Alexandria
Charles Beatley Library Rain Garden
How Does Lawn Care Affect Water Quality?
Proper lawn care is an essential part of protecting our local water quality and the health of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. Fertilizers contain nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) that may contribute to algae blooms and fish kills in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Plants can only utilize a certain percentage of applied fertilizer, and the excess fertilizer washes away with the rain into neighborhood streams. When streams have increased nutrient loadings, plants and algae grow above normal population levels. They block sunlight when growing and absorbing great amounts of oxygen when decaying; thereby decreasing available oxygen for fish and other aquatic life. To avoid the financial and environmental costs associated with water pollution related to over fertilization, there are several steps that Alexandria property owners can undertake. Pesticides and herbicides used on lawns can wash off in the same manner. These chemicals indescriminantly kill beneficial plants in our streams, the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. They also kill small bugs (benthic macroinvertebrates) that have aquatic larval stages and fish in the food web.
What can you do to help?
The best way to prevent pollution is to become educated about fertilizer use and proper lawn care. Here are some helpful ways to properly maintain your lawn in an environmentally friendly way.
-
Test your soil
-
Do not fertilize if it isn’t necessary
-
Select a fertilizer that has little or no phosphorous and approximately 60% of nitrogen in slow-release, water insoluble form
-
Fertilize during the dry season
-
Avoid spreading fertilizer onto paved areas
-
Read instructions on how to properly apply the product; avoid over fertilizing
-
Light watering of fertilizer will facilitate plant root absorption
-
Ask your lawn care company to fertilize with care and use environmentally friendly products
For more information on how to responsibly tend your lawn and garden, please visit the links below.
Places to Know
- Eco-City Alexandria Initiatives
- Jerome “Buddie” Ford Nature Center
- Virginia Native Plant Society
- Alexandria Farmer’s Markets
- Build Your Own Rain Barrel Workshop