Where does all that fertilizer go?

If your plants don’t use it, it washes away and ends up in the local streams, rivers and lakes. Most of us don’t intend for our fertilizers to become water pollution, but it can happen to even well meaning gardeners.

Fertilizing your yard is a common spring activity, but did you ever stop to think about why you fertilize or how much you should use? Excess fertilizers and other lawn care chemicals can end up in our water. Anything that you use in your yard that plants don’t use and isn’t held by soil particles can wash away. Rain water and irrigation will take these excess materials directly to the nearest creek or stream where they are pollutants.

Your yard may not need any fertilizer at all! Mature trees and shrubs rarely need fertilizing. If they are growing well, have good color, and seem to be thriving you don’t need to add fertilizer. Applying extra fertilizer may make your plants grow too fast. You may have to prune them more frequently and these plants will need more water too, which is an important consideration during our recent droughts. If the plants look nice and are growing well, why ruin a good thing?

Flower and vegetable gardens will need fertilizer to look their best. Using a slow release fertilizer is ideal. These kinds of fertilizers release nutrients slowly allowing plants to use them over time. Faster acting fertilizers can be carried off with rain or irrigation if the plants don’t use them. Fertilizer that ends up in the stream or lake is water pollution, and is a waste of your money too. Follow the following links for information about how much fertilizer your vegetables and flowers need: Vegetables and Flowers.

What about your lawn? Lawns do benefit from fertilizing, especially when they are young. It is recommended that you fertilize your fescue lawns 3 times a year, once in September, November, and February. Fertilizing at these times is when your lawn will use it and benefit the most. Fertilizing in the spring and summer can lead to overly lush lawns that are susceptible to disease and not hardy enough to withstand drought. Use slow release fertilizers on your lawn also. Leaving your grass clippings on the lawn can reduce the lawn’s fertilizer needs by 30%. For more detailed information about lawn care see Carolina Lawns.

Think before you fertilize this spring. Remember that excess fertilizer is washed away and eventually ends up in our water.

Let’s all be better stewards of our environment.