{"id":9205,"date":"2014-04-03T14:21:26","date_gmt":"2014-04-03T18:21:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/?p=9205"},"modified":"2014-04-10T10:27:30","modified_gmt":"2014-04-10T14:27:30","slug":"9205","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2014\/04\/03\/9205\/","title":{"rendered":"MDA Reminds Marylanders to Protect Local Waterways and the Chesapeake Bay by Following New Lawn Fertilizer Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5em\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mda.maryland.gov\/SiteAssets\/Pages\/fertilizer\/MDA%20magnet_press3.jpg?resize=271%2C347&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"271\" height=\"347\" \/>ANNAPOLIS, MD \u00a0\u2013 Now that spring is finally here, the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) reminds homeowners and lawn care professionals that responsible lawn care practices can make a big difference for the health of streams, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland\u2019s new lawn fertilizer law took effect October 1, 2013, and includes new requirements for both homeowners who fertilize their own lawns and lawn care professionals hired to apply fertilizer to residential, business and public properties.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cTurf grass is now the largest crop in Maryland,\u201d said Maryland Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance. \u201cAs you begin working outside this spring, keep in mind that the way you care for your lawn can make a difference for the Bay,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Lawn care professionals must now be licensed and certified by MDA to apply fertilizer to the lawns that they manage. This helps ensure that they understand the science behind turf management and the environmental practices they will need to follow in order to protect water resources from excess fertilizer. MDA encourages homeowners to verify that their lawn care provider is certified by visiting<a href=\"http:\/\/mda.maryland.gov\/Pages\/fertilizer.aspx\"> www.mda.maryland.gov\/fertilizer.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In addition, Maryland law prohibits most lawn fertilizer products from containing phosphorus\u2014a key nutrient that is responsible for the Chesapeake Bay\u2019s \u201cdead zones.\u201d Look for the middle number on a bag of fertilizer. It should be zero (0). Specialty products containing phosphorus are still available and may be used when a soil test indicates the need for phosphorus or when a lawn is being established, repaired or patched. Maryland\u2019s lawn fertilizer law also limits the amount of nitrogen contained in lawn care products and requires part of this nitrogen to be in a slow release form.<\/p>\n<p>Homeowners can make a difference for the Bay this spring by following these best management practices:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Skip the spring fertilizer. Fertilizing lawns in the spring promotes excessive top growth at the expense of roots.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Sharpen lawnmower blades. A cleaner cut looks better and is healthier for the grass.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Raise the cutting height of the mower. Taller grass shades out weeds and needs less water. A three inch cut length is ideal for most lawns.<\/li>\n<li>Leave grass clippings on the lawn. They provide free fertilizer all season long.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you must fertilize:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Always follow University of Maryland fertilizer recommendations. Learn about soil testing. Visit https:\/\/extension.umd.edu\/hgic for seasonal and yearly fertilizer recommendations.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Use only phosphorus-free lawn fertilizer<\/li>\n<li>Do not apply fertilizer to sidewalks or other impervious surfaces. Clean up excess fertilizer.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Keep fertilizer applications 10 to 15 feet from waterways.<\/li>\n<li>Do not apply fertilizer if heavy rain is predicted.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">For more information, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mda.maryland.gov\/fertilizer\">www.mda.maryland.gov\/fertilizer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p># # #<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ANNAPOLIS, MD \u00a0\u2013 Now that spring is finally here, the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) reminds homeowners and lawn care professionals that responsible lawn care practices can make a big difference for the health of streams, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland\u2019s new lawn fertilizer law took effect October 1, 2013, and includes new requirements<a href=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2014\/04\/03\/9205\/\">&nbsp;&nbsp;Read the Rest&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[193,598,771],"class_list":["post-9205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release","tag-fertilizer","tag-fertilizer-law","tag-lawn"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9205"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9273,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9205\/revisions\/9273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}