The weather is finally warming up and the days gradually getting longer, and Long Islanders are diligently working on their lawns and gardens. They assess brown spots, scowl at weeds, check to see if the thatch is excessive and measure the soil’s pH levels. Rather than breaking out the pesticides and hopping aboard an advanced hydrostatic drive riding lawn mower, though, some are considering the effects their lawns have on the environment, choosing alternatives to chemical lawn care and landscaping using native plants.

Recently, Earth Day motivated many to make nature-friendly resolutions and be more environmentally conscious, whether by volunteering to help clean up a beach or steering a bike instead of a Hummer. Local residents are starting to see that it’s easier being "green" than they thought.

Digging Dirt, Ditching Chemicals

Since 2003, Canadian cities such as Toronto and Montreal have banned the cosmetic use of pesticides on lawns and gardens by lawn care companies. Taking note, many American lawn care and design companies are offering green alternatives to pesticides and organic options.

A growing crop of landscapers and arborists is sprouting up, providing 100 percent organic services and methods. The Neighbourhood Network, an East Farmingdale organization dedicated to preserving environmental resources, puts together an Organic Landscaper List, every spring, of companies certified as offering organic horticulture.

"We have been doing this type of list for 12 years now, and this year is the largest number of companies we’ve ever had," says Leigh Musarra, the organization’s special projects coordinator. "Last year we had 32 companies on the list, and now it’s up to 46."

One company on the list is Natural Way Organic Landscaping of Holbrook.

"The company has been here for 18 years and was one of the first companies to offer organic landscaping on Long Island," says owner Antonio Bellia. "Now organic landscaping is growing, slowly but surely, because people are starting to realize how harmful these chemicals are to nature and life in general."

Organic landscaper Edward Corrigan says that the trend toward natural landscaping has been picking up steam and will grow as environmental awareness heightens.

"Most of the customers that ask about organic landscaping choose to apply it to the maintenance program of their lawns and gardens," Corrigan says.

Model Behavior

One local high school class is aiming to inspire a natural landscaping movement. Bridgehampton High School’s new Landscape Design Program is offered as an elective for juniors and seniors, whose display garden serves as a model for a fresh aesthetic in landscaping for the residential gardener. Their display contains native plants in a natural setting. The 10-foot-by-10-foot micro garden, supervised by Judiann Carmack-Fayyaz, was created by a class of five, which is not a small class in terms of the student population: Bridgehampton has a total of 160 students from pre-K to 12th grade, with only eight seniors graduating this year.

The class covers the principles of landscape design, including art, science, business, pricing and budgeting. Students will design and build a real pond on school grounds based on the 10-by-10 footprint. The model was presented recently at Stony Brook University’s Earthstock, a weeklong celebration honoring Earth Day, and tied in perfectly with this year’s theme: "Sustainability—The Future Is Now!"

"I couldn’t believe I could do this type of project," says Daiber Josue Yanez-Padilla, a student in the class. "I think it was an experience I will never forget."

As part of the Environmental Research and Creative Activity Exhibition, the model showcased the students’ hard work, highlighting the creative approach to the preservation and conservation of nature.

"We want to show that you can get a beautiful landscape using what we have right here, what is native to our location," explains Carmack-Fayyaz.

Great American Lawn Myth

Consumers spend profusely on pesticides, fertilizers, water and gas, attempting to make their lawns look their best. According to the National Gardening Association, Americans paid $38.4 billion—about $457 per household—tending their yards and gardens in 2003, and that number has mushroomed in recent years due to the "keeping up with the Joneses" mentality of suburban dwellers, including those on LI.

"Here, we must spend energy irrigating and grooming the lawn," says Carmack-Fayyaz. "Lawns require preemergent weed killers, fertilizers and lime, which frequently ‘run off’ in storms and affect

our water sources. Countless dollars—particularly in the Hamptons—are spent on mowing, blowing, thatching and reseeding lawns. It is the very highest maintenance item in the garden."

Turf grass is America’s largest irrigated crop—but, ironically, that crop was originally an import.

"People believe that grass is a natural, native plant, but indeed, it is not," Carmack-Fayyaz says. "The whole idea of green lawns is imported. Although grasses have been around for centuries, it was the English settlers who brought the green lawn to America. Interestingly, in England, it is unnecessary to do anything to have a relatively beautiful lawn, as the weather is generally conducive to grass growing; it is cool and there is continuous and frequent rain."

