Keeping Fertilizer in its Place
Lee County’s fertilizer ordinance is designed to keep lawn and landscape nutrients from ending up as runoff in our area waterways. One of the ways it does that is by regulating where fertilizer can be used.
Components of fertilizer, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, promote the growth and greening of lawns and landscapes. They also promote the growth of harmful algae when fertilizer is captured in rainwater runoff and is flushed into back bays, estuaries and the rivers.
“My lawn is beautiful because my next-door neighbor has a service that flings fertilizer way into my yard,” said Tom Becker, Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Extension agent for Lee County. “Over time, his water has worked through the whole side of my yard. That’s another example of how fertilizer can get into places you didn’t intend.”
To prevent fertilizers from becoming a pollution problem, here’s where they cannot be applied:
— Fertilizers cannot be applied on impervious surfaces, such as roads, sidewalks and driveways. Accidental application or spills of fertilizer on one of these surfaces must be cleaned up and removed before it is captured in runoff.
— Fertilizers cannot be applied within 10 feet of any water body, seawall or wetland.
— Grass clippings and vegetative trimmings cannot be swept into ditches and drains or onto roads and sidewalks. Left on your lawn, grass clippings help return nutrients to the soil. Allowed to sweep into waterways they could provide nutrition to harmful algae.
“Spreaders do a much better job of preventing fertilizer from being applied in the wrong place — sidewalks and roads or ditches and canals,” Becker said.
Applied the proper way and in the proper places, fertilizer can help grow green lawns and landscapes without creating a nutrient pollution problem in area waters.
With these regulations, Lee County asks the cooperation of lawn and landscape professionals, homeowners and homeowner and condo associations, to “Do Your Part: Fertilize Smart.”
For more information on Florida Yards & Neighborhoods and classes for homeowners as well as professional landscapers, visit http://lee.ifas.ufl.edu/fyn/fynhome.shtml or call 239-533-4327.
For details on the Lee County fertilizer ordinance and tips, visit www.FertilizeSmart.com.
Source: Lee County