What To Do Around the Yard for a Healthier Lake

1. Get a soil test and follow its recommendations for fertilizer use. Most lawns don't need fertilizer, and whatever excess is applied ends up in the water, feeding algae growth.
2. Use compost and mulch to fertilize and hold water. These products release their nutrients slowly, providing long-term feed for your lawn and garden.
3. Landscape with native groundcover and shrubs instead of lawn. Plants naturally adapted to local conditions require less maintenance and fertilizer.
4. Choose drought-tolerant and pest-resistant plants. This minimizes the need for pesticides and excess watering.
5. Tolerate some pest damage in my lawn or garden. Non-toxic insecticidal soaps, dormant oil sprays, and "helpful insects" such as ladybugs can help keep pests at bay just as well.
6. Avoid using pesticides and herbicides on your property. Pesticides and herbicides kill beneficial organisms as well as bothersome ones. When it rains, they wash into storm drains and streams.
7. Leave grass clippings on the lawn. Grass clippings and other organic matter provide natural slow-release fertilizer and improve the lawn's ability to hold water.
8. Maintain a vegetated buffer along the stream, river or lake if you live along a shoreline. Buffer strips shade the stream, filter runoff, stabilize stream banks, prevent erosion, and provide habitat for animals.
9. Avoid over-watering. Excess water runs off the lawn into the storm drain system.
10. Re-seed thin areas in your lawn. Planting bare soil prevents erosion and sedimentation of water bodies.