Our interview with Kelly Giard of Clean Air Lawn Care was eye-opening and he left us with 3 invaluable lawn care tips that we wanted to highlight again.
His primary mantra sounds like common sense but is more difficult to achieve than you realize and that is to, fight weeds with a healthy lawn, not by spraying herbicides. It's so much easier to just dump chemicals on a lawn rather than take a little time and patience to help nurture your lawn the natural way.
1. Cut your lawn half an inch higher than you usually do (one or two notches on your mower wheels) and notice how much greener it gets, how fewer weeds there are, and how much less water it needs.
We're always inspired by entrepreneurs who see an opportunity that aligns with their passion and dive right in. Kelly Giard of Clean Air Lawn Care fits that description and has been recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine as a finalist in their Emerging Entrepreneur of 2009 contest.
Launched in 2006, Clean Air Lawn Care has become the nation's leading full-service sustainable lawn care company. Dedicated to using clean electric and biodiesel powered equipment for lawn mowing and landscape maintenance that is run on renewable energy. Their electric equipment is charged during the day by solar panels mounted on our trucks and overnight with wind power. For an industry that he calls the "dirty frontier" they are about as clean as you can get.
Kelly took the time to answer a few of our questions about the lawn care industry as well as offering some awesome tips for taking care of your lawn. He's also does a great job of convincing us to re-evaluate our stance on synthetic lawns.
C&H: What's your background and how did you get into the clean lawn business?
Kelly: I grew up in Walla Walla, WA and had my own one guy mowing operation with about 25 clients. I've always enjoyed the work - especially the immediate satisfaction of seeing your efforts in the finished product. I went off to Boston University and got a masters in Econ, but also picked up a bachelors in Environmental Analysis and Policy. After 8 years as a retail stockbroker in Fort Collins, CO, I was getting a little bored and so I started Clean Air Lawn Care out of my garage mostly for fun. I got lucky and business took off, I sold my brokerage business, and made the decision to go big with Clean Air. Clean Air is what I would call the wedding of my high school job, my environmental interests, and my experience in business.
We caught this week's episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! in which they dive into the American fascination with lawns. We thought it appropriate to share this with you since we recently highlighted artificial lawns (which Penn & Teller show aren't totally maintenance free).
Beyond the ridiculous HOA restrictions that some homeowners must deal with in regards to maintaining a proper lawn, the environment and health concerns for maintaining a lawn are raised. The D-4 poison is a major active ingredient in many lawn care products and was used in Agent Orange during Vietnam. D-4 has been known to cause cancer and is definitely nasty stuff. But this is still spread across lawns throughout the country with no thought of the harm it is doing to ourselves or the environment.
If you are going to maintain a lawn like many of us still do then please consider a responsible way to do this.
We love the smell of fresh cut grass like the next person and taking pride in a well manicured lawn is an accomplishment, but in the current age of water conservation there are alternatives to natural lawns that outweigh the real stuff in every aspect (except being alive).
Recently we spoke with Duane Ruth of SYNlawn which is one of the leading installers of high-quality synthetic grass. They've been in the business much longer than their competitors and have the jobs and reputation to back it up. They recently installed a commercial stretch of SYNlawn in Santa Monica which is notorious for having perfectly kept public landscapes that are always natural and thus take a lot of water. For all installations including commercial and residential they recommend a professional installation even for small jobs.
This week we're giving away TWO baseball caps from John Deere! Modeled above by Laura Dahl, these caps are mean and green and look great on a boy or girl in the country or city.
To win just leave a comment below stating if you do your own landscaping and gardening or hire it out and why. Two random winners will be chosen and announced Monday, March 9th, 2009. Please leave a valid email address as this is how we will contact our winners.
If you DO hire out the gardening because of outdated or wonky equipment, John Deere gives you no excuses.
We love dogs. In fact it's tough to imagine life without the furry creatures. But there are a few drawbacks, specifically to your outside landscape. Beyond the bad habits of digging, scratching, and chewing, all dogs must pee and hopefully they do it outside. Unfortunately the nitrogen rich urine will "burn" your lawn and you'll end up with dead brown spots across the yard.
If you've got urine problems inside here are a few more tips.
It's lawn week here and we've got a weekend project from Lifehacker that will help you transform your lawn mower from a gas guzzling, loud, and eco-impacting machine to one that is powered by the sun.
There is more to maintaining a lawn then just mowing it with an eco-friendly mower. Having lush and healthy grass isn’t just pretty; it’s good for the environment. Grass filters rainwater to prevent flooding, sponges up dust and soot, and helps to cool the area surrounding your house on a blistering hot day.
The July 2008 issue of ShopSmart, from the publisher of Consumer Reports, has the no-sweat (well, maybe a little sweat) plan to help you spend less time tending your yard and more time kicking back and enjoying it.
Tis the season to--mow the lawn. Though we may all be glad to see the gloomy days of winter go bye-bye, we also know its time to tend to the lawn. Popular money expert David Bach offers a way to save some money - and the environment - while you mow the lawn in his new book Go Green, Live Rich.
