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Our Environment Begins With Your Yard
What you do in and with your yard can end up outside your yard -- in your
neighbor’s yard, in the storm drain or stream, and eventually in the ocean. If
you multiply what you do in your yard by the number of people on the block, in
your town, or in your state, the yard starts to look like everybody’s business.
The environment really does begin with your yard!
A clean, well-maintained yard looks good. Those
who pass by may comment on how beautiful your yard looks, how the neighborhood
seems like a great place to live, and how the property values are enhanced by
appearances. Those around you are proud to have you as neighbors. The plants in your yard and your neighbor’s yard, in
the woods down the street, in the public park next door, all give off oxygen
to help us breathe. They keep the air fresh and clean. Also, plants help to
cool the environment by providing shade. Ground covers and other plants hold your soil
in place. The soil doesn’t wash away, doesn’t flow into your neighbor’s yard,
doesn’t clog storm drains and streams, and doesn’t carry along pesticides and
nutrients that pollute the water. Your yard can be home to many birds, butterflies,
and animals that are interesting to observe and can help control pests.
Not all soils are created equal. Soils have characteristics that make them
different and affect their suitability for various uses. Knowledge of soil types
and their features can help you solve current problems and avoid future ones.
- Texture - Soil particles vary from coarse to fine, and are classified as
sand, silt, or clay. The percentage in each soil determines its texture. Soil
texture influences other soil properties such as how readily water moves through
the soil and its ability to hold moisture for plant growth.
- Slope - This is the
inclination or steepness of the land’s surface. Land disturbance that is planned
with the slope of the land in mind can prevent erosion and reduce costs.
- Depth
to Water Table - How high the water table rises and how long it stays there will
affect what can be done on the soil. A high water table soil can lead to wet
basements, cause septic systems to fail, and restrict landscape plant selection.
- Depth to Bedrock - The depth from the soil surface to bedrock influences a
soil’s potential uses by restricting or increasing the cost of construction.
- Things You Can Do - Learn more about the potential for different uses on your
property in a soil survey report. A soil survey is an inventory of the soils of
a particular region. It includes soil maps showing the location of the dominant
soils and the descriptions and interpretations of the soils.
Soil erosion is the process by which rainfall and moving surface water
dislodge and carry soil particles, organic matter, and plant nutrients with
them. Erosion around a home not only causes damage to your property and nearby
roads, but also affects water quality in ponds, lakes, or streams. Muddy water
flowing in your driveway, ditch, or onto the road following a rain indicates that
erosion is occurring.
Sedimentation is the depositing of soil from muddy water.
The eroded soil stops someplace as sediment- filling ditches, streams, lakes,
and shipping channels at considerable cost to taxpayers. The best way to reduce
sedimentation is to control erosion by using vegetative cover, or applying stone,
straw, and fabric filters to trap soil particles. In larger flows, water is held
in temporary storage basins until most of the soil settles out of the water. Here
are some things you can do:
Keep the soil covered. Bare soil is the primary cause
of erosion. Plant grass or other vegetation to protect the soil from the impact
of raindrops and to hold the soil in place. Mulch bare areas with straw, grass
clippings, stones, wood chips, and other protective cover. Vegetated and mulched
areas increase soil infiltration, reducing erosive runoff water.
Control
concentrated flow. Watch the flow of runoff water during storms. Areas
of concentrated flow on slopes should be protected by keeping the channel in grass
on gentle slopes and lining the channel with stones or pavement on steeper slopes.
Building terraces across the slope will help to divert water away from slopes. Use
splash blocks at gutter outlets.
Select plants that grow well in the local
areas and are suitable for the climate conditions in your yard, such as shaded or
sunny areas and wet or dry soil. Plant ground covers in shaded areas where grass
is difficult to establish and maintain.
