Oklahoma City asks residents to lighten up on fertilizer
With spring here, many Oklahoma City residents are turning to fertilizer to grow lush, green lawns. Unfortunately this stimulant can impair the health of the City’s lakes and streams when it’s allowed to wash down neighborhood storm drains.
“Local studies indicate that many homeowners unknowingly over apply fertilizer on their lawns,” city environmental protection manager Raymond Melton said. “This can lead to polluted waterways.”
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 100,000 miles of rivers and streams and close to 2.5 million acres of lakes and reservoirs in the U.S. have poor water quality because of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution.
Nutrient pollution is one of Americas most widespread, costly and challenging environmental problems. Too much nitrogen and phosphorus in the water causes significant increases in algae, which harms water quality, and decreases the oxygen that fish and other aquatic life need to survive.
Other helpful tips when fertilizing
Use the results to identify your lawn’s needs to maximize productivity and identify deficiencies. Adjusting your soil pH and fertilizer application will result in a healthier lawn.
and wet the ground using controlled watering. to reduce drift, sweep any excess fertilizer out of the street and back into your grass. from sidewalks and driveways to reduce fertilizer and pesticides attached to the clippings from blowing into the storm drains or washing away during the next rain.
Overwatering can increase the nitrogen loss by five to 10 times compared to slow delivery rates.
• Consider mulching to reduce the need to fertilize. Grass blades decompose quickly and can contain about 4 percent nitrogen, 1 percent phosphorus and 2 percent potassium.
exposed to rainfall or runoff.
grass.
not
such as buffalo Improperly disposed plant materials can cause serious water quality problems and may clog storm drainage.
at the Household Hazardous Waste Facility, 1621 S Portland Ave.
FROM STAFF REPORTS