Falmouth Friendly Lawn Campaign
On July 21, Falmouth Selectmen approved a voluntary program to reward organizations and individuals who agree to limit their use of fertilizer nitrogen. Volunteers will be recognized with a Seal of Approval Certificate that allows the volunteer to use the Preserve Falmouth Bays & Ponds logo [shown above] and the Falmouth Friendly Lawn brand in their publicity and other promotional materials. Curbing fertilizer use is critical to reducing the nitrogen pollution that is destroying our coastal ponds [the reverse side explains why nitrogen pollution is such a major concern].
A. To qualify, a volunteer agrees not to exceed certain established ranges of annual application of nitrogen fertilizer; the ranges reflect how the lawn or turf is actually used. How the lawn or turf is used determines how much extra nourishment it needs to stay healthy and resist weeds and disease.
Q. What are
the established ranges and who decides which range applies to a particular
lawn?
A. There are three ranges, as summarized below;
the volunteer makes the use designation:
Light Duty 0 to 1 lb N/1000 sq ft/yr Example: most home, business lawns
Medium Duty 1 to 2 lbs N/1000 sq ft/yr Example: lawn areas with heavy foot
traffic
Heavy Duty 2 to 3 lbs N/1000 sq ft/yr Example: golf fairways, 3-season
playing fields
Q.
Why characterize fertilizer as “extra nourishment”? What else supplies nourishment?
A. Recycled grass clippings and atmospheric deposition are natural sources of nourishment. Recycling grass clippings [left on the lawn] provides 1 lb N/1000 sq ft/yr. Atmospheric deposition [mostly rain] provides ¼ to ½ lb N/1000 sq ft, depending on how run-off is distributed on the lot. Many established lawns stay healthy from natural nourishment, alone --- they don’t need any fertilizer “extra nourishment” at all.
Q. What do the
references to “1000 sq ft” mean?
A. That’s the usual
measure of fertilizer usage. Fertilizer typically is packaged for 5000 sq ft of
lawn [or multiples thereof]; the bag weighs about 15 lbs and contains about 30%
nitrogen --- about I lb N/1000 sq ft.
Q. To obtain a Certificate, do I have to follow all of
the FFL-recommended lawn care practices?
A. Your formal undertaking is just the nitrogen limit based on the degree of use you designate. Still, we hope you will use all the FFL-recommended practices [recycle clippings, use slow-release nitrogen, limit any single fertilizing to 1 lb or less N 1000/sq ft, use mulching mowers set at 21/2 to 3” cutting heights, test soils and top dress for greater organic content of soils] to the maximum extent practical for your lawn because they make up an integrated program to help you minimize any “extra nourishment” needed.
Q. I support
Falmouth Friendly Lawns; how do I obtain a Seal of Approval Certificate?
A. You can
download the 1-page Application Form from the Ashumet Plume Citizens Committee
link on The Links page of the Town website [www.town.falmouth.ma.us]
or pick it up at the Town Hall reception desk.
Mail the Application to the address shown on the Form and you will be
contacted promptly by FFL.
Q. Who should apply for a Certificate?
A. For the next several months, the FFL
campaign will be contacting owners of sizeable and/or highly-visible lawns; if
you own such a lawn and have not heard from FFL by mid-October, please download
or pick up an Application and mail it to the address shown on the Form. Individual homeowners may mail in the Form
at any time to qualify for a FFL bumper/window sticker. Over the winter, FFL
intends to work with lawn service firms to help them fashion a Seal of Approval
program that they can offer their customers.
Q. How long is the Certificate good
for?
A. The normal term is 1 year, but volunteers
who join in 2003 will be issued Certificates good from the date of issuance
through December 31, 2004.
Applications to renew Certificates for calendar 2005 will be available
in the fall of 2004. Renewal requests
will need to include a report of actual fertilizer use in 2004
Water quality in Falmouth coastal ponds is being destroyed by nitrogen overloading. Research on Great, Green and Bournes Ponds in East Falmouth shows the extent of the problem. Except for areas immediately adjacent to Vineyard Sound, nitrogen concentrations range from 0.50 parts per million [ppm] to 1+ ppm at the Route 28 culverts. Salt ponds begin to die when nitrogen exceeds 0.50 ppm, which is why MASS DEP recommends a target of 0.37-0.38 ppm for the 89 coastal bays and ponds that make up the Embayment Project that comes to Falmouth this fall.
A. Nitrogen is a
nutrient; it causes algae growth, which uses up oxygen in the water, blocks
sunlight and kills off eelgrass, which adds to the nitrogen load and accelerates
more algae growth --- a vicious
descending spiral that eventually leads to fish kills and huge blankets of
algae scum.
A. There are
three main sources and they account for the following percentages of N-loading:
(1) septic systems, 50%; (2) fertilizers, 20%; and (3)
atmospheric deposition [mostly rain], 28%.
Q. Why not put
in sewers for the homes around the ponds; won’t that solve the problem?
A. Every home in the
watershed, and that area reaches north to Route 151 and beyond, leaches
nitrogen into groundwater from septic systems and lawn fertilizer; it just
takes longer to reach the coastal ponds.
There are about 7500 homes in the 3-pond watersheds, many, many times
the number bordering the coastal ponds, and it would cost hundreds of $
Millions to sewer them all.
Q. If the Town
could afford to sewer all those homes, would that solve the problem?
A. Unfortunately,
no. Even without any septic system impact,
nitrogen concentrations at buildout still would greatly exceed the DEP target
in most areas north of a band next to Vineyard Sound.
Q. How much of the fertilizer N-load comes from
properties like golf courses? Homes?
A. Collectively, home lawns cover a lot more
area than golf courses. Based on
research studies, home lawns contribute about 15% of the N-load compared with
about 5% for golf courses.
Q. How much fertilizer is used on the average home
lawn compared with a golf course?
A. On average, the fertilizer rate for a typical home lawn
is 2.5 lbs nitrogen per 1000 sq ft/year; 25% of that nitrogen reaches
groundwater and flows into the coastal ponds.
For golf courses, the average rates are 3.2 lbs N/1000 sq ft/yr and 20%
leaching [slower-release & smaller doses].
Q. If everyone signs up for the Seal of Approval, how
much nitrogen would be saved?
A. If golf courses trim or eliminate use of fertilizer outside of fairways, tees and greens, the overall average would be cut to about 1.5 to 2 lbs N 1000 sq ft/yr. In the case of home lawns, surveys tell us that about half of Falmouth homeowners use 0 to 1 lb N 1000/sq ft/yr, while the other half use 2 to 4+ lbs N 1000 sq ft/ yr. If all homeowners adhered to a 0 to 1 lb N standard, nitrogen pollution from home lawns would virtually disappear.
Q. Why greater percentage savings for home lawns
compared with golf courses?
A. Fertilizer is expensive and golf courses already target fertilizer usage to a considerable extent on the type of use their turf must support. Home lawns usually see light duty use, so there’s much more room to shrink fertilizer use on home lawns to the minimum necessary to promote healthy grass --- instead of “farming” grass like a cash crop with forced feeding and watering.
Q. What N rates do you expect for Town, business,
institution and church lawns?
A. For the most
part, those lawns see light duty use and we expect to see rates of 0 to 1 lb N;
exceptions would be sports fields or limited sections of some lawns that see
heavier uses.
To learn more about nitrogen pollution, please visit our
website by clicking on Ashumet Plume Citizens Committee on The Links page of : www.town.falmouth.ma.us
Application for Seal of Approval
Certificate
To apply for the Certificate and a license to use the logo
[shown above] and the Falmouth Friendly Lawn brand name as evidence of your
support for fertilizer conservation to protect Falmouth bays and ponds, please
describe the use of your turf or lawn area(s) and the annual amount of pounds
of nitrogen you undertake not to exceed in fertilizing the area(s) described:
Annual N
lbs/
Turf/Lawn Area Use [describe]: Size [1000 sq ft] per 1000 sq ft
Light
Duty [0 to 1 lb N/1000 sq ft/yr]:
Medium
Duty [1 to 2 lbs N/1000 sq ft/yr]:
Heavy
Duty [2 to 3 lbs N/1000 sq ft/yr]:
Established home and other lawns should be classified as
Light Duty, unless certain defined areas are subject to repeated and heavy foot
traffic --- which could be Medium Duty.
Heavy Duty applies to unique uses like golf fairways or 3-season playing
fields.
Any lawn or turf areas not yet established [“grow-in”] may
be excluded, as may some minor areas [less than 5 % of total area] with unusual
maintenance needs that exceed the Heavy Duty limit. If you do omit “grow-in” or minor areas, please describe them and
explain their unusual maintenance needs here:
I am aware of the FFL recommendations to
recycle grass clippings, use slow-release nitrogen, limit any single
application to 1 lb or less N 1000/sq ft, use mulching mowers set at 2 ½ to 3”
cutting heights, test soils and top dress for greater organic content of soils. Recognizing that those recommendations help
to minimize the need for any nitrogen fertilizer, I intend to follow them to
the extent they represent best management practices for my particular type of
property.
