LAWN & GARDEN CARE

How we treat our lawns and gardens also affects the health of our lake. If you have no shoreline vegetation, runoff from your yard goes directly into the lake. Even if you do have shoreline vegetation fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides from your lawn can affect the lake.

The major factor that causes algae blooms and other problems in Florida lakes is excess phosphorus. Phosphorus is a major nutrient used in fertilizers. Lake Santa Fe & Little Lake Santa Fe currently have relatively low levels of phosphorus. This is a major reason why our lake is not choked with weeds and our water is so clear. If you have been on many other lakes in Florida you will realize how unique these lakes are. While our lakes will likely never face the problems of Central Florida lakes such as Lake Apopka, if we do not limit our use of fertilizers we likely will see degradation in water quality through time. People who have lived on the lake for a long time have probably noticed that as more affluent people have moved to the lake they have brought with them more intensive, fertilizer driven landscapes. While a dark green lawn may be aesthetically pleasing, we have to understand that these lawns also contribute to the degradation of our lake. Fertilizing just one lawn does not cause major harm. However, if we all continually over fertilize our yards we can expect to see our lake water quality decrease over time. Take responsibility, reduce or eliminate yard fertilization, be a positive example for your neighbors!

A good guideline would be to avoid using any fertilizer, pesticides or herbicides within 100 feet of the ordinary high water line of the lake, canals or any yard drains that flow to the lake. Of course anything we can do to limit fertilizing or to use more environmentally sensitive forms of herbicides and pesticides will help. What would be best is if we could change our attitudes about our yards. When we see a lawn bordering on the lake we need to realize that a dark green healthy St. Augustine lawn represents a yard that is polluting our lake. If we see a lawn that is brown or yellow and has dead spots we should complement that person for caring about our beautiful lakes. The Florida Native Plant Society (http://www.fnps.org) provides information on native plants that thrive without the need for fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides.