Residential Water Use Lawns, Gardens & Landscapes

Home and Yard Pollutants

Water pollution can arise from a variety of sources. Soil, grass clippings, fertilizer, pesticides, paint thinners, and motor oil can pollute water if picked up by stormwater runoff. These pollutants can harm lakes, rivers and streams in many ways. Read on for more information on how our water supply can be polluted and how to do your part to keep it clean while maintaining your landscape. 

Using Deicers Safely in your Landscape

Deicing Salt
With winter in full swing, it is a common practice to use deicers on our sidewalks and driveways to prevent falling on ice. With deicing agents, we need to be careful to not harm our plants when we use them and make good choices on what we use.

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Safe Pesticide Storage

Pesticide Label showing Storage Requirements
As we move into winter, store lawn and garden pesticides correctly and securely. Read and follow the label for safety and to help prevent accidental poisoning or spills that could contaminate storage areas or water resources.

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Recycle Tree Leaves for Healthy Lawns, Gardens, and Water

Leaves on the ground

Freezing temperatures are ending the growing season and its time to do yard and garden cleanup to help reduce overwintering diseases and insects; and to reduce the amount of plant debris washed into streams, lakes, and ponds where they contribute to water pollution.

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Stormwater Runoff Issues from Landscapes

Rain water and irrigation go to the storm drain

Storm drains in some towns have markers that read “No dumping. Drains to waterways”.  These markers are part of the public education communities are doing to help protect surface water from urban run-off pollution.

Most residential areas are designed for rainwater to flow into the street and then into a storm drain. From there, it flows almost directly to a stream, river or lake, taking along what it picks up from surfaces it flows across.

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Summer Turf Fertilization

Turf strip

In the overall “holiday” turf fertilization schedule, where Arbor Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day and Halloween are indicators of good timing for applications to cool season turfgrasses (Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue, perennial ryegrass), early summer is a key timeframe for encouraging healthy growth.  When growing warm season turf species such as buffalograss and zoysiagrass, Memorial Day is perhaps the most important time to apply fertilizer, perhaps followed by a light 4th of July application if a lawn is thin or in need of recovery.

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