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Reduce runoff and trap pollutants with a healthy yard!
Use
care when gardening to protect streams, rivers, estuaries, and coastal
waters.
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Urban and Suburban Lawns
Keep fertilizer off paved surfaces! Water that moves
into storm drains dumps directly into streams. Fertilizers, oil, and
weed-, insect-, and fungus-killers can all move into our waters through
the storm drain system.
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If fertilizer lands on concrete, gutters, or any other
hard surface, be sure to blow or sweep it up immediately. Do not
blow or sweep soil and materials into the storm drain. |
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Fill or empty spreaders on your grass, garden, or
natural areas. This keeps the fertilizer off hard surfaces. |
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DO NOT apply fertilizer to frozen ground or
dormant turf. |
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DO NOT use fertilizer as a de-icer. |
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Lawn Fertilizer
Excess nutrients can damage the waters of North
Carolina. Make sure you apply only the fertilizer you need.
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Test your soil first! Get a soil test kit from
the Guilford County Cooperative Extension Service at the Agricultural
Center. (Click here for directions to the Ag
Center or click here for
the number of the Telephone Hotline.) The kit includes
instructions. The soil test is provided free of charge by the
North Carolina Department of Agriculture to the citizens of North
Carolina. |
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Your soil test results will tell you how much
phosphorous, potassium, and lime that you need. Depending on the
history of the soil, you may not even need to apply these nutrients! |
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The
chart on Caring for Your Lawn will help you determine the amount
of nitrogen you need for the type of grass you are growing and the
time of application. |
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Control Erosion
In North Carolina, sediment is our biggest water quality
problem.
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Well managed lawns control soil erosion. |
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Bare spots in lawns should be reseeded or sodded. |
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Exposed soil in garden areas or natural areas should
be covered with some type of mulch, such as straw, grass clippings,
pine straw, pine bark, or leaf litter, especially during winter and
just after tillage. |
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Watering
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In dry spells, allow an established lawn to go
dormant, but water every 4 to 6 weeks. |
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If you want a non-dormant lawn, then water when the
grass looks blue-gray and you leave footprints on it. |
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Water in the early morning to discourage
disease and to increase watering efficiency. |
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Water slowly. Wet the soil to a depth of 4 to 6
inches. |
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Avoid water runoff from the lawn. |
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Avoid light, frequent watering. |
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Back to Top
Most of the information presented on this web page is from Bulletin AG-597 published by the
North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service in June 1999.
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