Home and Yard Pollutants

As the growing season draws to an end and we put away our gardening equipment, it’s also important to store any remaining pesticide products properly to prevent contamination and maintain product effectiveness for next year. But even more important, being careless with pesticide storage is an open invitation to disaster, in the form of a pesticide poisoning or spill which could contamination ground or surface water.

When we think of stormwater runoff we often think of rain. Snow melt during winter can also become stormwater runoff and carry pollutants to surface water. During winter the ground is usually frozen and melting snow cannot infiltrate into soil as a light rainfall will do. Depending on the amount of snow, this can lead to increased runoff during winter.

Leaves. Useful to the tree. Great for jumping in. Not much fun to clean up. Find out what you should be doing with those fallen leaves to let them help you and your landscape in the long run.

Caring for a lawn and landscape is a lot of work! Mowing, fertilization, seeding and weed control in a lawn, along with planting, pruning and pest management in trees and landscape areas requires more time than many homeowners have available or the equipment to accomplish. Plus, the identification of weeds and pests often needs a professional’s knowledge. If you would rather not perform any or all of these tasks, you have the option to hire a professional to do the work for you. How can you evaluate services offered by professionals or hire a good professional to work in your landscape? Below are two important aspects of professionalism to be aware of when hiring a landscape professional.