Maintaining healthy lawns requires religiously following watering, fertilizing and weed-killing strategies. Then, of course, there’s the mowing. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), gas-powered mowers and other low-horsepower machines contribute at least 10 percent of the nation’s air pollution. This adds up to a lot of water, energy consumption and dangerous levels of chemical runoff.

The chemicals sprinkled and sprayed on lawns find their way downstream, harming aquatic life in the receiving bodies of water. Chemical fertilizers poison the environment and disrupt our delicately balanced ecosystems, threatening the survival of native plants and animals. Pursuing perfect-lawn bliss, many overlook the harmful impact this cycle of excessive fertilization and soil pesticide buildup has on our environment.

"The maintenance of a lawn in the States is one of the most expensive and environmentally threatening things that one can do in the garden," says Carmack-Fayyaz.

Think Globally, Plant Locally

"The organic lawn care movement is really taking hold here on Long Island and in neighboring Westchester County, more than any other place in the country," says Patti Wood, executive director of Grassroots Environmental Education, in Port Washington. "It’s partly because there is an increased awareness of the inherent dangers of pesticide use and partly because the industry is open to learning about people and environment-friendly cultural practices and managing landscapes without chemicals."

Natural landscaping incorporates indigenous plants—shrubs, mosses, grasses and wildflowers that are native to a particular geographical area. Such plants are lower in maintenance and more resilient than exotic plants, having adapted to a region’s characteristics and climate over thousands of years. Local plants are better equipped to survive diseases and insect damage.

"Plants grown locally are more adaptable to our particular climate cycle and its changes," says Sal Mortilla, owner of Landscaping Unlimited in Suffolk County.

Yards composed of native plant species typically demand little attention. Creating a healthy habitat requires less fertilizing, watering and chemical application. Plus, increasing the number of indigenous plantings improves overall ecosystem stability.

"By choosing native plants and indigenous grasses, your landscape will be less vulnerable to insect and disease problems and will require much less water," says Wood. "Putting a tree that is native to a southern forest in the middle of your front lawn on Long Island is just asking for problems."

Simple, Organic Lawn Care

Natural landscaping does not mean that to be environmentally consious one must altogether abandon their joy of keeping up apearances in suburban turfdom. Here are some suggestions to help you maintain an attractive, healthy lawn the natural way. (Most are from www.organiclawncaretips.com)

¨ Use a manual reel mower rather than a gas-powered mower, and get some exercise while enjoying that fresh-cut grass smell.

¨ Mow your lawn at the highest level possible for the type of grass you have.

¨ Leave your lawn clippings on the ground. Grass clippings enrich the soil and act as a natural mulch, holding in moisture and creating a rich layer of composted soil.

¨ Stop using chemical fertilizers – they destroy the soil’s beneficial microorganisms.

¨ . Because they are salt based, inorganic fertilizers cause an imbalance in the pH of most soils. Only apply organic fertilizers that are protein based.

¨ One application of an organic fertilizer to soil before the growing season begins should be sufficient.

¨ Many native plants dislike chemical fertilizers and grow better without them.

¨ Add a thin layer of compost (top dressing) every 4 — 5 years. Although compost is not a fertilizer, it increases microbe activity, which improves the condition of the soil.

¨ There are millions of insects in the world, but less than 2 percent of them are harmful. Insects that are beneficial to your lawn and garden include ground beetles, ladybugs, fireflies, wasps, centipedes, green lacewings, praying mantis, spiders, and honey bees. They pollinate your plants, help them grow and keep away harmful insects. Chemical insect control harms beneficial insects more than the unwanted pests, so stop spraying for insects.

¨ Use herbal pest repellants such as garlic and hot-pepper sprays, which you can make yourself. Adding a few drops of soap to the repellant will make it toxic to soft-bodied insects.

¨ If you must resort to using pesticides, use botanical pesticides, which are the least polluting. Because botanical pesticides are derived directly from plants, they break down much faster than synthetics, and are not known to accumulate in the food chain.

¨ Mineral pesticides are safe to use because of their low toxicity and natural components.

¨ Watering lawns accounts for an astonishing 40 to 60 percent of residential water consumption during the summer months, so make sure you are irrigating efficiently. Increasing mowing heights will also decrease lawn water use.

¨ A rain gauge measures how much rainfall has fallen. Mature lawns only require about one inch of water a week. The amount of water you should apply to your garden or lawn equals one inch minus the amount of rain you received for the week.