Environmental Tip #40

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This handout (Environmental Tip #40) explains that rain washes fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides into storm drains and ultimately the Corsica River, harming water quality, killing stream organisms, and causing algal blooms that reduce oxygen for fish. It advises homeowners to perform a soil test and adopt organic lawn and garden practices, and lists specific actions—don’t fertilize before rain, keep fertilizer off paved surfaces, use or make compost, leave grass clippings and use a mulching mower (cut one-third each week), maintain an unmowed buffer strip along waterways, and grow an organic garden—and provides the websites www.organiclandscape.org and www.corsicariver.com.

fertilizers pesticides stormwater Corsica River algal blooms soil test buffer strip organic garden

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ENVIRONMENTAL TIP #40
DID YOU KNOW that when it rains, the rain washes fertilizers, pesticides, and
herbicides into stormdrains, which ultimately carry runoff into the Corsica River? In
addition to degrading the water quality of our streams and rivers, pesticides can kill
critters in the stream and fertilizers can cause algal blooms, which rob our waterways of
oxygen that fish need to survive.
Many homeowners are unaware of the actual nutrient needs of their lawns. A soil test
should be performed to determine whether fertilizer is even needed. Organ lawn care
practices (no chemical pesticides and fertilizers) can be a wise environmental choice and
will save you money. Conduct a soil test on your lawn and follow the practices below to
reduce the need to fertilize on your lawn and garden.
(cid:1) Never fertilize before a rain storm (the pollutants are picked up by
stormwater during rain events).
(cid:1) Keep fertilizer off paved surfaces – sidewalks, driveways, etc.
(cid:1) Use commercially available compost or make your own using garden
waste.
(cid:1)
Let your grass clippings lay. Don’t bag the grass. Use a mulching
lawn mower to cut one-third of the blade length each week and
naturally fertilize your lawn in the process.
(cid:1)
Maintain a buffer strip of unmowed natural vegetation bordering
waterways and ponds to trap excess fertilizers and sediment from
lawns and gardens.
(cid:1) Grow an organic garden (no pesticides or fertilizers). Visit
www.organiclandscape.org
Always remember that what we do on land affects the Corsica River
and the Chesapeake Bay – www.corsicariver.com