You have a direct link from your property to nearby lakes and streams. The
path of water running off sidewalks and driveways goes through street gutters
and storm sewers into a nearby stream, lake, or wetland. The muddy water runoff
joins with other runoff, and at times results in damaging floods further
downstream.
By-products of our everyday life, such as motor oil, antifreeze, road salt,
soil, pet waste, fertilizers, and pesticides can get into water and affect its
quality. Keeping storm water runoff clean reduces the pollutants that enter the
public water supply. Here are some things you can do:
- Sweep fertilizer, soil, and lawn clippings off driveways and walks back
onto the lawn.
- Dispose of pet wastes by burying or flushing down the toilet.
- Keep gutters and storm water inlets clear of trash, lawn clippings, and
leaves.
- Contact your municipality for proper disposal instructions for hazardous
materials such as pesticides, auto fluids, and household cleaners.
- Plant trees, shrubs, and groundcover to help rainwater soak into the
ground.
- Limit the amount of paved surfaces on your property. Instead, use porous
pavements such as bricks, interlocking blocks, gravel, or porous asphalt.
Building roofs, concrete, and blacktop have total runoff.
- If concrete or blacktop are used, grade it so runoff flows to the lawn.
Gravel filter strips and trenches may also be used along a driveway to
increase infiltration, but will increase groundwater contamination if oil,
salt, antifreeze, and other materials are left on the driveway.
- Maintaining a green lawn requires care and time. Concern for the
environment has led many people to turn to more environmentally safe lawn care
practices. Using organic fertilizers can help reduce the amount of nitrogen,
phosphorus, and potassium reaching local streams. Organic fertilizers contain
the same basic plant nutrients as chemicals, but they take longer to dissolve
and will stay in the soil longer. Here are some things you can do:
- Test the soil for alkalinity or acidity (pH). Lawns like a balanced pH for
growth. Lime the lawn if it is too acidic. One application lasts for several
years.
- Use environmentally safe and non-chemical ways to control pests. Only 1%
of insects are bad for lawns and gardens; the rest are beneficial. Pesticides
kill them all.
- Use plants that need little fertilizer or pest control such as ferns.
- Consider growing clover in the lawn. It is hardy, stands up to wear, and
produces nitrogen needed by other lawn grasses. Clover, however, attracts
bees.
- Mow the lawn no shorter than 2” in height. Remember, root growth equals
the height of the grass. Mowing close decreases root growth. Good maintenance
is essential to a growing lawn.
- Leave the clippings on the lawn (they are rich in nitrogen).
- Water once a week, if needed. Grass requires about an inch of moisture a
week. To check amount of application, leave a pail in the area covered by the
sprinkler. Use drought tolerant grasses.
- Fertilize in October or November to promote root growth and early spring
growth. Do not fertilize in the summer or when the ground is frozen.
Some plants naturally repel insects. These plants have their own chemical
defense systems. Planting them among desired flowers and vegetables help keep
unwanted insects away. Following is a partial list of nature’s alternatives to
pesticides:
| Pest |
Plant Repellant |
| Ants |
mint, tansy, pennyroyal |
| Aphids |
mint, garlic, chives, coriander, anise |
| Bean Leaf Beetle |
potato, onion, turnip |
| Codling Moth |
common oleander |
| Colorado Potato Bug |
green beans, coriander, nasturtium |
| Cucumber Beetle |
radish, tansy |
| Flea Beetle |
garlic, onion, mint |
| Imported Cabbage Worm |
mint, sage, rosemary, hyssop |
| Japanese Beetle |
garlic, larkspur, tansy, rue, geranium |
| Leaf Hopper |
geranium, petunia |
| Mexican Bean Beetle |
potato, onion, garlic, radish, petunia, marigold |
| Mice |
onion |
| Root Knot |
French marigolds Nematodes |
| Slugs |
prostrate rosemary, wormwood |
| Spider Mites |
onion, garlic, cloves, chives |
| Squash Bug |
radish, marigolds, tansy, nasturtium |
| Squash Vine Borer |
cloves, onion, garlic |
| Stink Bug |
radish |
| Thrips |
marigolds |
| Tomato Hornworm |
marigold, sage, borage |
| Whitefly |
marigold, nasturtium |
Songbirds and other wildlife add much to the joy of urban, suburban, and
country living. Birds help reduce the insects that attack your flowers, gardens,
lawns, and shrubs.
