Lawns, Gardens, & Water

"When they eat plastic for dinner, so do you." By Bob Gilbert, SGC Member, at Hopkinton's Art on the Trail, 2021

PFAS (forever chemicals)

As detected in 2022, some of Hopkinton's wells contain levels of PFAS that are higher than the state mandated level. Some private wells have also shown higher than recommended levels for PFAS. See Products for more information about the levels and what you can do.

No mow May and beyond

Not mowing your lawn in May has two key benefits:

• It allows more flowers for the bees and other insects at a time when they really need it.

• It leads to a stronger lawn that will require less watering.

This flyer provides more details.

Some side benefits are reduced carbon emissions from not mowing and a saving you some time!

After May, don't stop caring - there's more you can do! This is a great summary of what you can do. There are many resources on this page to help with any step you take. You can't do them all at once - pick something and try it.

Native and pollinator-friendly plants

If there aren't enough pollinators or they don't have enough food, we don't have enough food. Bees and other pollinators have faced declining populations due to habitat loss, non-native plants, and toxic chemicals. Here's some information on how you can help restore a sound pollinator population.

• An overview of pollinators in MA

• The plight facing pollinators - and us - it's Wikipedia, but it has great info and cites the source!

• What's being done in Hopkinton - adding multiple pollinator gardens

• What's being done in MA - the Beecology Project

• The Hopkinton Garden Club offers many resources regarding native plants and supporting pollinators - join or follow them!

Use pollinator-friendly plants and reconstruct yards to native habitats

• Weston rewilding - a native plant resource from Weston Nurseries, including sample garden designs for pollinators and more

• Mass Audubon tells you how

• Choose pollinator-friendly native plants in home gardening or landscaping

• Buying bee-safe plants

• Avoid using harmful pesticides like neonicotinoids - they hurt the bees and us too

• Why you might want to add a pollinator garden in your home space - Forbes magazine article, 2024

Using native plants

• Native Plants and Sustainable Gardening, by Peter Mezzitt from Weston Nursersies at the HCA's Art of Conversation Series - June 2, 2022, video by HCAM on YouTube

• Bringing Nature Home, and Nature’s Best Hope, books by renowned expert Douglas Tallamy

• Native Plants for New England Gardens, by the New England Wild Flower Society and a rich resource re: local native plants - the Native Plant Trust at Garden in the Woods in Framingham

• Native plant species from the program “Why Native Plant Landscapes Matter” by Claudia Thompson

• Pollinator friendly plants in the Northeast region

• A list of native plants from Dr. Geagear

• Apps for plant identification: PlantSnap, PlantNet, Seek (free), PictureThis, iNaturalist

• A story of one homeowner who went native - share your own experience with us!

Where to get native plants

• Weston Nurseries on East Main St. in Hopkinton - they have a native plant section, making it easy to find what you want!

• Native Plant Trust - order online

• Try a consultant - Edible Landscaping will help you replace your lawn with edible plants!

Organic lawn practices

Turfgrasses, like all other green plants, must carry on the process of photosynthesis in order to survive and grow. Close mowing reduces the amount of leaf area available for photosynthesis and in turn may reduce plant vigor. As cutting height is reduced, lawns become less tolerant of environmental stresses and more prone to invasion by weeds than lawns maintained at a higher cutting height.

The root systems of grasses generally become shorter and less prolific as cutting height is reduced. Although a closely cut lawn can be maintained successfully, the shorter root system will result in a need for more frequent watering and fertilization to compensate for reduced ability to obtain water and nutrients from the soil. Therefore, it is desirable to maintain your lawn at the highest cutting height that looks good and is acceptable for the intended use of the turf.

Do consider replacing parts of your lawn with native plants.

Tips for organic lawns

From the University of Massachusetts Amherst Extension Turf Program, NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association), Weston Nurseries, and more

• How to Mow Smarter

• Test your soil and here are five good reasons why your should

• Tips for fertilizers and pesticides

• Video - Organic management of natural grass

• Lawn Alternatives - by Weston Nurseries

• Neighborly, natural landscaping in residential areas

• A great resource from NOFA that pulls it all together - Introduction to Organic Lawns and Yards

Order seed online (just search for where to buy it and you'll see numerious places)

These may make their way into your lawn - keep them!

