Very much under the radar, the federal government's building and grounds agency has been doing all the right things with its buildings and its landscapes, at least here in what's called the National Capital Region, which manages over 100 different landscapes. The goals of their landscape program are to reduce waste, minimize pesticides, conserve water, and sharply curtail pollution. And reaching those goals has resulted in less turfgrass, more perennials and shrubs and fewer annuals. And which perennials and shrubs? Those that are drought-tolerant and pest-resistant plants and don't need "extensive trimming and shaping." See how sustainable is also low-maintenance?
What else? They compost all their yard waste (330 tons in '07) and have reduced pesticide use by 89 percent since 1995 (from 33,000 gallons to 3,700 gallons/year). AND this region was the first in the federal government nationally to ban 2,4-D and organophosphate insecticides.
FERTILIZER
I found all that encouraging information here, then contacted GSA's top horticulturist Janet Kenoyer, to find out more. Like, what fertilizers are they using? She explained that after a pilot program the only fertilizer they're using on their properties is pelletized poultry manure from the poultry farms in nearby Maryland, where excess tonnage of the stuff usually winds up polluting the Chesapeake Bay. Instead, it's now going onto the lawns and beds around federal buildings - 80 tons of it every year.
LAWN CARE
So what's their yearly lawn-care regime? According to Kenoyer, they use pre- and post-emergent herbicides and do some spot weed-killing (leaving clover in place "where we can"). In January or February they apply that poultry manure and that's it for fertilizer, unless a soil test reveals a nutrient deficiency later in the year. They grasscycle, of course, which also provides nitrogen for the turf, and this year the mowers are being raised to 4", which makes turfgrasses more drought-tolerant. I asked if they're actually applying clover seed and Janet replied, "Not yet." Clover takes nitrogen from the air and "fixes" it in the soil where the plants can use it, so this is an encouraging trend back to clover acceptability.
What's up next - for this blogger - is a visit to the EPA's headquarters in D.C., which not suprrisingly is a model for sustainable landscaping - there's a green roof, a rain garden, and coming soon, an organic veg garden in raised beds, and a compost bin to boot.
Here's more info about GSA's sustainable design program.
Diagram: courtyard of EPA's Rios Building in downtown D.C.