Shrubs, trees, vines, and other plants offer a natural way to attract birds
and wildlife to your home site.
Wildlife likes diversity. Edges, the borders between open grass, trees, and
shrubs, are the favorite habitat for wildlife. Flowering shrubs, grasses, and
other plants provide berries and seeds for the birds. Taller and dense growth
offers protection to birds and small animals against predators. Plant a rich
intermingling of species, size, and shapes of plants.
Develop a plan for your yard. Wildlife need three things: food, water, and
shelter. Along with your personal ideas, consider soil, slope, drainage,
exposure, and climate. Added benefits occur where plantings provide beauty,
shade, soil stabilization, and runoff control.
Flowering shrubs that attract birds and wildlife include:
- American Cranberry Bush
- American Holly
- Arrowwood
- Red-Osier Dogwood
- Maple Leaf Viburnum
- Shadbush
- Hawthorn
- Highbush
- Blueberry
- Winterberry
Gardens enhance the environment and the quality of your life by providing
beauty, fresh vegetables, and recreation. By following safe environmental
practices, you can grow fresh, healthy food while satisfying yourself with a
rewarding summer hobby. Here are some things you can do:
- Plant your garden where the soil is deep and well-drained, sunny, and
level.
- Conserve water and reduce soil erosion by planting rows on the contour
(across the slope).
- Plant 3-5 rows of vegetables close together to reduce wasted space and
weeds. Consider raised beds when using this method.
- Conserve water. Over-watering washes away soil, nutrients, and pesticides.
Remember, too much water will seep into groundwater or flow into other water
supplies.
- Water late in the day or early in the morning to reduce evaporation.
Watering in the hot sun stresses plants.
- Add mulch around plants to conserve moisture, control weeds, and increase
organic matter. Mulch can be straw, compost, news-papers with soybean-oil
inks, or grass clippings (if they are free of pesticides and herbicides).
- Use plants that naturally repel insects from vegetables and flowers. Some
of the more common plants of this type are marigolds, garlic, onion,
nasturtium, geranium, turnips, and tansy.
- Avoid overuse of fertilizers and pesticides.
- Consider using a drip irrigation system for landscaping, vegetable
gardens, and fruit trees. Drip irrigation uses significantly less water than
conventional sprinkler irrigation methods.
- Plant food plots. Setup a strip planting of popular bird and wildlife
foods such as corn, buckwheat, and sunflower.
- Make cutback borders along woodlands. Cut your fireplace wood along the
edges of the woods. Cut trees over four inches in diameter in a strip 20feet
deep along the woods edge. The area will soon be filled with shrubs, vines,
and wildflowers.
- Establish open and grass areas. Wildlife likes a variety of cover. Mow
once or twice per year, but don’t mow during the nesting period for ground
animals (after mid-July).
- Plant a living fence or screen. Hedgerows increase wildlife numbers and
serve as windbreaks for your home or increase your privacy.
- Protect stream corridors. A vegetated buffer along streams and rivers
decreases bank erosion, keeps water temperatures cooler, traps and removes
sediment and nutrients, and provides food and cover for wildlife.
- Use small areas to provide needed food, water, and shelter for a variety
of birds and animals.
- Provide water in a birdbath. Frequently refill and clean.
- Use a bird feeder during winter and early spring when food is scarce.
Corn, sunflowers, and other grains also attract rabbits, squirrels, and other
small wildlife.
- Plant small shrubs and trees near buildings. They are good shelter for
birds and wildlife.
Contact your local NRCS Service Center.
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