Where the Grass Is Made Greener

By The Wall Street Journal

I'm standing in the midst of a grassy, windswept field holding what could be the next killer app in lawn care. It's a vial of herbicide made from a sustainable, natural source—Canadian thistle fungus—and it's designed to wipe out clover, dandelions and other broadleaf weeds without damaging grass.

If plans stay on track, the product—code-named CBH, for Canadian Bioherbicide—could reach America's lawns as soon as 2011. If so, it will be a pivotal moment in the fast-moving evolution of naturally derived lawn and garden products in the U.S. In no small way, success will hinge on the marketing heft of its formulator, lawn and garden giant Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., whose labs supply much of what the world's homeowners buy each year in a quest to keep their grass green, plants plentiful and homes pest-free.

It's an industry in transition, and Scotts is preparing everything from an insect repellent derived from wild tomatoes to mulch uses automotive-surfactant technology to help water penetrate soil faster. Nearly 40% of the nation's 100 million households with a yard or garden say they are likely to use all-natural methods in the future due largely to environmental and health concerns, says the National Gardening Association.

A key hurdle for Scotts, whose roots lie deep in synthetic chemical products, is meeting that new demand while not sacrificing the effectiveness that keeps sales up and shareholders happy.

Recently I spent time at Scotts's headquarters. Experiments take place on 120 acres of rolling turf and inside an 18,000-square-foot greenhouse that can mimic any environment in North America. In a nearby humid "rearing room," bugs are bred for sacrificial duty and white-coated researchers pepper their speech with phrases like "knockdown time" (how long it takes a bug to stop moving).

Much of the company's $45 million annual research and development budget is devoted to formulating technology to benefit those who partake in green lawn services. What applicator is best? Will it freeze, thaw and still work? While the company manufactures the majority of its products, it often licenses or buys intellectual property from smaller companies and research institutions and then tweaks it—a trickier task with naturals, a broad term for ingredients derived from plants, animals and minerals. There are just not as many people working on green products for lawn care. And the ones that are don't always understand the biology of pests.

This year, for instance, Scotts introduced an insect killer under its new Ecosense label whose active ingredient is soybean oil. Scotts bought the technology from a small North Carolina company and set about speeding up its pest knockdown time, which was clocking in at an uncomfortable one minute. (Under 30 seconds is the goal, and 10 seconds is on par with non-natural solutions). A popular test subject: the hearty American cockroach, which Scotts keeps in large supply and feeds a diet of mostly dog food and apples.

Scotts used the Ecosense insecticide to demonstrate knockdown time of less than 30 seconds on a fat cockroach that jerked about briefly before growing still. (Researchers believe soybean oil thwarts pests' breathing.) The speed is an achievement for scientists, who, through repeated reformulations, halved the number of ingredients needed—making it less expensive to produce—while also improving its efficacy.



The bioherbicide, which interrupts the plants' ability to photosynthesize, is also looking promising. Scotts's researchers point to 3-by-3-foot plots of ailing dandelions and clover treated with the product adjacent to plots treated with Scotts's tried-and-true chemical weapon, Weed-B-Gon. The "injury," as scientists call it, is nearly identical.

Other natural herbicides are sold in the U.S. from well-known brands such as Jonathan Green and Safer, though many must be applied in significant quantities as pre-emergent weed suppressants or are non-selective, meaning they also kill grass. A Montreal-based company sells a fungus-based selective weed killer aimed at dandelions.

Scotts says its bioherbicide will be aimed at a variety of broad-leafed weeds and won't harm grass. It plans to launch the product first in a granular spot-control format to apply after weeds come up and is working on a pre-emergent formulation and a "weed and feed" product with fertilizer.

These new natural weed killers are the holy grail of organic lawn care. It's not about how to grow grass. It's about how not to grow weeds.

Some environmental advocates remain circumspect about Scotts's plans, suggesting a better natural route is to improve soil conditions so grass and plants can fight weeds and disease on their own.

Many environmentalists have been calling to replace lawns with native plants that don't consume as much water or fertilizer—a direct assault on Scotts's core business. Its response? New grass seeds and soils that conserve moisture, and fertilizers that require lower application rates. For instance, its "Water Smart" EZ Seed introduced this year contains coconut-fiber "coir technology" that helps seeds absorb eight times their weight in water.

