Tips for smart environmental lawn stewardship

Going green in a home lawn-care program doesn’t have to be a daunting task. There are some easy, cost-effective steps homeowners can take to improve their lawns while enhancing the positive effects of lawn maintenance on the environment.

Rob Rogan, business director for Sta-Green lawn and garden products, offered some tips that are worth passing along to your staff and your customers.

• Select the proper fertilizer for your lawn. Most established lawns can use phosphorus that exists in the soil, so a phosphorus-free fertilizer is a good choice.

• Never apply fertilizer to hard surfaces such as sidewalks, driveways or streets. (Editor’s note: Duh!) Granular fertilizer that remains on sidewalks and driveways will be washed off of these hard surfaces by rainfall and into storm drains and sewers. Sweep or blow any fertilizer material that lands on hard surfaces back onto the lawn area.

• Don’t wash your spreader out over a hard surface. The small amount of fertilizer residue left in the spreader can be rinsed out over a corner of the lawn without blemishing the grass.

• Don’t blow grass clippings or tree leaves onto sidewalks or into streets Leaves from grasses and trees contain significant amounts of soluble nutrients that can be released into storm drains and sewers.

• Direct rainwater from gutters and downspouts onto the lawn area instead of directly onto hard surfaces. Leaves and flowering parts of trees contain significant amount of soluble phosphorus. When they fall onto rooftops and get caught in rain gutters, the phosphorus will leach out with rainwater.

• Don’t use “all purpose”-type fertilizers for lawns. Garden fertilizers are generally formulated with higher phosphorus for flowering plants and vegetables. Fertilizers designated as 8-8-8, 10-10-10 or 12-12-12 are examples of garden fertilizers. Typically, lawns do not need as much phosphorus as these provide.

-- Kevin