Here at the LGA we’re always encouraging lake-friendly landscaping. So what does mean for the average homeowner?
You can do your part at home and in your garden to keep the Queen of American Lakes looking her best. Here are a few tips to remember:
1. To keep stormwater runoff under control, minimize paved or impervious surfaces and
bare soil areas around your home. Consider installing a rain barrel (we have them for sale here at the LGA), permeable pavers (we have literature and demonstration materials on our grounds here at the LGA), a rain garden or native plants (several are also in full bloom right now here on the grounds of the LGA).
2. Rake or blow leaves, clippings, salt and sand away from paved surfaces, storm sewers, streams and the Lake. Leaves and clippings are loaded with phosphorus.
Keep metals, pesticides, pet waste, household cleansers, and automobile fluids from entering the Lake as well.
3. Pump out your septic system every 3 years. If you live in the area of Bolton, Diamond Point or Silver Bay within 500 feet of Lake George, you may be eligible for this summer’s half price septic pump-out program… give us a call!
4.To prevent polluted runoff, do not apply pesticides near wells, driveways, sidewalks and other impervious surfaces, and do not apply pesticides when heavy rains are expected or if the ground is already saturated.
5. Minimize areas of lawn by planting more native plants, which provide benefits for
water quality and wildlife. For areas of lawn you wish to keep, take the necessary steps to keep it dense and healthy. A healthy lawn will reduce surface runoff and will filter and purify water before it enters the soil and groundwater.
Follow these tips from Dr. Frank Rossi of Cornell Cooperative Extension:
• Weigh how much time, energy and money you want to spend on lawn care with what the lawn’s function will be. A plot of green lawn so the kids can play ball makes sense. Large expanses of turf that exist only to be mowed, probably not.
• Grow the right type of grass. (Tall fescues and fine-leaf fescues, not Kentucky blue grass. Tall fescues have deep roots, tolerate shade and tolerate high foot traffic.)
• Do not apply fertilizer before Labor Day. Avoid fertilizing if your lawn looks good, or if you fertilized last fall. Excess fertilizer in the early spring promotes top growth at the expense of root growth.Nitrogen is all that grass needs to achieve dense vegetation. (Potassium can lead to an abundance of dandelions.) New recommended concentration
levels are lower than before: 3/10 – 5/10 lbs per 1000 square feet. (NOT what the fertilizer bag says.)
• Leave legumes, like white clover, in your lawn to add nitrogen, naturally.
REMEMBER… It is now illegal to apply phosphorus fertilizer in the village and town of Lake George. (And the LGA recommends that only phosphorus-free fertilizer be used anywhere in the watershed.)
