Our yard is over-run with robins at the moment. They are having twitter fests in the trees and hopping around the lawn, enthusiastically pulling out reluctant worms. It's a happy little vignette but one that could hide a horror.
Last week, there was a knock at our door. It was a socially-distanced representative from Weed Man Lawn Care services. The 20-something gentleman was offering a FREE! lawn care estimate. I paused briefly and then said "No, thank you". But it's FREE he said with some desperation. They have a variety of lawn services and there was no obligation on our part to accept any of the services offered. He said we could just take the flyer and then toss it in the recycling if we didn't want any of them. I thought it over and again said "No, thank you". I don't think he was pleased with me... and walked away with a slump to his shoulders. I'm sure he looked at our moss-ridden front lawn and thought that we really, really needed some lawn care!
Maybe it could do with some aeration... or some fertilizer... or even some broad-leaf herbicides. We are, after all, a bit over-run with dandelions which are starting to burst into flower. Not to mention quack grass and a few other nameless weeds. But we aren't really "lawn people". We don't really care if it's a smoothly manicured sheet of uniform green or not.
Here's the thing. Let's say we were to say "yes" to some moss killer or even weed killer. The operative word in there is "killer". An herbicide is really a biocide. It is poison. There's a reason why Weed Man tells you to keep children and pets off of the lawn after it has been treated with "herbicide". There's a reason why you should cover up all skin surfaces and wear a serious respiration mask (not just a paper mask) when you are using any biocide. This stuff can make you seriously ill and/or kill smaller creatures.
We had some next door neighbours who moved here from the Okanagan a couple of years ago. The husband was in Stage 4 kidney failure and was hoping for a kidney transplant. He had worked for a landscaping company... spraying herbicides and pesticides and other biocides. Remember the Monsanto court case in California a few years ago? A couple sued Monsanto for millions and won. Monsanto, by the way, makes one of the most popular weed killers... Roundup... deadly stuff.
So, no... we don't want herbicides and pesticides and any other biocides in our yard. Poison that gets sprayed on the grass and then soaks into the soil where the worms eat it... and then the birds eat the worms... or feed the worms to their young. And then the birds die and get eaten by the cat who then gets sick. Nope... not interested.
It might seem a small thing to spray some Roundup on the weeds in the driveway but... each small step leads to another small step in a cascading series of small steps. Just say No to biocides.
P.S. It appears that Weed Man has been getting into trouble in the past few years with some shady sales practices. Never say "Yes" to a "FREE" quote... Just say "No!".
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