Return to Table of Contents Keep your Lawn Healthy A properly maintained lawn looks beautiful and also helps protect water quality. Healthy grass needs less pesticide and will be better able to take up fertilizer, reducing the chance of pollutants washing through the soil and reaching our water supplies. Mow high and often. Leave grass clippings on the lawn. They add nutrients to the soil, lessening the need for commercial fertilizer.
Clippings also add organic matter, helping to reduce runoff.
Follow Virginia Cooperative Extension guidelines for fertilizer rates - more fertilizer is NOT better. For more information on selection, planting, cultural practices, and environmental quality, contact your local Virginia Cooperative Extension office , or view a list of other on-line publications in this series. If you want to learn more about horticulture through training and volunteer work, ask your Extension agent about becoming an Extension Master Gardener.