Longer days, warmer weather and the approaching end of the school year mean more time outdoors for many Iowans, especially children. Last week Kamyar Enshayan, a Cedar Falls City Council member and director of the University of Northern Iowa’s Center for Energy and Environmental Education, raised an important question: “Is having weed-free lawn worth it?”

Excerpt from Enshayan’s May 10 guest editorial in the Des Moines Register:

All lawn care ads mailed to our house featured images of weed-free lawns and kids and parents with bare feet on the lawn. In all cases, highly poisonous substances were marketed as crabgrass “preventer” or green and “preen,” or “sedge ender.” Some were “long lasting,” meaning the residue will continue to be dangerous for months. Some were systemic, meaning “just mix and put at the base of the plant it becomes part of the tree or shrub,” killing pollinators and other beneficial insects as well.

As I write this, a friend is undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer, and her immune system is not at peak performance. This time of year, she could be walking to work where the lawn is sprayed with 2,4-D (which always has some dioxin with it). As she picks up her kids, school grounds are sprayed while the kids are there and she can smell the drift. At home, across the street she could smell the park that was just sprayed. These constitute an unnecessary and preventable chemical trespass. […]

The medical evidence of harm regarding common household pesticide is sobering: Household and lawn weedkillers and insecticides use can increase risk of childhood leukemia as much as sevenfold; children born to parents exposed to pesticides have higher incidence of a range of neuro-developmental disorders; children living in households where pesticides are used suffer elevated rates of leukemia, brain cancer and soft tissue sarcoma. […]

“Your lawn is in battle mode.” Nearly six decades of marketing has resulted in a learned cultural urge so unhealthy. The shame-based messages are clear: If there are any other plants in your lawn, you are being negligent, you are not a good neighbor, you are not doing your part. There is also an assumption that “these chemicals have been tested and are fine,” ignoring the political nature of how a chemical stays on the market even when there is strong evidence of harm.

We already know it is possible, practical and effective to keep a basic green turf without any use of harmful pesticides or excessive fertilizers. I know school grounds managers who are doing it on the toughest of all situations – athletic turf. In Canada, because of the above-mentioned evidence, cosmetic use of pesticides has been outlawed. As a result, the concentration of lawn weed killers in nearby streams declined by 80 percent. The state of New York has done the same in all K-12 schools.

David D. Minner, Beth Mankowski, Donald R. Lewis, and Mark Gleason published this guide to “Nonchemical Alternatives for the Home Lawn” through Iowa State University Extension. It’s a concise, six-page pdf document.

Devoting part of your yard to native plants and wildflowers can save money and time by reducing the amount of green turf you need to maintain through watering, mowing, and weed control. A yard with native plants is also dynamic, changing week to week throughout the spring and summer. Many of the plants are also beautiful. A neighbor planted large patches of wild ginger in his yard a few years ago for decoration. Earlier this week, my son and I mentioned to him that the ginger were starting to bloom. He hadn’t realized wild ginger was a flowering plant, which is not surprising, because the blooms are easy to miss.

Any relevant comments are welcome in this thread.

UPDATE: Plant Iowa Natives has a lot of links to resources on landscaping or gardening with Iowa native plants. The Iowa Native Plant Society organizes field trips and maintains a calendar of events for those interested in native plants.