Conservation chair, Dr. Nancy Gift |
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"As gardeners, we love the plants we tend, and want them
to live long and prosper. All of us have experienced the
rude shock of weeds threatening to overtake our
flowerbeds or of an insect or disease pest causing
damage to a plant in our care. Pesticides, made by the
same companies as pharmaceuticals, may seem like
medicine for our plants and gardens, an easy way to fix
problems and restore their health.
Nature is complex, and interconnected. The herbicide we
use on our lawns will end up in our drinking water, may
damage the health of our children, our domestic animals,
or ourselves. The pesticide which we apply to a
herbivorous caterpillar will also kill the natural
enemies of that caterpillar, and so weeks from now we
may find ourselves faced with more caterpillars, not
fewer. Rachel Carson foreshadowed the problems of
honeybee decline resulting from pesticide abuse:
“Several hundred species of wild bees take part in the
pollination of cultivated crops – 100 species visiting
alfalfa alone…Now clean cultivation and the chemical
destruction of hedgerows and weeds are eliminating the
last sanctuaries of these pollinating insects and
breaking the threads that bind life to life.”
In Garden Club of Allegheny County, we encourage members
to use gardening methods which maintain the threads of
life. Sometimes, these methods require tolerance of
seeming enemies (lawn weeds) and sometimes alternative
control products are available (beneficial insects,
natural pesticides such as B.T. or corn gluten). In any
case, we offer the resources here to help members which
support the health of our gardens and our families."
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Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow
Beyond Pesticides Organization
A Weed by Any Other Name: The Virtues of a Messy Lawn,
or Learning to Love the Plants We Don't Plant
by Dr. Nancy Gift
Weed Expert Nancy Gift Talks about Weeds for Dinner
Weeds and Kids
Safe Lawns
Silent Spring Institute
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
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