Tip of the Month
Rethink your lawn
- Grasscycle. Grasscycling is the practice of leaving grass
clippings on the lawn. Regular grasscycling releases nutrients
back into the lawn and reduces the need for fertilizers.
- Use organic or slow-release fertilizer – if any at all. Fertilize
only if a soil test indicates a need or if you lawn is looking
extra pale even after the soil warms in the spring. Fast-release
fertilizers are more likely to run off your lawn into waterways
after a rain. A healthy lawn is a light meadow-green color. A
blue-green lawn indicates excessive nitrogen use. This leads
to more growth on the top of the grass at the expense of the roots. A
poor root system can make your lawn more vulnerable to disease
and pests.
- Water deeply but infrequently. About an inch a week is all
a lawn needs. Let lawn dry out between watering to encourage deep
roots that will withstand the stress of drought.
- Aerate, overseed and use compost. Older lawns can benefit
from a little extra help in late spring or early fall.
- Skip the weed and feed. Weed and feed contains weed killers
that may damage soil and lawn health, as well as pollute waterways. There
also is evidence that pesticides may harm humans, pets and wildlife.
Learn more about how to grow a great lawn http://www.healthylawns.org/how/
Do The Right Thing
"When rain and snow melt runs off rooftops, yards, paved streets, highways, and parking lots it can (and does!) pick up pollution such as: oil, fertilizers, pesticides, soil, trash, and animal waste. From here, water flows directly into our local streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands or travels into storm drains and pipes and is eventually released untreated into our local waterways.
The Do the Right Thing outreach campaign identifies simple things we can do to keep our rivers and streams healthy. Check out the local resources and short videos presented by Bruce Sussman, KOIN meteorologist, and Do The Right Thing!
|