1. Water your lawn no more than 1 inch per week. Use a rain gauage to keep track. Lawns that turn brown and dry during the summer are only dormant and will green up when it rains. Basically a brown lawn in summer is just a dormant lawn. It is not dead! (and you save water, electricity and money by leaving it alone!)
2. For the healthiest lawn possible set your mower blade to the highest setting.
3. Reduce your fertilizer use, and use organic, slow release fertilizers. (One of the best is home made compost! Go to the Bristol transfer station for free fabulous compost.) At first glance, your yard might be the last place you would look for pollution sources to the Bay. However, manicured landscapes — if improperly managed —can have a harmful effect on the health of salt marshes and water quality. Excess fertilizer and pesticide run off from your yard can flow directly to the Bay. This runoff ends up over-fertilizing the Bay and contributing to those smelly, summertime algal (seaweed) blooms. The algal blooms can lead to fish kills and also make the Bay less enjoyable for swimming.
The good news is that you can help! Whether you live inland or along the coast, by following these Bay-Friendly Yard Care Tips, your backyard can contribute to a healthier Bay.
http://www.savebay.org/Page.aspx?pid=1069
1 comment:
I wish more people would consider not fertlzing or chemically weeding their lawns. I would much rather protect the flora, fauna and children than have a perfectly manicured lawn. I just say that my lawn has "texture" if some one asks why my lawn isn't perfect!
Susan D
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