By Kris Johnson, Iowa City
As spring showers us with blossoms and pleasant breezes we all have the choice to plant and maintain nature in our yards. Some suggestions at the goodneighboriowa.org website show us how we can practice nature-friendly practices to protect children, pets and people.
And two books at the Iowa City Public Library tell us of the wonderful results for nature when we plant native, not alien exotic plants. Most insects won’t eat alien exotic species of plants. So if the insects vanish, so does the food source for birds and other animals. Anyone can turn their yards into conservation areas with beautiful native species. And we are told that it is easy and can be gradual. These two books have practical, effective and easy suggestions that anyone can use. They are Bringing Nature Home and Nature’s Best Hope (a New York Times bestseller). They are written by Professor Douglas W. Tallamy of the University of Delaware. Happy Spring!
Kris Johnson is a member of Good Neighbor Iowa (headquartered at University of Northern Iowa) and 100 Grannies, a local environmental group.
By Bernie Leopold, Iowa City
In agreeance with the April 18 letter to the editor by Linda Quinn & Mary Dix advocating for natural lawns
This group of pesticide/fertilizer manufacturers are urging farmers to write their legislators in support of their lobby against laws that would limit application of their products. Most of us are aware that over-application is already the rule, never the exception.
I urge all your readers to respond as they suggest, only append — as I have — as a lead-in, and as an ending summary comment, verbiage that suggests our lawmakers create regulations that, in fact, DO limit application of these products to only the amounts prescribed by ISU agronomists, and never, ever closer than 50 feet from a headwater tributary or main stem streambed.
