Making Your Lawn Green for Less Money Source Reduction Grant, US - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Making Your Lawn “Green” for Less Money

Source Reduction Grant, US EPA #X9-96479407-0

April, 2009

Louisville Water Company – Louisville Metro Government

Source Reduction Grant

US EPA #X9-96479407-0

Louisville Water Company and the Metro Government has been awarded a grant from the Pollution Prevention Division

• f the US EPA to study

methods of:

Reducing lawn chemical usage,

air emissions, and energy costs by using native grasses, trees, and flowering plants.

Make Your Lawn “Greener” for Less Money

Common Buckeye butterfly

• n Aromatic Aster

Wellhead Protection Plan

The Source Reduction

Grant is a part of the Wellhead Protection Plan.

Wellhead Protection is a

plan designed to protect the groundwater that is a part of the supply of drinking water, from potential contamination.

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Riverbank Filtration Well, B. E. Payne Plant

Priority Area, WHPA

The priority area is based on

the location of the current Wellhead Protection Area.

While the educational materials

will be made available throughout the US EPA’s Southeast Region, educational materials target the priority area.

The WHPA includes

approximately 900 homes and 250 businesses.

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Groundwater & Surface Water Protection

Why is it important to protect both the groundwater and surface water?

Groundwater and surface water

contribute to the overall environmental health of a region.

By reducing/preventing potential

pollution, you protect the environment in which you live, and well-being of every person in the region.

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Healthy wildlife is an indication of a healthy ecosystem.

Guidebook for Homeowners

A guidebook has been developed for the homeowners in the WHPA. The guidebook encourages the use of:

Native species in the lawn and garden; Integrated Pest Management; and Best Management Practices--

to reduce the potential for pollution, conserve energy, and promote environmental health.

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Guidebook for Homeowners

The guidebook will help the homeowner:

• Select native plants

and design a garden

• r plot;
• Identify and combat

weeds and other unwanted plants;

• Identify and combat

pests; and

• Identify beneficial

insects and wildlife.

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Rose Verbena is a hardy native

• wildflower. It also makes a beautiful

groundcover with just 3 plants...

Native species are defined as

those growing in Kentucky prior to the introduction of alien species by colonists.

The guidebook includes a brief

discussion of the various native wildflowers or grasses, and a picture to help with planning and identification.

The Purple Coneflower, (Echinacea purpurea), is a popular native species, often found in many nurseries.

Guidebook for Homeowners— Listing of Kentucky’s Wildflowers

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Species included within

the guide were selected based on their availability for purchase by the average homeowner living in Louisville, KY.

Species shown are Little Bluestem, a native grass, and American Bell Flower, a native wildflower.

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Guidebook for Homeowners— Listing of Kentucky’s Wildflowers

Make Your Lawn “Greener” for Less Money

Guidebook for Homeowners— Listing of Kentucky’s Wildflowers

Each listing contains:

Common Name Scientific Name Picture of the plant Map showing range of the plant Height Soil, Sun, & Space Requirements Bloom Time Tolerances Color Wildlife Attraction Comments Aromatic Aster

Aster oblongifolius

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Guidebook for Homeowners— Listing of Kentucky’s Wildflowers

Wildflowers are grouped according to sun requirements:

• FS = Full Sun
• PS = Partial Sun, (afternoon sun)
• PSh = Partial Shade, (morning sun)
• FSh = Full Shade

Rue Anemone

Anemone thalictroides FSh-PSh

Arrow-leaved Aster

Aster sagittifolius PSh

New England Aster

Aster novae-angliae FS

Monarch Butterflies Wet, wooded areas

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Guidebook for Homeowners— Listing of Kentucky’s Wildflowers

Sky Blue Aster

Aster azureus FS

Foxglove Beardtongue

Penstemon digitalis FS-PS

Showy Beardtongue

Penstemon cobaea FS-PS

Butterflies LOVE blue and purple flowers!

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Guidebook for Homeowners— Listing of Kentucky’s Wildflowers

Wild Bergamot, (Monarda)

Monarda fistulosa PS

Black Cohosh, Snakeroot

Cimicifuga racemosa FSh-PSh

Eastern Blue Star

Amsonia tabernaemontana FS-PS

Attracts birds & butterflies

Guidebook for Homeowners— Listing of Kentucky’s Wildflowers

Make Your Lawn “Greener” for Less Money

Virginia Bluebells

Mertensia virginica FSh-PSh

Boneset

Eupatorium perfoliatum FS-PS

Cardinal Flower

Lobelila cardinalis FS-PSh

Many wildflowers that attract butterflies also attract long-tongued bees– good pollinators!

Butterflies & Moths

Guidebook for Homeowners— Listing of Kentucky’s Wildflowers

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Wild Columbine

Aquilegia canadensis FS-FSh

Sweet Coneflower

Rudbeckia subrtomentosa FS-PSh

Dutchmen’s Breeches

Dicentra cucullaria FSH-PSh

Save these seeds for Birds!

Guidebook for Homeowners— Listing of Kentucky’s Wildflowers

Make Your Lawn “Greener” for Less Money

Rigid Goldenrod

Solidago rigida FS

Goldenrod is NOT an allergen!

