When it comes to pesticides, we're cleaning up our act

If local nursery shelves are any indication, home gardeners in the Northwest seem to be using more eco-friendly yard products than ever.

Appropriate for Earth Day Sunday (and Earth Day should be every day!), the choice of "organic," "natural" or "least-toxic" products as fertilizers and pest controls is helping gardeners bring new care and awareness to their landscapes and everything living in them.

Observation — and a bit of anecdotal reporting — suggests that gardeners in the Pacific Northwest pay special attention to "green" gardening products and materials.

Erich Nordstrom, buyer at Swansons Nursery in Seattle, says he's observed in his travels across the country, "The further west you go, the more organic you get."

Nationally, surveys indicate that about 25 percent of gardeners choose products labeled organic; the percentages are probably higher here.

Nordstrom notes that Swansons' best-selling fertilizer is from an organic line, Dr. Earth.

Charlie Shull, of Shoreline's Sky Nursery, says his customers want less-toxic pest controls.

"It's becoming routine, more than it was five years ago," he said.

Shull noted that the greener choices in fertilizer are "a very strong trend" at Sky Nursery.

"With shelf space for organics and synthetics in fertilizer, we sell hands down more organics," he said.

Pest-control methods — whether the pest is weed, insect or disease — also boast an increase in the variety of products available.

Ask, read, learn

Defining vague terms such as "natural" or "organic" can be difficult, but reading labels carefully can help with selection. For instance, pest-management products may be biological — instead of using a synthetic chemical, the gardener selects biological control such as beneficial nematodes (for insect control).

Be sure to ask questions, read labels and learn from nursery personnel.

Shull notes that "people come here for the education — 60 to 70 percent of my job involves answering 'What shall I do?' In part, it's a trend because we choose to make it a trend and want to educate people to make less toxic choices."

Pesticide-free zone signs

Have you gone green? How can you display this in your neighborhood?

Once you've chosen to eliminate toxic chemicals from your lawn or garden, you can display a "Pesticide-Free Zone" sign. These cheerful, red ladybug-centered signs adorn institutions and private homes throughout Washington.

Earth Day 2007 celebrates the fourth anniversary of this program, initiated by the Washington Toxics Coalition.

Those displaying signs pledge to avoid using materials like weed and feed, pre-emergent weed control (such as Casoron) and toxic insecticides like Sevin or malathion.

Public or private institutions in the Pesticide-Free Zone program include the Port of Seattle (seaport), Lake Washington Technical College, Seattle University, The Evergreen State College, Covington and Bellevue Waterwise Gardens, Bastyr University and some Skagit County parks.

Once you've signed up to make your yard a Pesticide-Free Zone, participation runs on the honor system, according to Dr. Philip Dickey, staff scientist at the Washington Toxics Coalition. About 4,500 private gardens now have signs.

Posting the sign identifies you as someone neighbors can talk with about non-chemical choices. To learn more about the program, go online to the Washington Toxics Coalition Web site (www.watoxics.org) and click on the photo of the sign on the left side of the page.

Garden expert Mary Robson, retired area horticulture agent for Washington State University/King County Cooperative Extension, appears regularly in digs and in Practical Gardener in Northwest Life on Wednesdays. Her e-mail is marysophia@olympus.net.