Why not Weed and Feed?
Weed and feed is dangerous anywhere, but if you live in Austin, the city has
specifically  asked you to stop using it. When it rains, that product is being
washed off your lawn and into our waterways, like Shoal Creek, Bull Creek and
Barton Springs, and it's doing some serious damage.
The good news is that switching from weed-and-feed to natural lawn care can
result in better-looking, sturdier, more resilient lawns that take drought in
stride. The practices recommended here help make your lawn healthier for your
family, protect beneficial soil organisms, and protect the health of the
environment because less pesticides, fertilizers, or other synthetic chemical
products are used. Read full article ..
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Going Green
Things You Can Do To Help the Planet -
RECYCLE
aluminum, tin, newspaper and glass. Start a recycling program in your
workplace and recycle at home. Use recycled paper and other products
made from recycled materials. -
Support environmentally sensitive businesses. -
READ LABELS. Avoid toxic household products. Learn how to safely dispose of household hazardous waste. -
Remove the caps from plastic bottles that get thrown away. This allows
bottles to be compacted flat in the landfill, thus conserving landfill
capacity.
Did You Know -
It
takes at least 200 years for one aluminum can to break down in the
ground. Aluminum cans that are recycled are back on store shelves as
new cans in less than 60 days. -
It takes 1000 years for the earth to make 3 cm. of fertile soil.
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7-2-2 Natural Fertilizer
Use now for a quick but long lasting, natural spring green.
Premium Lawn Fertilizer 7-2-2 is a time-tested formulation with Houactinate, bat
guano, urea, feather meal, K-mag, molasses, humate and other natural
ingredients.
We live in new construction, and of course the builder did not put
enough topsoil in our yard. After two years, the grass began to get
patchy and brown. I did not want to use a chemical fertilizer, so I
tried this. My three-year-old and I threw some fertilizer around the
yard with coffee cups, and a week later you could really tell where we
put it! The grass in those areas was BEAUTIFUL, lush, and green! I am
definitely going to invest in a broadcaster and make it a habit to use
this product!
Alyson R, New Braunfels, TX
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Planting Trees?
Try a Texas Landscape Mainstay
The pecan may be the state tree of Texas, but if there's a
runner-up, it's probably the live oak.
"No other tree is so widely planted as is this popular oak
variety," said John Begnaud, Texas Cooperative Extension horticulture agent for
Tom Green County.
"Green is always a welcome color in dry west Texas landscapes," he
said. "The same holds true even in wetter climates during the grey cold days of
winter. Other than the pines which are conifers, few large trees can deliver
evergreen foliage the way live oaks do."
Live oaks are not deciduous. They don't drop their leaves for a
winter rest period. This evergreen oak's leaf-drop is very brief, unlike most
oaks which remain bare all winter.
Live oaks are drought-tolerant Texas natives that are well adapted
to a wide range of soils. Although considered slow growers, these trees can grow
quickly if they are watered and fertilized two to three times a year when they
are young. Read more..
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