Peter H said:

If anyone doesn't know what turf looks like when pesticides aren't used you
only have to take a stroll through a schoolyard or check out a boulevard in
Toronto these days. What you have there is not really turf, it's more a
combination of knotweed, dandelion, blackmedic and dirt. Lawns as we have
grown to know them will be a thing of the past in Toronto.

That's more lack of watering and improper mowing than lack of pesticides
(along with, in the case of the school grounds, compaction unalieviated by
core aeration). Those areas also probably could use an annual dose of
slow-release fertilizer in the fall and never get any fertilizer, ever. Pesticides
would not be enough turn those lawns lush. (In the past, maybe, they would
have had a more frequent mowing schedule, and even some fertilization, but
that would take more employees and is an easy thing to cut back on to save
money.)

My 'showpiece' front lawn has not seen a pesticide in 10+ years. It does
get watered, mowed regularly (high, often, with a very sharp blade and the
clippings mulched), and fertilized (organic or slow-release fertilizers, late
May, early Sept, late October -- all low-phosphorus formulations as
recommended for watershed protection).

--
Pat K. ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)