There’s nothing like the smell of fresh cut grass in the springtime…after a long winter we all seem to be longing for something green. Our lawns provide a place for recreation, but if not managed properly, they can cause problems for our local waters, and ultimately the Long Island Sound.
Perhaps you fertilize your lawn, but how do you know how much fertilizer to apply? The only way to know for sure if your lawn needs fertilizer is to get a soil test. You can bring a sample to UConn or any of the UConn County Extension offices- see instructions here. CLEAR also has taken guidance from UConn’s top turf researchers and provided a fact sheet to help guide overall fertilizer use on your property. If improperly applied, the nutrients in fertilizers (even organic ones!) can run off into local waters, and cause algae blooms and low dissolved oxygen, harming aquatic life.
Just like Chesapeake Bay, the Long Island Sound is a valuable economic and ecological resource (check out one of my favorite video clips from the Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts-this one is worth 30 seconds of your time!). The water quality of Long Island Sound has improved in recent years (check out the summary here). Let’s help to continue the positive trend for the Sound!