Where to Find Pesticide-Free Lawn and Landscape Care Products
UPdate Spring 1999


     Preliminary reports suggest you should be able to obtain pesticide-free lawn and landscape care from:

Larkin's Landscaping, 471-1149 (cell)
Your Private Gardener, 479-1021, total property care only, not 
    just cutting lawns.
Manicure Lawn Property Service (Dave Hacket) 453-6413 
    (home), 499-3335 (cell).
Pro-Green, 758-3512, 639-9329, 883-1451; Ann Perry provides 
    organic grounds & lawn care; and although Pro-Green is 
    based in Schubenacadie, they work frequently in the Halifax
    area.  Request no spot spraying.
For Soils: contact "Kel-Ann Organics," 835-2606.
For SOD: There are no local sources yet for pesticide-free sods (who will be the first sod producer to market an organic "Eco-Sod"- with a mixed sward of low-maintenance grass varieties and clover?). 
Elmsdale Landscaping Ltd. (883-2291, 883-2250) provides a limited 
    quantity of fine fescue turf.
Paul Boutilier 876-8579 (home), 826-7173 (work), is a distributor for
     Eco-Val Products and other organic lawn care products.  Pesticides 
     are  used in his lawn care services, however.

     Companies providing both (1) chemical/pesticide lawn care and (2) organic lawn care, but who prefer non-toxic methods, include 

Eden Park, 456-6721,
Atlantic Landscape Gardeners, 835-9651, who although 
    describe themselves as using "no sprays whatsoever," do
    call in Nutri-Lawn to apply pesticides, 
A&A Lawncare and General Maintenance, 483-3402, and
Edmonds Landscape Services (if specify in contract "no 
    pesticides ever") 423-8174 (phone), 455-9956 (fax).      
Pesticide-free landscapes that are beautifully maintained by 
    Vernon Mingo (of Edmonds) are on view at the NS Museum
    of Natural History, the Halifax Shopping Centre, and the 
    playground at the IWK Hospital for Sick Children.
     When contracting for any landscape work, its a good idea to ask very
specifically for a complete ingredient list of ALL materials that will be
applied to your lawn, in writing, so that regrettable confusions do not
occur.

     FOR A GREAT NEW CANADIAN SOURCE OF BIOLOGICAL CONTROLS, CONTACT THE NATURAL INSECT CONTROL (NIC) CATALOGUE
Phone (905)382-2904, Fax (905)382-4418, RR#2, Stevensville, Ont. L0S 1S0
E-Mail: nic@niagara.com      
Website: http://www.natural-insect-control.com
NOTE: It is not a good idea to trust the use of the word "organic" until
third party certification can be provided by an Organic Turf Care
Association in Nova Scotia. One of several legitimate meanings of the word "organic" refers to long-chain carbon compounds such as proteins or gasoline. Using this meaning, pesticides such as 2,4-D or chlorpyrifos are strictly speaking "organic," but clearly this is not what homeowners mean when they ask if a garden product is "organic." They, of course, mean "is it pesticide-free?" which is another legitimate meaning for the word.

     Landscapers have at times misled homeowners by saying their pesticide product is "organic." Until only legitimate providers of organic lawn care are permitted to use this word, you should rely on safe materials such as fully mature compost, or Eco-Val, or other organic dormant fertilizers to feed your lawn or to help regenerate your sterile soil. Do not use any products that have so-called "INERT," "OTHER," "UNKNOWN," or "UNLISTED" ingredients listed on the label, or ones identified as "ORGANIC-BASED." Suggestions of businesses that should be added (or removed) from this list can be mailed to RATE, P.O. Box 25188, HFX, NS, B3M 4H4.

Courtesy of Real Alternatives to Toxins in the Environment (RATE), PO Box
25188, Halifax, NS, B3M 4H4
Email rate@chebucto.ns.ca
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environment/RATE/