McFall and Berry is committed to environmentally friendly landscapes and sustainability practices. We have been utilizing sustainable methods for healthier landscapes day-to-day for over 20 years.

We recycle all organic debris and take it to a private recycling facility in Maryland. Once this debris is decomposed and processed, it is reused in mulch and topsoil.

Lawns are mowed at a minimum height of 3 inches and our mowing equipment are all mulching mowers to allow us to return the nutrients in the grass clippings to the turf. We replace all equipment 4 years old and older. All mowing equipment older than 4 years was traded in and new equipment purchased. This new equipment not only allows us to be more efficient but also reduces carbon emissions, saves fuel and reduces noise.

For several years now, it has been our practice to mow the leaves into the turf until the accumulation necessitates pick up and removal. This way, we can return the valuable nutrients from the leaves back into the turf areas and recycle the leaves on-site. Our mulching mowers are very efficient at doing this so we can avoid pick up and removal from the area. Once accumulation is too much for the mowers, we remove the excess leaves and recycle them at one of our three McFall and Berry production locations.

It is our standard practice to use organic-based fertilizers and we’ve done so for over a decade. Currently, we use the lowest recommended rate of fertilizer for a non-irrigated lawn. Organic-based, slow release fertilizers feed lawn and plants evenly over a period of time with less fertilizer runoff into our watersheds. We spot treat weeds with a non-selective herbicide and do not blanket spray entire lawn areas.

McFall and Berry has always practiced the integrated pest management (IPM) method of pest control. IPM is an effective, environmentally friendly approach to pest management. It relies heavily on inspecting the landscape for insects or pests and only treating the plant material that have an unacceptable level of harmful insects. This approach significantly reduces the amount of insecticides introduced into the community and the environment. The majority of our IPM treatments are insecticidal soap or horticultural oils.

The proper mulching of a community plays and important role in keeping a community green, keeping the plants healthy, and minimizing fertilizer and insecticides used.

Whenever possible, we try to select native plants or a species of plants that are disease resistant and low maintenance.

We reduce plant pruning and clippings by judiciously applying fertilizer only at the right time as well as adjusting our pruning practices to thin and maintain plants. It reduces the quantity of clippings for disposal, and then we recycle the clippings, when possible, by mowing them into the turf areas when the clippings are small enough to do so. It allows us to reuse the nutrients and recycle the plant clippings on-site.

We are committed to complete our services in the most environmentally friendly way possible.