The Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy (MRC) has released public notification of a lawn fertilization survey it will conduct, in addition to other outreach efforts concerning the use of fertilizer and nutrient loading in our rivers:
This spring MRC is embarking upon a behavior change campaign to encourage and hopefully convince our citizens and communities to reduce or abstain from fertilizer use on lawns. In order to intelligently advance this effort, we hope to better understand the various motivations behind fertilizer use. We are undertaking a study into the motivations that underlie lawn fertilization. If we understand the reasons why people fertilize lawns, perhaps we can better develop a campaign to change that behavior.
Over the summer MRC will conduct a number of surveys and moderate a series of community focus group sessions, delving into the question of why people apply lawn fertilizer. We will also be conducting dozens of personal interviews. Anyone interested in participating should contact Elle O’ Brien: elle@midshoreriverkeeper.org. Or if you would like to take the survey on-line, go to the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/lawnfertilizersurvey
We welcome your input.
In the meantime, please keep in mind that our rivers need relief from nutrient loading. Reduce the size of lawns and the amount of fertilizer applied. Replacing turf with warm season grasses and native plants benefits our streams and will aesthetically enhance your views. Fertilize judiciously, if at all. Allow your lawns to brown up in summer, their natural course. Help educate friends and neighbors. After all, our lawns don’t produce food. Our rivers do!
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.