• Buttercups (Ranunculus acris)

• Crooked-stemmed aster (Symphyotrichum prenanthoides)

• Hairy beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus)

• St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum)

• White clover (Trifolium repens)

• Violets

Native grasses to replace lawns

Avoid using toxic pesticides

• The effects of 40 common gardening chemicals

• Avoid Round-Up and any treatments using Glyphosate - they can contribute to serious human health issues and you can encounter them by walking through areas treated with them, even bringing them into your home that way. This is a very popular weed treatment and due to the potential harmful effects, the manufacturer is the target of civil lawsuits. It was supposed to be voluntarily removed from the market in the US in 2023, but the manufacturer dropped that plan.

New York and Connecticut laws eliminate those pesticides marketed by the agrochemical industry and approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to kill dandelions, clover, grubs, and other ‘enemies' of farms, lawns, and gardens. 

Of the commonly used toxic chemicals listed on the ingredients label of your homeowner bought lawn and garden pesticide products,  2-4D, Dicamba, Paraquat, Glyphosate, Neonicotinoids, and Organophosates (i.e. Chlorpyrifos) some are banned in the European Union and/or listed by the World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer as possible human carcinogens.

Studies of commonly marketed neurologically harming pesticides such as organophosates and neonicotinoids used to impair insects have found they are contributing to the rise in autism and ADHD in children, as well as insect biocide, as covered in this article in The Intercept

Lawn care services that serve Hopkinton and purport to be non-toxic are Pure Solutions and Safer Lawns - note that the SGC has not vetted these services and would welcome feedback on how environmentally friendly they are in practice. Remember, less lawn and more native plants will always be better than maintained lawn, as described earlier on this page.

Mosquito and tick control

• You kills pollinators (bees) and other beneficial insects when you spray your yard to control mosquitos and ticks - this article describes why and some options, like clearing standing water

• If you don't want truck or aerial pesticide spraying at your residence, which the government conducts to help control mosquitos, you can fill out this form. The pesticides have some adverse affects on water, plants, humans, and other wildlife including bees. The effectiveness of the spraying compared to the ill effects is a main reason why some people choose to opt out of having their residences sprayed. You can see the aerial spray map plans here, once the updates are made for the current year: https://massnrc.org/spray-map/Region/List

•  You can learn more about the topic at these sites:

  • https://www.nofamass.org/massquito/

  • https://peer.org/massachusetts-concedes-aerial-spraying-ineffective/

  • https://www.mass.gov/lists/mosquito-borne-disease-educational-materials

Maintaining our natural spaces

Keeping our land green captures carbon from the air, houses wildlife, and provides a respite for us. These organizations work on the mission and are often looking for volunteers.

Town committees include: Conservation Commission, Open Space Preservation Commission, the Trails Committee, the Department of Public Works, Parks and Recreation, Lake Maspenock Weed Management & Control Advisory Group, and of course us - the Sustainable Green Committee

These are the private groups in town:

• HALT Hopkinton Area Land Trust - protects, conserves and enhances the town’s natural resources

• Hopkinton Trails Club - maintains trails in town, provides maps, and leads walks. Works in conjunction with the town's Trails Management and Coordination Committee.

• Friends of Whitehall - helps maintain the trails and waters of and around Lake Whitehall

• Lake Maspenock Preservation Association - enhances, preserves, and protects the quality of the lake and its watershed

• MetroWest YMCA - maintains wooded properties for members to use and has a pollinator garden

Some other regional groups also contribute to this effort in Hopkinton:

• Sudbury Valley Trustees - Whitehall Woods is one of the properties in town they support

• Mass Audubon - preserves the Waseeka Wildlife Sanctuary

• MA Department of Conservation and Recreation - maintains the three state parks here, Hopkinton, Lake Whitehall, and Upton

Sustainable Green Committee recommends alternatives to herbicides for treating unwanted lake plant growth and unwanted vegetation

In March 2024, the committee recommended that herbicides not be used on Lake Maspenock - read the full statement here, which includes a list of resources for further reading about the topic.

In December 2024, the Environmental Subcommittee of the Sustainable Green Committee issued this statement about the proposed use of herbicides to treat unwanted vegetation in town.