Wild Blue Indigo

Baptisia australis FS-PSh

Copper Iris

Iris fulva FS-PSh

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Guidebook for Homeowners— Listing of Kentucky’s Wildflowers

Joe Pye Weed

Eupatorium purpureum FS-PS

Large Yellow Lady’s Slipper

Cypripedium pubescens PSh

Turk’s Cap Lily

Lilium superbum FS-PSh

Do not harvest from the wild! Moist Soil

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Guidebook for Homeowners— Listing of Kentucky’s Wildflowers

Great Blue Lobelia

Lobelia siphilitica FS-PSh

Purple Milkweed

Asclepias purpurea FS-PS

Blue Mistflower

Eupatorium coelestinum FS-PS

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Guidebook for Homeowners— Listing of Kentucky’s Wildflowers

Creeping Moss Phlox

Phlox subulata FS

Good groundcover!

Meadow Phlox, Wild Sweet William

Phlox maculata FS-PSh

Rose Mallow

Hibiscus moscheutos FS

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Guidebook for Homeowners— Listing of Kentucky’s Wildflowers

Shooting Star

Dodecatheon meadia FSh-PSh

Sundrops

Oenothera fruiticosa FS

Tickseed Sunflower

Bidens aristosa FS

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Guidebook for Homeowners— Listing of Kentucky’s Wildflowers

Erect Red Trillium, Wake Robin

Trillium erectum FSh-PSh

Repels wildlife! Toad Shade Trillium

Trillium cuneatum FSh

Twinleaf

Jeffersonia diphylla FSh-PSh

Good groundcovers under trees!

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Guidebook for Homeowners— Listing of Kentucky’s Wildflowers

Rose Verbena

Verbena hastata FS-PS

Giant Sunflower

Helanthus angustifoliius FS-PS

Good groundcover!

Wild Pink

Silene caroliniana FS-PSh

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Guidebook for Homeowners—

Listing of Kentucky’s Native Grasses

• 1. Native grasses are being

crowded out by exotic, invasive grasses, and eaten by wildlife to endangerment because they are more nutritious.

• 2. They may be used as a

dramatic planting, to add variety to a flower garden, or in meadows.

Big Bluestem – Andropogon gerardi Many native grasses are an attractive addition to a lawn.

Want to attract wildlife to your yard? Plant some native grasses!

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Guidebook for Homeowners—

Listing of Kentucky’s Native Grasses

Bottlebrush Grass

Elymys hystrix FSh-PSh

Giant Plumegrass

Saccharum giganteum FS

Fox Sedge

Carex vulpinoidea FS-PS

Native grasses also attract birds to your yard!

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Guidebook for Homeowners—

Native Plants for Landscape Use

A listing of all the native plants, (from the USDA and US Division of Forestry), is also available in the

• guidebook. Use this list when

shopping for native plants from general nurseries– but be careful! Make sure to purchase native plants by the scientific name, not the common name!

Flowering Dogwood

Cornus florida

Homeowners can purchase

native plants from local nurseries, or grow their own from seed. Most native plants listed are perennials, which return every year.

The Guidebook has a listing

• f many of the Native Plant

Nurseries in KY. There are several local nurseries that specialize in native plants!

The Salato Wildlife and Native Plant Center, in Frankfort, Kentucky, provides native species available for purchase by homeowners during their annual spring, summer, and fall plant sales.

Guidebook for Homeowners—

Native Plant Nurseries

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Guides to many unwanted plants were also prepared to alert the homeowner to exotic, invasive species, as per the Kentucky Plant Council.

Queen Anne’s Lace, (Daucus carota), is a common invasive, exotic species brought by the colonists to the Americas for medicinal

• use. The Kentucky Plant Council has

prepared a list of severe, moderate, and lesser threats to Kentucky’s ecosystems, which is included within the guide.

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Guidebook for Homeowners—

Exotic, Invasive Species

Make Your Lawn “Greener” for Less Money

Guidebook for Homeowners—

Exotic, Invasive Species

Kentucky 31 Fescue

Festuca elatior

Purple Loosestrife

Lythrum salicaria

English Ivy

Hedera helix

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Guidebook for Homeowners—

Common Weeds

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Blackseed Plantain Common Ragweed Crabgrass Curly Dock Purslane

Guidebook for Homeowners—

Louisville Unwanted Plants

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Bradford Pear Red Crabapple Scarlet Firethorn

Guidebook for Homeowners—

Toxic Plants

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Johnson Grass Pokeberry Poison Hemlock English Yew Dwarf Larkspur

A complete index of

native wildflowers, grasses, exotic invasive species, common weeds, and toxic plants is also included.

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Common Buckeye Butterfly on Joe Pye Weed, LWC Butterfly Garden.

Guidebook for Homeowners—

Index

A questionnaire, illustrations,

and guidelines have been developed to help the homeowner design and plant a wildflower garden.

Tables have been included

that describe the different species listed in the guidebook and their characteristics.

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Great Blue Lobelia, LWC Butterfly Garden.

