"tenplay" wrote in message
...
Doug Kanter wrote:
"tenplay" wrote in message
. ..
I am a real novice at taking care of lawns and gardens. My yard has a
huge "lawn" that is in very bad shape. It has weeds, moss, crabgrass,
bald spots, etc.. Other than regular mowing and occasional weeding, I
don't know what else to do. A friend suggested hiring a lawn service
business for a year or two to get the "lawn" back into decent shape. Has
anyone tried this before? What exactly would they do? How much should
I expect to pay? I live in Western Washington. Thanks for any advice.

Any chance children will be playing on your lawn at any time in the next
two years?

Probably not. Why do you ask?

How about pets? Or you? Neighbors' kids occasionally?

As Garden Viking mentioned, there are problems with the entire concept of
using lawn chemicals. To elaborate:

1) If you could ask the manufacturer of the chemicals about safety, they'd
say "Safe when used as directed". False. It's next to impossible to test
these things in a scientifically correct way, to know if they're safe for
humans to breathe, ingest or come into contact with. And, you WILL come into
contact with them, even if it's months later when the stuff has filtered
into the local water table and back into your drinking water.

2) The lawn service companies use lots of seasonal help, none of whom have
any knowledge about the chemicals they're applying. Once, on a day with 40
mph winds, my wife happened to be home when a Chem Lawn moron was about to
hose down my neighbor's lawn. Due to the wind direction, the spray would've
instantly blown onto our vegetable garden, our fish pond, and our son's
swings. She mentioned strangling to the 911 operator, so the cops arrived
very quickly. The Chem Lawn moron told her and the cops that the stuff was
proven safe for use on edible crops. Of course, he was wrong. The cops sent
him on his way. In any case, they'll tell you anything you want to hear.

When you think of pollution from agricultural chemicals, most people think
of farmers as the primary source. Not any more. According to the EPA,
homeowners are the second point source of this pollution. Golf courses are
the first major source. In any case, you don't even want to be on the list
of point sources. (A point source is a readily identifiable source of
pollution. An example of a non-point source would be motor oil from leaking
cars, which washes out of parking lots into the ground & water).

Even if you used chemicals to rid your yard of weeds (a silly goal), you'd
still need to adopt ideal lawn care practices to keep it that way. You may
as well learn those things first. The best source is your local cooperative
extension, because it's staffed with people who understand YOUR climate. The
timing of various lawn care chores is very important, so getting advice from
someone in upstate New York, or Wisconsin, is not ideal. Find your local
cooperative extension he
http://www.agnr.umd.edu/MCE/offices.cfm