New 'Green-Zone' Is A Landscaping Model To Be Envied And Copied

LARCHMONT, NY — The first day of fall this year coincided with Climate Week and it was an appropriate day for a community hard-hit recently by an all too frequent example of extreme weather to celebrate a first-of-its-kind milestone in sustainable park management.

Local elected officials, first responders and municipal workers still struggling to recover from the effects of Post-Tropical Cyclone Ida gathered at Kane Park in Larchmont to inaugurate the first ever American Green Zone Alliance (AGZA) Green Zone-certified municipal park. The designation was cited as proving that even large properties can be well-maintained without the use of fossil fuel-powered equipment.

Pollinators large and small paid no attention to the speeches about the benefits of sustainable landscaping practices on display, but the successes are becoming apparent. (Jeff Edwards | Patch)

Larchmont Mayor Lorraine Walsh told those gathered that the recent devastation from the remnants of Ida was not only a powerful warning that climate change is increasingly becoming an emergency, but also that the problem needs to be addressed locally. She referenced plastic bag bans which are becoming the rule rather than the exception, noting that those restrictions started as local ordinances.

“Larchmont is proud to be a leader in municipal green policy," Walsh said. "It is essential that we rapidly change our practices in order to make meaningful progress in mitigating climate change.”

Inviting bluebirds to stay can eliminate the need for harsh pesticides. (Jeff Edwards | Patch)

Larchmont has already passed a unique local ordinance, effective January 1, that entirely bans the use of gas-powered leaf blowers and restricts the use of electric leaf blowers to spring and fall clean-up periods. The village is emphasizing sustainable landscaping further by encouraging mulch mowing, forgoing chemical pesticides and fertilizers and using native trees and plants in landscaping municipal properties.

Kane Park earned the Green Zone distinction, in part, by committing to not use fossil fuel-powered equipment to maintain and landscape the grounds. The all-electric mowers from Mean Green appear to be more than up to the job of keeping the park perfectly manicured and perhaps more importantly, healthy and sustainably managed.

"Larchmont is leading by example and improving the quality of life for village residents," AGZA founder Dan Mabe said congratulating the village on earning the certification. "AGZA looks forward to expanding Larchmont's Green Zone areas and working together to reach out to private gardeners with education and information on how to reduce gas use."

Landscapers for Village of Larchmont parks were all too willing to let members of the public test out the new all-electric tools, but those who read Tom Sawyer were careful to leave some trimming for the professionals (Jeff Edwards | Patch)

Using Larchmont as a model, Sustainable Westchester has vowed to work with its other member municipalities to roll out program education and information in order to develop additional Green Zones and reduce pollution from landscape maintenance. The group notes that each Green Zone provides an essential framework of sustainable landscaping practices that can be copied and adapted across the entire county.

“We congratulate Larchmont for their commitment and hard work in creating Westchester's 1st certified 'AGZA Green Zone' that will serve as a countywide model for sustainable and healthier landscaping practices," Sustainable Westchester's Neha Dhanik said. "We are proud to have played a role in helping to facilitate this initiative with the Larchmont community and our partners AGZA and Quiet Communities. The Larchmont Green Zone is another example of the important work by Westchester municipalities and their dedicated environmental committees and volunteers. We look forward to using this model to help lead the way to greater adoption countywide.”

If the goal is to grow initiatives like the one on display at Kane Park, the fruits of that labor are already bearing fruit. The Larchmont-Mamaroneck Healthy Yards Project already works to help educate homeowners in both communities about sustainable landscaping projects. Rye officials issued a proclamation, both congratulating its neighboring village and promising to put a similar initiative in place.

County officials said that all licensed landscapers are now required to review and acknowledge training materials on the benefits and cost savings associated with sustainably powered equipment. The Westchester Parks system is currently testing electric equipment for their own landscaping use.