I also am aware that an application to
renew a Certificate must be accompanied by a report of actual nitrogen
fertilizer use [see attachment] in the year to which the existing Certificate
applies.
Thank
you for your interest in the FFL campaign and fertilizer conservation. Please keep this Form and Attachment for
your records and mail a copy of the Form to: Hila Lyman; Falmouth
Friendly Lawns; Falmouth Town Hall; 59 Town Hall Square; Falmouth, MA 02540.
Name: Title:
Entity: Properties
[if more than 1]:
Address:
Phone: Date:
The Seal of Approval program
encourages fertilizer conservation to protect Falmouth bays and ponds. To apply
for the Certificate and a license to use the logo [shown above] and the
Falmouth Friendly Lawn brand name, please describe the use of your lawn area(s)
and the annual nitrogen
application rate you undertake not
to exceed, except in highly unusual circumstances:
Annual
N lbs/
Turf/Lawn Area Use [describe]:
Size [1000 sq ft] per
1000 sq ft
Light Duty [0 to 1 lb N/1000 sq
ft/yr]:
Medium Duty [1 to 2 lbs N/1000 sq
ft/yr]:
Heavy Duty [2 to 3 lbs N/1000 sq
ft/yr]:
Established home and other lawns
should be classified as Light Duty, unless certain defined areas are subject to
repeated and heavy foot traffic --- which could be Medium Duty. Heavy Duty applies to unique uses like golf
fairways or 3-season playing fields.
Any lawn or turf areas not yet
established [“grow-in”] may be excluded, as may some minor areas [less than 5 %
of total area] with unusual maintenance needs that exceed the Heavy Duty limit.
If you do omit “grow-in” or minor areas, please describe them and explain their
unusual maintenance needs here:
I am aware of the FFL recommendations
to recycle grass clippings, limit any single application to 1 lb or less of
slow release N per 1000/sq ft, use mulching mowers set at 2 ½ to 3” cutting
heights, and test soils and top dress for greater organic content of soils.
Recognizing that these
recommendations help to minimize the
need for any nitrogen fertilizer, I intend to follow them to the extent they
represent best management practices for my particular type of property. I also am aware that an application to renew
my Certificate must be accompanied by a report of actual nitrogen fertilizer
use [see attachment] in the year to which my existing Certificate applies.
Thank you for your interest in the
FFL campaign and fertilizer conservation. Please keep a copy of this
Application and Report for your records and mail the originals to: Hila
Lyman; Falmouth Friendly Lawns; Falmouth Town Hall; 59 Town Hall Square;
Falmouth, MA 02540.
Name:______________________________________ Title:____________________
Entity:_______________________________________ Properties [if more than 1]:_________________________________________
Address:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone:___________________________________ Date:____________________________
Report
of Nitrogen Fertilizer Usage in 2004
Total Amount per
Amount1000 Sq Ft
[ ] Duty Classification:
Affected Area:
Fertilizer Application #1:
Date:
Fertilizer Description:
• Type [N-P-K]:
• Chief N Sources:
• % N Slow/controlled Release:
Lbs Fertilizer Used:
Lbs Nitrogen Used:
Fertilizer App. #2 [if it applies]:
Date:
Fertilizer Description:
• Type [N-P-K]:
• Chief N Sources:
• % N Slow/controlled Release:
Lbs Fertilizer Used:
Lbs Nitrogen Used:
Total 2004 Nitrogen Used:
Memo: 2004 Certificate: Date: N-Rate:
The following information is shown
on the fertilizer bag: type [% Nitrogen-Potassium-Phosphorous (K)]; chief
Nitrogen sources [e.g. 60% IBDU/40%
Urea] and % slow/controlled release, both shown in the “Guaranteed
Analysis” usually on the back of the
bag; weight of the bag [amount of fertilizer] and weight of Nitrogen [%
Nitrogen x weight of the bag].
Please enter applicable data in the spaces provided, together with the area
affected [in total and the number of
1000 sq ft, rounded]. If your existing Certificate lists more than one Duty
classification, please use one
Report page, marked appropriately, for each classification.
Property Name/Address:
Submitted by:
(title and date)
Contact Number: