Waste Reduction/Recycling
Rye Sustainability Committee Head
Rye Students Get Scrappy!
Rye Students Get Scrappy!
Water/Land Use
Rye Sustainability Committee Head
Invasive Vines No Match for Rye Volunteers
Invasive Vines No Match for Rye Volunteers
Community Aware/Outreach
Rye Sustainability Committee Head
The Winners of the 2019 Environmental ...
The Winners of the 2019 Environmental Leadership Awards

Community Aware/Outreach

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Rye Sustainability's Healthy Yard Contest: We Have a Winner!

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Grand Prize Winner Liv McNamara's winning design.

Grand Prize Winner Liv McNamara's winning design.

The Rye Healthy Yard sign design contest is over and the winners have been announced. The Grand Prize winner is Liv McNamara. Congratulations Liv!

Visit the contest photo gallery to view all entries and watch Rye TV's coverage of the event.

Details about the age category winners can be found below, including more photos from the contest.

 

Visit the Rye Healthy Yard page to learn how you can make your yard safe and healthy. Then take the RHYP pledge so you can receive a lawn sign with the winning design!

Thank You!

Thank you to all those who helped make this initiative such a successful one:

Judges: Catherine Parker, Jennifer Sandling, Christine Siller, Tracy Stora, Danielle Tagger-Epstein and Mayor Joe Sack for announcing the winners.

Refreshments: Rosemary & Vine

Awards: Rye Arts Center, Arcade Booksellers and A.I. Friedman

And a special thank you to Rye Arts Center for graciously opening their doors to host this contest!

Contest Winners

Overall Grand Prize: Liv McNamara

Elementary School Category:
Winner: Mattia Gibbs
Honorable Mention: Julia Zanolin, Clea Rousse and Sofia Rodrigues

Middle School Category:
Winner: Geordy Varino
Runner Up: Rory Cronin
Honorable Mention: Reese Wolfe and Charlotte Lee

High School Category:
Winner: Charlotte Townley

Adult Category:
Winner: Sheri Amsel

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Announcing the Rye Healthy Yards Photo Gallery

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Have you wondered what it looks like to have an open space that’s free of toxic chemicals? Do you think you have to make a trade-off between beauty and safety? Check out RSC's new photo gallery of Rye families’ healthy yards to see stunning examples of how you can have both beauty AND safety. And maybe you’ll see your neighbor’s yard! Do you have photos to share? Contact us!

 

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It's Fall: A Perfect Time to Switch to Natural Landscaping

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Are you thinking about switching from conventional to natural lawn care but don't know how to make the transition? The fall season is a perfect time to make the switch and transform your yard into one that's healthy and beautiful for all.

 

What Does Healthy Mean?

First, it's important to understand why making the change is so important. It all starts with the definition of "healthy." A healthy - and by extension, beautiful - yard is one that starts with good soil.

Beyond Pesticides, a non-profit environmental organization committed to ending reliance on pesticides, states it clearly in their Organic Lawn Care 101 sheet: "Healthy soil contains high organic content and is teeming with biological life. Healthy soil supports the development of healthy grass that is naturally resistant to weeds and pests. In a healthy, fertile and well maintained lawn, diseases and pest problems are rare."

In fact, applying damaging and dangerous chemicals is the worst thing homeowners can do if the objective is a beautiful yard filled with vibrant plants, trees and a lush green lawn. As Rye Nature Center's Director of Conservation & Land Stewardship, Taro Ietaka, points out: "synthetic pesticides and herbicides kill beneficial soil micro-organisms that are helping your plants."

““Recognize that your soils are living and that you are the primary caretaker or destroyer of that living environment.””
— Dr. Kris Nichols, chief scientist at the Rodale Institute

In short: soil is living. And during the fall and winter, the diverse mix of organisms contained in soil continue to live. In a recent article on The Nature Conservancy's blog, Dr. Kris Nichols, chief scientist at the Rodale Institute comments: “Even when we think of our soils as frozen and dead, there’s still a living component to that.”

So now that you know why you should make the change, how can you care for your yard with the goal of minimizing pesticide applications? Here are some fall lawn care tips to get you started.

 

fall landscaping

General Tips

Beyond Pesticides' Organic Lawn Care 101 sheet provides a useful list of general tips, reproduced in part here:

1. Mow High Until the Season Ends – Bad mowing practices cause more problems than any other cultural practice. Mowing with a dull blade makes the turf susceptible to disease and mowing too close invites sunlight in for weeds to take hold. Keep your blades sharp, or ask your service provider to sharpen their blades frequently. For the last and first mowing, mow down to 2 inches to prevent fungal problems. For the rest of the year keep it at 3‐3.5 to shade out weeds and foster deep, drought‐resistant roots.

2. Aerate – Compaction is an invitation for weeds. If your lawn is hard, compacted, and full of weeds or bare spots, aerate to help air, water and fertilizer to enter. If you can’t stick a screwdriver easily into your soil, it is too compacted. Get together with your neighbors and rent an aerator. Once you have an established, healthy lawn, worms and birds pecking at your soil will aerate it for free!

3. Fertilize, but go easy and go organic! – Fertilizing in early fall ensures good growth and root development for your grass. Nitrogen, the most abundant nutrient in lawn fertilizers promotes color and growth. Adding too much nitrogen, or quick release synthetic fertilizers, will result in quicker growth and the need for more mowing. Too much nitrogen can also weaken the grass, alter the pH, and promote disease, insect, and thatch build‐up. If applied too late, nutrients can leach directly into nearby surface waters. Be aware of local phosphorus or nitrogen loading concerns. Your soil test results will ensure that you apply only what you need.

4. Overseed With the Right Grass Seed – Once again, fall is the best time to seed your lawn. Grass varieties differ enormously in their resistance to certain pests, tolerance to climatic conditions, growth habit and appearance. Endophytic grass seed provides natural protection against some insects and fungal diseases ‐ major benefits for managing a lawn organically. Talk to your local nursery about the best seed for your area. Check to see the weed content of the grass seed and that there are no pesticide coatings.

Leaf Mulching

What is leaf mulching? According to Leave Leaves Alone:

"Leaf mulching is the practice of chopping leaves into small pieces. Mulching can be done with a lawn mower or a leaf shredder. Mulched leaves can be left on your lawn (they fall between the grass blades) or piled 3" or 4"  deep on garden beds and around shrubs where they act as a protective layer in the winter and, in the growing season, prevent weed growth and help conserve water. Leaf mulch decomposes over time, adding important nutrients and structure to the soil."

To learn more about how you can mulch leaves in your yard this fall, visit the Leave Leaves Alone or Love 'Em and Leave 'Em sites.

Soil Testing

The benefits of soil testing cannot be overstated. It's simple to do and homeowners will be provided with a comprehensive profile of their soil upon which to build the foundation of their natural lawn. For a modest fee, Rye residents can have their soil tested and analyzed through the Westchester Cornell Cooperative Extension.

For more information on healthy soil and landscaping practices, watch RSC's What's Under Your Lawn presentation.

Visit our Rye Healthy Yard and Resources Section to learn more. And ...

Take the RHYP Pledge!

 

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The Beauty of a Healthy Yard II

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Rye resident Caroline Walker, has lived in her beautiful home for eight years with her husband, adorable twin boys and rescue dogs, Chipper and Trixie.

On a recent summer day, Chipper and Trixie took advantage of the Walkers' gorgeous yard to run, play and roll, ignorant of the knowledge that their beautiful play area is a healthy and safe space, free of toxic or synthetic chemicals. Landscape designer Peggy Pierce Peters, helped plan and design a completely natural outdoor living area for the Walker family.

What better gift for your family and friends - and pets! - than to create a natural sanctuary for all to enjoy?

Thanks to Geoff Tischman Photography for the three spectacular close-up photos of the dogs in the yard!

Visit our Rye Healthy Yard and Resources Section to learn more. And ...

Take the RHYP Pledge!

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The Beauty of a Healthy Yard

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Sustainability in Our Community

Rye resident Sonja Bartlett has lived with her family in Rye for over sixteen years. A professional photographer who has an eye for capturing the beauty of her surroundings, Sonja is first and foremost a mother who cares deeply about the safety and health of her children and numerous pets. Sonja shares shares her experience with transforming her stunning 4-acre home into a pesticide-free environment. With the help of landscaper, Cosimo Ferraro, the Bartletts discovered not only how effortless the change could be, but how their yard transformed into an even more beautiful outdoor living space.

This is the first of an ongoing series covering Sustainability in Our Community. We hope you enjoy and learn from your fellow Rye residents!

Making the Switch to a Healthy Yard

By Sonja Bartlett

This is not the yellow we want in our yard!

This is not the yellow we want in our yard!

It started with those little yellow signs that pop up all over town every spring like dandelions. You know the ones that read: “PESTICIDE APPLICATION - DO NOT ENTER” and “DO NOT REMOVE SIGN FOR 24 HOURS.”

