[Durham INC] How are your landscaping practices hurting your water resources?

[Melissa Rooney]

Hi all. Below is an email I sent to my neighborhood listserv this evening. Thought I'd save you all the trouble of writing a similar communication for your neighborhood listservs and forward you mine to edit as you see fit.

Thanks for getting the word out regarding the highly detrimental urban and suburban fertilization practices and the easy (and less expensive) ways these can be improved to improve the health of our plants while minimizing damage to our waterways.

Sincerely,
Melissa (Rooney)



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 Subject: How are your landscaping practices hurting your water resources?
 

  
Please have a quick read of the short  brochure available at:
http://www.co.durham.nc.us/departments/swcd/Documents/VNRPbrochure.pdf


This pamphlet contains information regarding how much fertilizer is actually required (and how much is wasted $ and wasted N that ends up in the waterways we taxpayers are paying to clean) for certain kinds of grass.

Please ask and ensure that any landscaping or lawn service you employ has been certified with regard to the Jordan Lake rules (that is, have attended one of the mandatory workshops available).  If they don't attend one of these workshops, they are doing business illegally in Durham.

In fact, please print this out and include it in any payments you make to any landscaping or lawn service that you employ.  All landscaping and lawn services are required to attend a workshop educating them on the fertilizing practices now permitted (or not permitted) under the Jordan Lake Rules.

For those of you who take care of your own lawns and landscaping. If you use any fertilizer, please read the pamphlet above as well. 

As briefly explained in the pamphlet, most people (even landscaping/lawn companies) waste as much as 50% of the fertilizer they use, and that 50% ends up in runoff that goes into waterways and water supplies. In addition, they often use twice(or more)the amount of fertilizer necessary for the health of their lawns/plants (in some cases, this is actually bad for the plants'/grass's health).

Durham taxpayers (county and city) are already paying fees (via their water bills) and will be paying increasing taxes to clean up Jordan Lake. But this will be pointless if we urban and suburban property owners continue to pollute the lake with unnecessary fertilizer practices.

I've been told that new development is required to allow only 3.6 lbs/acre/year of Nitrogen (most from fertilizers) in their runoff, but current fertilization practices by urban and suburban properties can amount to as much as 200 lbs/acre/year of Nitrogen.

I would be happy to look into arranging a neighborhood meeting with Durham Water Conservationist and Soil and Water Conservation District employee Mike Dupree to explain the information in this pamphlet and to give advice to our neighborhood/HOA board as well as private homeowners regarding how the best landscaping practices (including fertilization practices) for aesthetic lawns while minimizing stormwater problems and nutrient/nitrogen pollution in our waterways.

Please let me know if you are interested in such a meeting by responding to this email.

Thanks so much!







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