Green Lawn Care

Maintaining Healthy Lawns, Shrubs, and Trees

Your lawn and landscape choices can have a big impact on supporting healthy water in our lakes, rivers and streams.  These practices can also improve the health and appearance of your grass, trees, and plants to keep your property looking great with less maintenance and lower costs.  

When large amounts of polluted runoff is sent into our lakes, river, and streams the water becomes unhealthy for people, plants and animals.  The chemicals in herbicides and pesticides, and the nutrients in fertilizers pollute our water when they’re washed from lawns and gardens into storm drains and roadside ditches.

Healthy and attractive lawns and gardens can be thoughtfully maintained without harmful chemicals to protect water quality.

  1. Healthy Lawn Care Tips
  2. Water Wisely
  3. Fertilizer
  4. Dangers of "Weed & Feed"
  5. Integrated Pest Management
  6. Chemical Pesticides

Healthy Lawn Care Tips

Mow High … Set your mower 3” or higher.  This promotes strong, healthy root growth, shades out weeds, and helps keep your lawn thick and healthy.

Mulch Grass Clippings … Leave clippings on the lawn to fertilize your grass naturally and help retain soil moisture.  Clippings break down quickly and do not cause thatch! 

Sweep it Back … Sweep or blow clippings back onto your lawn to keep them out of the drains and waterways.

Aerate Compacted Soil … This helps promote a dense, healthy lawn by improving drainage and increasing the water and oxygen that reaches grass roots.

Managing Thatch … Thatch builds up when there aren’t enough microorganisms in the soil to break down the woody remains of grass.   To support these healthy microorganisms, keep soil aerated and sprinkle compost over the lawn instead of fertilizing or using insecticides.

Additional Resources

How To Care Less For Your Lawn . . .And More For Clean Water - Huron River Watershed Council (HRWC) 

Healthy Lawn Care Tips - Southeastern Oakland County Water Authority (SOCWA)