Also, Americans spend more than three billion hours per year using lawn mowers and garden equipment. Our lineup of Scotts reel mowers, brill reel mowers, sunlawn reel mowers, push reel mowers and classic reel mowers is leading the eco-friendly reel mower movement, making it easy and enjoyable for any individual to eliminate their climate impact and transform lawn mowing to a clean future and more enjoyable experience. Please help us shift the consumer turf care industry towards more sustainable practices with reel lawn mowers and green lawn mowers.

Hiring Pros for a Lusher Lawn

By The Wall Street Journal

In some parts of the country, patches of lawn are peeking through mounds of snow. So we're preparing for one rite of spring: The quest to turn some noticeable brown spots into lush lawn.

For this task, we turned to professional lawn care companies -- both national and local -- to hear their plans for our yard. We were looking for personal attention and a customized plan to treat a few problem spots in our yard. We also wanted to explore options for organic lawn-care products.

About 25% of Americans pay for professional lawn care services, according to Bruce Butterfield, research director of the National Gardening Association. These companies specialize in periodic fertilizer applications, along with weed and pest control. Some also offer things like tree pruning, snow removal, mowing and gardening.

Many companies offer organic options to lawn care, but it can be confusing as to what that means. Organic fertilizers are available, but it can be more expensive. The options are fewer for organic weed and insect controls, so some lawn-care customers request a partially organic approach, with organic fertilizers and minimal amounts of synthetic weed and pest controls.

The five companies we contacted -- TruGreen, Lawn Doctor, Scotts LawnService, SavaTree and Second Nature -- said this is a good time for homeowners to do their research, because the first treatments in the Northeast are usually applied in late March or early April. Mr. Butterfield of the gardening association advised us to find a company that looks at the "lawn system" holistically, instead of "just doing the treatment, coming back in six weeks, and doing it again." So that's what we set out to do.

First we contacted TruGreen, a company we've used at our Connecticut home for the past seven years. The company has been responsive when we've had particular problems -- like those annoying brown spots, but technicians haven't suggested organic options or customized lawn care tailored to our problem areas. This year, our annual contract arrived in the mail with an option to prepay and get a discount. It was a nice option, but we would have liked some personal contact.

TruGreen is a national professional lawn care company based in Memphis, Tenn., with 278 locations across the country -- and more than 3.4 million residential and commercial customers. For our lawn, we were quoted a rate of $71.69 each for six fertilizer applications a year. The annual treatment plan also recommends grub and insect prevention, aeration and seeding to promote new growth, for an additional $448.26. In our area, TruGreen says, the application fee for its organic option is the same as for the non-organic blend, but that in other parts of the country, the organic option can cost as much as 60% more.

The TruGreen spokeswoman said fewer than 5% of its customers use their organic program nationally. "We're beginning to be able to communicate more with our customers on options for lawn care," she added.

The next national professional lawn care chain, Marysville, Ohio-based Scotts LawnService, gave us a proposal over the phone without seeing the property. A Scotts spokeswoman later explained that technicians typically don't visit a home to give quotes for seasonal applications, since the lot-size information is "easily calculated" using Google Earth and other online tools.

Based on Scotts' estimates, our professional lawn care treatment plan would consist of a first fertilizer treatment at $59.95, then four more at $97, plus a grub preventive at $205. Like TruGreen, Scotts has organic options, but we had to ask about them. Organic fertilizer treatments would start at $59.95, just like the fertilizers with weed control, but then would cost either $170.90 each (which includes pest control) or $143.40 (without pest control) for the four remaining treatments. The company says grub control is a non-organic treatment.

Overall, the company representatives were friendly and seemed informed about local conditions, but the process felt a bit bureaucratic, rather than personal.

The third national professional lawn care chain we spoke with, Lawn Doctor, offered the best combination of service and pricing of all the services we tested. The assistant general manager who came to our house was attentive and promised that his brother would be our technician. He stressed that the company was able to customize its products based on our lawn type and said it could use organic fertilizers for four of the six treatments. (The first two treatments are only partially organic because they include a weed killer.) He also said the treatments would specifically target problem areas for weeds and insects. The price: $70.55 each for six basic fertilizer treatments, with free service calls.

