At a time when people worry about toxic chemicals in their food and in the air, they often overlook a source of toxins right in their own back yards. Literally. Yard care, the application of pesticides to make a lawn look greener and lusher, is a major growth industry. The number of lawn care companies in Maine has nearly tripled in the last seven years to 112 such enterprises today. The volume of chemicals applied to make the grass greener more than doubled between 1995 and 2001 when 1.8 million pounds were sold in Maine for home applications. During the same time, the volume of pesticides used by farmers and the timber industry declined from 3.9 million pounds to 2.9 million pounds.

While homeowners may protest the use of herbicides on blueberry fields or the spraying of pesticides on the forest, few stop to consider that the same chemicals they have applied to their yard may also end up in the water and could harm wildlife. Industrial pesticide users must use a technique called Integrated Pest Management. This means that they must first identify what the problem is – young hardwood trees crowding out spruce and fir trees or Colorado potato beetles eating young potato plants, for example. The first line of defense is to plant differently or to use nonchemical means, such as cutting, to attack the problem. Using chemicals is a last resort.

Not for many homeowners. Grass looking a little yellow? Pour on the “weed and feed.” Aphids attacking the garden? Exterminate them in a cloud of insect killer. This may not seem like an offensive move until one considers that thousands of neighbors around the state are doing the same thing. One result is lakes choked with algae growing rapidly thanks to the fertilizer running off shorefront lawns.

There are options. First, perceptions of a beautiful yard could change. Rather than prizing golf course-like greens of Kentucky bluegrass, homeowners could settle for heartier, if less attractive, grasses that are acclimated to the Maine climate and the specific conditions at your house. Not only will such varieties require less fertilizer and pesticides, they also take less water, a continuing concern as rainfall lags behind seasonal norms.

You can pick up a soil test kit from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension office in your area and the Maine Soil Testing Lab will send back a report detailing the levels of important nutrients in your soil and recommend a fertilizer formulation. Mowing grass to about two inches in height with a sharp blade will also result in a healthier lawn. Mulching mowers return the grass clipping, decreasing the need for fertilizers. And, those pesky dandelions? The energetic will take the time to pull them.

Another option: Large expanses of grass can be replaced with trees and gardens of native plants, which require less care.

A third choice might be to try out a hammock and stop worrying about how the lawn looks.