Dave Gower wrote:

Some people have balanced informed views on gardening. Others are
eco-fanatics who really care nothing about any living creatures, only about
their egos and agendas.

Balanced, perhaps - informed, not very. The suggestion to use peat moss as an
organic fertilizer is indicative of a serious lack of information. The nutrient
value of peat moss is nil.

Tom's "agenda", as you put it, is to help discourage the mindless use of
chemicals to control any gardening ill. Chemically enhanced lawns (fertilizers,
weed and feeds, and other chemical pesticides) develop a dependence on those
chemicals to remain viable, requiring consistent, repeat applications and copius
amounts of irrigation to to approach even a visusal appearance of good health.

Current horticultural science tends towards a more naturalistic approach -
improving soil fertility is paramount, whether through aeration and topdressing
with compost, modest applications of bio-innoculated organically derived
fertilizers, aerated compost tea or the use of self-mulching mowers. Feed the
soil and you'll feed the plants - it is as simple as that. Eco-fanaticism has
nothing to do with it. It is a smart, practical and responsible approach to
plant husbandry, regardless of the type of plant in question. It just doesn't
feed the pocketbooks of the lawn product manufacturers or the mow, blow and go
twits who think that owning a pickup truck and a lawn mower has somehow endowed
them with any kind of horticultural knowledge.

The following rather lengthy treatise was prepared by the Seattle Public
Utilities Resource Conservation Division in conjunction with the King County
Water and Land Resources and Hazardous Waste Management Program for lawn and
turf care professionals. It references some of the leading scientific works and
publications regarding ecologically sound and sustainable turf management. This
publication surpasses the knowledge base of anyone posting at this forum and
supports EXACTLY what Tom was trying to communicate - there is NO need to rely
on chemicals to grow or maintain a lawn when other, more responsible, less
environmentally damaging and less EXPENSIVE methods are available to the average
homeowner.

http://www.cityofseattle.net/util/la...s/Grnlwn61.pdf

pam - gardengal