In our region, SavaTree, with 20 branches in eight states along the East Coast, has made a name for being green. Greg Huse, an arborist, came to our home and explained that his company offers fully organic and partially organic treatment plans -- in addition to traditional treatments that use weed and insect controls. Mr. Huse was the only lawn-care person we met who specifically raised the idea of treating different parts of our yard differently, pointing out that we should have "shade seeding" under a white pine in our backyard.

SavaTree's proposal was far more expensive than TruGreen's and Scotts', with an application costing $134. Add $476 a year for the aeration and overseeding treatment. But we really liked the personal attention. Mr. Huse also said he would take a free soil sample if we signed up with his company, which would help the company further refine our treatment plan.

Another call went to Stamford, Conn.-based Second Nature. This company's approach initially felt similar to SavaTree's, though they seemed particularly eager to provide a broader range of services, and stressed their scientific approach to the biology of the lawn. The company uses "synthetic control products" -- again non-organic weed and insect controls -- if the homeowner wants them. But the company says its emphasis is on making sure the lawn is healthy down to the roots and not just green on the top. To that end, technicians apply a special "compost tea" that is used to feed the lawn, says company President Jeffrey Thrasher.

We wound up requesting a proposal for Second Nature's basic professional lawn care service, as well as its property-management program, which includes everything from lawn care to snow blowing. The fertilizer applications came in at $116 each, less than SavaTree but significantly higher than the national chains. The lawn aeration and overseeding treatment came in at $735.

In the end, we were disappointed with the limited options for a truly organic lawn. And we were equally dismayed that no one who came to look at our lawn took a soil sample before giving us a proposal -- something Mr. Butterfield says would help lawn-care companies figure out what really should be put down on each lawn. Still, two of the companies -- Second Nature and SavaTree -- said technicians always take soil samples before starting to treat lawns. And Lawn Doctor said it takes soil samples when the customer requests it -- or when the lawn looks off to the salesperson or the technician.

New Lawn Mower? Wait For Your Tax Credit

Story from the Wall Street Journal

If you’re thinking of buying a new mower, trimmer or garden tiller, it might be worth waiting. Yesterday, three congressional delegates from Vermont introduced legislation that, if passed, would offer consumers a 25% tax credit up to $1,000 toward the purchase of environmentally-friendly lawn, garden or forestry power equipment.

The bill titled “Greener Gardens Act” (every pun intended presumably) is the brainchild of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and is designed to provide “immediate incentive for people to purchase clean, alternative fuel engines that…operate on little or no fossil fuel.” Qualifying equipment would include that powered by a motor drawing current from solar, electricity or rechargeable or replacement batteries, as well as equipment run off other alternatives to gasoline–such as propane or compressed natural gas. It would also include “hybrid” machines whose cutting systems are powered by a generator or electrical storage device combines with a small engine.

While such equipment is still not widely available compared to gas-operated machines, more well-known brands such as Troy-Bilt, Cub Cadet, Ariens, Husqvarna, and Black & Decker– among others–have been adding non-gasoline fueled products to their lineup in recent years. One notable constituent of the bill’s authors is Neuton Inc. of Vergennes, Vt., which makes battery-powered mowers (pictured here) and yard tools.

The bill was endorsed by the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute, a trade association, which says it will push for any final legislation to include provisions for the commercial market as well as for homeowners.

Tax credits are gaining fast traction as a way to help fuel President Barack Obama’s clean energy agenda. Right now, there are lucrative incentives in place for making energy-efficient home improvements. They include up to $1,500 in tax credits for adding qualifying windows, doors, insulation, roofs, heating and cooling equipment, water heaters and even wood and pellet stoves to your house in 2009 and 2010. Perks for installing pricier solar technology, small wind-energy systems or a geothermal-well system include a tax credit of 30% of qualifying expenditures with no upper limit through 2016.

Readers, are you investing in any energy-efficient home improvements or environmentally-friendly lawn equipment this year? Do these tax credits make such upgrades more appealing?