You Can Help Protect Candlewood Lake from Phosphorus Right Now

1. Don’t use fertilizer with phosphorous. How? Just check the second number of the formula on the package of fertilizer. That’s the number that indicates the amount of phosphorus it contains. For example, if the formula is 15-0-10 it means the package contains zero phosphorus. (The first number is the nitrogen content, the middle number is the phosphorus content and the last number is the potassium content.) Make sure the middle number on the bag is 0 and it is phosphorus free.

2. If you use a lawn service, request they use a fertilizer that contains zero phosphorus.

3. If you have a newly seeded lawn or are uncertain whether your lawn needs phosphorus, have the soil tested. The CT Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven offers a free soil testing service. Lake advocates also conduct a Soil Test Day in late April in both New Fairfield and Sherman to help facilitate soil testing. Look for the announcements and take advantage of the service.

4. Don’t over fertilize. Most established lawns in the area do not need additional phosphorus. The best time to fertilize is in May and early June and again in September or early October.

5. Use a mulching lawn mower and leave the grass clippings on the lawn. That will return phosphorus and other nutrients to the soil naturally.

6. Don’t apply fertilizer when the soil is saturated with moisture, or to driveways and other impervious surfaces where it can run off via sprinklers or rain water into a stormwater sewer system that eventually drains to the Lake.

7. Recycle your leaves in the fall. NEVER rake or blow leaves or grass clippings into the Lake or streams draining into the Lake.