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GREEN LIVING BLOG

Are You Ready to Take the Good-to-Know Fall Yard Challenge?

COMMUNITY CENTERClean Water & WaterwaysYard & LandscapingOct 1, 2012Guest Contributor

Author: Guest Contributor

It’s fall and you know what that means… Time to get your lawn ready to weather the winter and come back strong and vibrant in the spring.

It’s time to get out the shovels, the rakes, the soil test kit, the… Wait… Don’t you know about testing your soil? You don’t know WHY you should do it? You don’t know HOW to do it?

There may be other important lawn care facts you don’t know, and that’s why we’re here to help!

So go ahead and put down that rake. Step away from the shovel. Before you do anything else, you need to take the GOOD-TO-KNOW FALL YARD CHALLENGE.

Challenge Question #1: Do you know what type of grass you have?

Before you fertilize, you need to know WHAT type of grass you have to know WHEN it needs to be fertilized. Not all grasses are on the same fertilizing schedule. Some like it in the spring. Some like it in the fall. KNOW YOUR GRASS!

 

Challenge Question #2: Do you know how to tell if your lawn even needs fertilizer?

Are you feeding when it’s not even hungry? How can you tell? GET YOUR SOIL TESTED. It’s easy, it’s enlightening and it can save you money and extra labor!

Learn more about fertilizing your lawn and soil testing.

 

Challenge Question #3: What happens when you over fertilize?

Your lawn can only absorb so much. And when done improperly, it doesn’t get absorbed at all. Where does that extra fertilizer go, you ask? Right down the driveway, into the street, into the storm drain, and DIRECTLY INTO OUR WATERWAYS. That’s right, my friend — directly into the areas where it fuels algal blooms, which kill off our fish, blue crabs and other aquatic life. And I don’t know about you, but I want a ready supply of delicious crabs to eat!

Challenge Question #4: How can you reduce the amount of fertilizer you’re using and avoid stormwater runoff issues?

This is an easy one… PLANT MORE PLANTS and reduce the amount of lawn you have to take care of. Many of the native plants that thrive on the East Coast are already water savvy. They’ve adapted to the local weather so they have lower water requirements, fewer pest problems and need less fertilizer than non-native plants. Learn more at PlantMorePlants.com

Are you ready to take this challenge to the next level? We hope so! Just follow these guidelines and help spread the word. It’s all Good to Know. And Good to Do!

 

More articles on the subject:

Plant More Plants
Native Plants — A Natural Winner

Guide to testing your soil

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