Mayfield Village Goes Green With Organic Lawn Care

Grass might only be material to walk and play on to some, but Mayfield Village has announced a new process to preserve its public green space.

The village will treat its fields with natural, organic lawn products instead of pesticides and herbicides. The practice began this spring, using the products and installation skills of Cleveland-based Good Nature Organic Lawn Care.

"They made a commitment to stop using lawn chemicals on six athletic fields, six acres and 50 grass areas," Good Nature CEO Alec McClennan said. "That's a pretty big commitment on their part."

The areas that will be treated include Mayfield Village's soccer fields in front of Progressive Insurance and The Grove, the site of a future amphitheatre.

McClennan said most people are treating green spaces with synthetic fertilizers that kill off soil organisms or pesticides that can present multiple health problems. The products Mayfield Village now uses from Good Nature are made from corn gluten meal and slowly feed the grass while preventing weeds.

"You're feeding the soil and the nice thing about it is you don't have to be worried about kids playing on grass that has been fed poison," McClennan said.

Good Nature has also treated green spaces for Solon, Beachwood, Chagrin Falls, Bath Township, the Cleveland Zoo and University Circle.

"This will be our first completely pesticide-free summer and we look forward to seeing the results," Mayor Bruce Rinker said in a news release.