Guidebook for Homeowners—

Garden Design

The garden design

section also describes how the homeowner can design a backyard habitat for wildlife– or select plants that repel specific wildlife, such as deer.

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Many homeowners enjoy watching wildlife in their back yard.

Guidebook for Homeowners—

Garden Design for Wildlife

The guidebook also discusses different kinds of pesticides:

Store it safely; Use it accurately by

calibrating your equipment;

Use it safely; and Dispose of it safely.

Wear protective clothing when applying pesticides.

Guidebook for Homeowners—

What You Need to Know-- Pesticides

For weed and grass control,

glyphosate is recommended for use by the US EPA, because it takes only 10 days for the chemical to become an inert substance in the

• soils. (Low carry-over). The

US EPA recommends that a 2% glyphosate mix be used to kill most weeds and undesirable grasses.

Glyphosate is sold under the brand name of “Roundup”, as well as other names.

Guidebook for Homeowners—

Integrated Pest Management

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Want to check the percentage of Glyphosate you are using? The pesticide bottle will list the percentage of Glyphosate in the liquid pesticide to be mixed. Use this formula to calculate the actual percentage of any pesticide you are using: %P = A/g X p

Where %P = Percentage of glyphosate used A = Amount, in ounces, of the pesticide used, per gallon g = one gallon of water, (128 ounces) p = Percentage of pesticide in the original solution used in the mix.

Guidebook for Homeowners—

What You Need to Know-- Pesticides

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Non-chemical controls are

• ffered as an alternative to

pesticide use.

Cultural controls are often a

way to prevent damage from wildlife.

Non-chemical and cultural

controls are listed in Chapter 10.

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Sometimes, the use of an

• wl statue can repel birds

from unwanted areas, such as patios and vegetable gardens.

Guidebook for Homeowners—

Integrated Pest Management

Make Your Lawn “Greener” for Less Money

Guidebook for Homeowners—

Integrated Pest Management

Many animals control pests in our yards– the Guidebook also contains Bat and Snake Identification Guides.

Big Brown Bat Gray Bat Kingsnake Ringneck Snake

Beneficial Wildlife

The guidebook also includes sections on the identification of:

Beneficial bugs, (butterflies, bees,

and other creatures that can be of benefit in the garden);

Benign bugs, (those that do no

harm, or are neutral to the garden environment); and

Pest bugs – those that can harm

humans, pets, wildlife, or plants,

• r can be a nuisance.

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The Assassin Bug eats pest bugs in the yard.

Guidebook for Homeowners—

Pest Identification

Guidebook for Homeowners—

Pest Identification – Beneficial Bugs

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Ambush Bug Cobweb Spider Six-spotted Tiger Beetle Ground Beetle Predatory Mite Damsel Fly

Guidebook for Homeowners—

Pest Identification – Benign Bugs

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Large Milkweed Bug Horsehair Worm Tree Cricket Katydid Carolina Mantid Hanging Fly

Guidebook for Homeowners—

Pest Identification - Pests

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Japanese Beetle Banded Ash Borer American Dog Tick Chigger Face Fly German Cockroach Mexican Bean Beetle

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Guidebook for Homeowners—

Butterfly Identification – Beneficial Bugs

White Checkered Carolina Fritillary Eastern Blue Orange Sulphur Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Red Spotted Purple

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Guidebook for Homeowners—

“Green” Lawn Care

“Green” Lawn Care includes the use of Best Management Practices in the lawn to reduce the potential for pollution, and to save money! For example: Putting grass clippings back on your lawn can reduce the need for fertilizers.

The over-use of fertilizers can damage or kill your lawn.

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Guidebook for Homeowners—

“Green” Lawn Care

Compost is a great ‘top dresser’ for lawns. Not

• nly does it help build up

the soil, but it acts as a natural fertilizer for the

• lawn. Have your soil

tested to see what it needs BEFORE applying chemicals.

Finished compost has an ‘earthy’ smell and is a dark color.

Make Your Lawn “Greener” for Less Money

Guidebook for Homeowners—

“Green” Lawn Care

• 1. Use the Guidebook’s tips
• n seeding, fertilizing,

mowing, and watering to save money and have a healthy lawn– one that helps the environment!

• 2. Aerate and de-thatch to

keep your lawn healthy.

• 3. Spot-treat weeds, rather

than apply a complete yard treatment.

Core aeration keeps the soil healthy.

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Guidebook for Homeowners—

“Green” Lawn Care

Select a lawn grass based on your needs– high traffic, shade,

• r low maintenance. Or use a

groundcover instead of grass for a beautiful, less maintenance lawn. Remember that “Low Maintenance” does not mean “No Maintenance”– but it does save time and money!

Tall Fescue is recommended as a low maintenance grass for lawns with full sun.

Make Your Lawn “Greener” for Less Money

Thank you for your participation!

Marsha Meyer, Wellhead Protection Coordinator 502-569-3600, ext. 1809 mmeyer@lwcky.com

Source Reduction Grant, Year-end Report – July 30, 2008

Spread the word! Guidebooks are available!