Spring Tips
Spring has sprung! Yards are being mowed, and gardens are being readied for planting. While all of these activities are signs of the season, the City of Groveport needs your help in managing the quality of stormwater entering our streams and rivers through the City's municipal storm sewer system.
Fertilizer Application Best Management Practices
The following guidelines should be followed when preparing and handling chemicals:- Consider having the soil tested before applying fertilizer in order to determine what nutrients must be added.
- Avoid application over impervious surfaces. Sweep granular fertilizer back onto the grass to prevent it from washing into the storm sewer system.
- Apply when sufficient calm, dry weather is in the forecast to prevent drift and wash off. Lawn fertilization programs should begin in fall, not in spring; this will prevent shallow root growth. Tree and shrub fertilization programs should occur in late fall or early spring when the plants are dormant.
- Do not apply to bare or eroding soil.
- Do not apply near water systems such as streams, lakes and ponds unless the product is specifically designed for use in shoreline or aquatic environments.
- Do not apply near wells.
- Do not over fertilize. Too much nitrogen will cause plants to grow shallow roots creating a less hardy.
- landscape (e.g. especially bad for athletic fields and parks) that requires more watering. Healthy trees and shrubs do not require annual fertilizing.
- Consider causes such as poor soils, insects, disease, or current weather patterns before applying fertilizer as a remedy for poor growth.