As I ran past these tiny, yellow dire warnings all around my neighborhood, it got me thinking. What product is so dangerous that my kids and dogs can’t go on my grass for 24 hours? And where do these toxins actually go after a day? Our air? Our groundwater? Do we really need these chemicals to have a beautiful yard?

Well, this was 2003 and the word “organic” was not exactly part of our daily conversation. So I called my landscaper, Cosimo Ferraro to see what he thought.   Cosimo had been working on our yard since 1975, when he first moved here from Italy.  He said not to worry. Going organic was easy.

“It’s the way we’ve been taking care of the land for centuries back in Italy.”

I would be his very first organic yard customer. Exciting.

Thirteen years later, I decided it would be fun to check in with Cosimo again. He now has 20 clients who want organic landscaping, but it’s still only about 20 percent of his work.

“This is the business that I am in. People tell me they want a green carpet. I tell them, carpets are for inside the house,” jokes Cosimo, shaking his head.

You do have to start with your definition of beautiful.  We have been conditioned to want that proverbial green carpet golf course look, for sure. But let’s reset that definition of beautiful to mean natural looking. In our organic yard we have yellow, purple and white wildflowers, wild raspberries, mushrooms and even tiny scallions, which my kids love to dig up and eat. By skipping pesticides and chemical fertilizers, you get gorgeous, tasty diversity in your grass.

Instead of using herbicides for weeds, you have to aerate the lawn aggressively in spring. My kids say that the bits of soil that are left behind after aerating look like goose poops. Cosimo then seeds aggressively as well, so that new grass will grow in the turned up soil and squeeze out the weeds. Next he checks the Ph balance of the soil and decides if we need to add lime to balance it. Then he uses organic compost as fertilizer.

When it’s time to mow, he never cuts shorter than two inches. Many folks want that very short grass like a golf course. Longer grass uses less water and creates shade for the blades, which keeps weeds down, naturally. The clippings go right back onto the lawn, which works much better when you have longer grass. The clippings are your next natural fertilizer.

My gardner Cosimo is himself in a bind like many of us. As a professional landscaper, his own yard is his calling card. He admits to me that he still uses the occasional chemical in the front for that “perfect look.” But in the back, where his young grandson plays and he grows vegetables, he says there’s no debate. All organic.

Just something to think about the next time you take a walk through your neighborhood. Are you seeing lots of yellow? Let’s hope those bursts of yellow are dandelions and those scary little warning signs begin to disappear.

Visit our Rye Healthy Yard and Resources Section to learn more. And ...

Take the RHYP Pledge!

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Worms and Dirt Featured at Composting Workshop

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A large group of brave souls ventured out into the rain storm on Friday to learn how to compost from Rye Nature Center experts, Taro Ietaka, Courtney Rothaus and Annette Hein.

The workshop was part informative introduction and part therapy session to ease the fears of those who might be intimidated by the process. Inspired by Midland school's new composting program, Taro said he decided to organize a workshop to share his knowledge of composting with others in Rye.

Taro began by explaining the mechanics of composting - what to include, what not to include, optimum carbon/nitrogen ratios - and how to avoid some of the pitfalls of composting, chief of which is smelly, decomposing waste. He showed us how he stores scraps in the freezer before transporting them outside. He also provided examples of different kitchen compost collectors and bins.

Annette showed us some of the outdoor compost bins, explaining the pros and cons of each. She recommends at least two bins to store waste in different stages of decomposition.

Courtney concluded by presenting an alternative composting option: vermicomposting (or worm composting, in layman's terms). She described how, with minimal fuss and attention, specialty worms (red wigglers) can be employed to decompose home waste, including paper. With vermicomposting, no sifting or turning is necessary. Homeowners can purchase vermicomposters and worms online to begin composting at home.

Rye Nature Center executive director Christine Siller ended the presentation by stressing the important point that as a by-product of composting, we're helping to achieve a critical goal of reducing waste from the general waste stream.

An enormous thank you to the Rye Nature Center, the presenters, and Christine Siller, for organizing this informative event!

Check out our Resources page for more information on composting. Let's all start composting!

 

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First Rye Healthy Yard Speaker Series Event at Wainwright House

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If you missed the first event in the Rye Sustainability Committee/Rye Nature Center speaker series about the secret of healthy soil, here's the Rye TV coverage of the event.  It was an incredible turnout! Please join us at Rye Nature Center on May 6 for the next event, where we'll be learning how easy it is to compost. More details to follow!