Tuesday, October 28, 2008

The Boulevarden Win's David Suzuki Award!

We are happy to report that the Boulevarden won the 'David Suzuki Digs My Garden' contest. The contest called for gardens that do not use pesticides...you can view a personal congratulations from David Suzuki here http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1869637951





From Suzuki website http://www.davidsuzuki.org/NatureChallenge/GardenContest/didyouknow.asp

"Getting your lawn off drugs is kinda smart, too.

In the race to
have the best lawn on the block, we spread 67 million pounds of toxic pesticides onto our lawns every year. It’s foolish, and dangerous - especially to small children and pets.

Over 1,000 toxic pesticide products for sale in Canada have been banned in other countries. Exposure to pesticides can lead to serious illness such as cancers, neurological diseases and reproductive problems.

Other reasons not to use pesticides?
• They kill off beneficial inse
cts such as ladybugs and honeybees.
• They accumulate in the food chain – damaging birds, fish and other animals.
• They destroy bacteria and nutrients that improve the soil and nourish plants and seeds.

• When it rains (or you water), they end up in our water table.

Tips to get you started:
Think outside of the golf cou
rse this summer. Depending on where you live, you can plant clover, thyme, flowering mosses and a ll kind of grass varieties. It doesn’t have to be just grass. Xeriscaping is a great approach to customize your yard to a local climate. It also happens to require less water and maintenance."

So next summer as a community let's quit using pesticides, take up more and more lawn and add more drought tolerant
plants.

We need to be open to different 'lawns'...we are living a type of desert...we need to plant accordingly. Xeriscaping is not about just removing your lawn and replacing it with gravel...look at the pictures below...xeriscaping is beautiful - more beautiful than a lawn if you ask me - and truly when you have perennials life is easier than a lawn...if ya wanna talk about it stop by any time - 1309 7 Ave South. Also I recommend the book "Getting Your Lawn off Grass" I have used it for a few years and it is a great resource http://www.harbourpublishing.com/book.php?id=411

The gorgeous picture below is a very easy maintenance lawn
- native grasses and sedums...this is really a no maintenance lawn - maybe have to weed once every three weeks at the most!
Try a clover lawn -
no mowing and it fills like a thick carpet so virtually no weeding.











Use Yukkas, which do really well in southern Alberta and have beautiful white flowers!
Is your 'lawn' up a step or two? Use a Thyme as a walk way - it is not only beautiful, it also smells wonderful - and - walking on it makes it reproduce as the seeds get crushed under foot. (below is not Thyme - but looks very similar)

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