All,

This is a call to arms to defend our lawn and landscape industry!!! Our industry is under attack and we must defend ourselves and our livelihood. Below is an attachment that Dr Alan Windham wrote and brought to my attention. I am so happy and thankful that he has stayed on top of these types of issues. With out folks like Dr. Windham we would be in a world of hurt. Many times we get to busy working in the industry and important things slip past us. NOT SO IN THIS CASE!!!

Everyone on this list benefits from good lawn and landscape practices and we protect our environment with everything we do. As Dr. Windham stated, we need to be proactive and ready to “undo” the damage that Dr. James Frasier is about to unnecessarily inflict on us! IF YOU HAVE PROPERTIES IN THE RICHLAND CREEK AREA YOU HAD BETTER GET READY TO EXPLAIN THE HUGE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS THAT YOUR SERVICES RENDER. Forecasting these types of attacks are what have led us to use more organic fertilizers and convert mowers to propane, along with other safe environmental practices. These attacks are not EVER going to let up, so be prepared.

PLEASE, take time to pen your “stewardship statement” if you don’t already have one and get it to your clients. No one is going to fight this for us so PLEASE take time and help us overcome these attacks. I understand that English cottage gardens are beautiful but I am a realist and realize that most likely no one will pay for a 2 acres English cottage garden. This man doesn’t want to just get rid of turf but eventually have us all live in a maze, and then he will probably do a study about all of the fat people in the Richland area because they have no place to run and play!

Please do your research, tell folks in our industry about what is going on, prepare you and your employees, make sure that your continued education is current, make sure that your practices are exceptional and defend our industry!!

With sincere concern,

Billy Leavell

To: Billy Leavell, Turf Managers; Robert Stroud, Turf Doctor
Re: Stewardship Statement for your company
Billy and Robert,

Last year, I attended the annual meeting of the Cumberland River Compact after reading about the topic of the keynote speaker, Dr. James Fraser, Associate Professor of Human and Organizational Development at Vanderbilt University.  His topic was “Lawns and Pesticides”.  I was not surprised by the content of his presentation.  It was exactly what I expected.  Some key points:

·         Lawns are not an appropriate use of urban space

·         I want to use data from my NSF (National Science Foundation) grants to influence public policy

·         In a chart he showed of the Richland Creek watershed, the golf course was labeled an “institutional polluter”

·         His recommended replacing lawns with gardens that looked like English cottage gardens

·         He is very anti-lawn care and states that his data shows that people only have lawn care services because of subdivision covenants, peer pressure from neighbors etc.

·         He recommended that the audience buy “Lawn People” by Paul Robbins to learn more about pesticides and lawns.  I bought a copy and read it.

Dr. Fraser has been very successful in getting grants to collect data on homeowners attitudes toward lawn pesticides.  This summer he has hired college students to survey 600 households in the Richland Creek Watershed.  I think he is calling this the “Nashville Yard Project”.  Questions on his survey will be similar to this:  “Are you ok with having a lawn care service, even though you are negatively affecting your neighbors health?”.

After listening to his presentation, I wondered what we could do to combat some of his misinformation.  One thing that came to mind was a stewardship statement.  Every lawn care company, golf course, athletic field manager should write a stewardship statement to post, to get into the hands of your customers once a year, to have on hand to give to a TV reporter or newspaper if interviewed about the lawn care industry.  You are simply telling your customers about the benefits of having a healthy lawn and that at XYZ Lawn care we do things the right way because we are concerned about the environment and our customers.  We in the turf industry need to be proactive about telling our story which is a good one.  I wrote an article about this in the May issue of the Ornamental Pest and Disease Update (http://soilplantandpest.utk.edu/pdffiles/OPandDUpdates/may2010vol4n2.pdf) page 6.  I would start by giving the benefits of a healthy lawn and follow with things my company is doing the right way.  There are many websites with this information  http://www.sustland.umn.edu/maint/benefits.htm , http://www.thelawninstitute.org/environment/?c=185666 .

Another reason for writing a stewardship statement is to think about your lawn care and business practices.  Are they up-to-date? Am I getting the continuing education I need to stay on top of a changing business? Am I training my employees on pesticide safety?  Am I using university recommended practices for fertilization and pest, disease and weed control?  You should be able to defend anything that you do in your business as reasonable and science based.

Again, it is my opinion that the lawn care industry needs to be proactive.  Either you tell your story or you can wait and let Dr. Fraser give his version of the lawn care industry.  Forward this to your colleagues in the lawn care business if you feel this is appropriate. 

Alan

Alan S. Windham

Professor, Ornamental and Turfgrass Pathology

UT Extension

5201 Marchant Drive

Nashville, TN 37211

615.835.4572

awindham@utk.edu

Soil, Plant and Pest Center

Ornamental Pest and Disease Update