- Approximately an eight percent drop in CO2 emissions can be seen by using
propane in place of octane. On a large scale, this could help with the
global warming problem.
Our trucks run on Biodiesel and we are in the process of converting to
natural gas. Some other equipment that we use such as tree branch trimmers
and generators are also being fueled by propane. Our focus in the eco
friendly realm is to abide by a new set of rules by giving the environment
the first priority and to continue in our venture to be the pioneers of
pesticide and fossil fuel free methods in keeping natures balance.
Recycling
Tree removal, soil removal, leaf removal are examples of recycling of
organic materials. All those materials are automatically disposed at a
recycling center where they are produced into organic soils and or mulch.
Grass clippings are left on the lawns so that they can contribute to the
nitrogen balance needed to feed your lawn. Leaves and grass are ground and moved into your planting beds so it can provide a natural mulching giving
your plants a weed barrier and organically providing nutrients.
Nothing is disposed at our landfills, old equipment is sent to metal
recyclers, and all propane tanks are refilled or recycled.
|
