Most homeowners care for lawns, gardens, shrubs, and trees by applying plant nutrients and sometimes pesticides. Improper application and storage of these products may result in products moving through the soil into the groundwater or washing off into surface waters. Your well is usually near your house or in the yard where you have a lawn or garden. It is important to know how to maintain these areas while still protecting your water supply. Proper application of fertilizers and pesticides, safe storage practices, and correct watering are all part of the overall protection plan.

Surface waters need to be protected from lawn and garden activities that cause soil erosion. Land-distributing activities, uncovered soil surfaces, and the absence of water-retaining structures may cause soil to move into streams, lakes, and estuaries. Excess sediment in surface waters can kill important food sources for fish and cause the quality of the water to decline. It is important that you keep your soil on your property. You can do this by minimizing the amount of bare soil that is exposed to rain.

This publication leads you through an evaluation of your home and property to determine the pollution and health risks of your water supply protection practices. If there is a problem or a potential problem, this publication has information about how to solve the problems.                    

We have prepared this publication to help you focus on potential problems with your drinking water or other water resources that may be caused by improper lawn or garden care. Read this publication before you begin answering the questions. Then walk around your lawn, garden, and area where you store and load your pesticides and fertilizers.

Each of the following sections deals with different topics. Each topic has a question for you to answer. Your answers will help you to see where you have potential problems.

• If you answer a question either a or b, you have a few problems with your lawn care and gardening activities.
• If you answer a question either c or d, there may be a problem with the way you care for your lawn and garden.
• If you answer a question either c or d, you will want to consider making changes in your lawn care and gardening activities in order to protect your drinking water.

If you would like further help in assessing the condition of your lawn care or gardening activities, please contact your local N.C. Cooperative Extension center and talk with your extension agent.

If you drink water, it comes from a well or spring (groundwater sources) or a river or lake (surface water sources). Drinking water in North Carolina is generally safe, but it can become polluted if we are not careful. Many of the things we do at home can pollute our water and the environment. Poorly maintained or designed septic and animal waste systems can pollute surface and groundwater. Pesticides, fertilizers, fuels, and cleaning products can contaminate our water when they are not stored and handled properly.

It is nearly impossible to get pollutants out of water once they are there. Expensive treatments or new wells would be required to get safe drinking water again. Clearly, it is much more effective to keep pollutants out of water than to try to clean it up afterward.

People who have their own wells or springs for drinking water need to be especially aware of pollution sources because their water is not tested for contaminants as is city water. This is called wellhead protection and involves careful attention to the activities near your well to be sure the water remains safe. However, all people are responsible for protecting drinking water supplies, whether it is their own or their neighbors'.

Fertilizers should be stored in a locked, dry cabinet away from your well. Keep fertilizers and pesticides on separate shelves. Load your fertilizer spreader on the driveway or other hard surface so you can easily sweep up any spills. Any fertilizer that spills should be swept up and applied to your lawn or garden at the right time and in the right amount. If you are using liquid fertilizer on your grass, add fertilizer to the spray tank while it is on the lawn. This way, if you spill fertilizer, it will be used by the plants and not run off into surface waters. Do not store fertilizers with combustibles, such as gasoline or kerosene, because of explosion hazards.

The chemical in fertilizers that can most easily pollute groundwater is a form of nitrogen called nitrate. Nitrate moves readily in soil and it can move through the soil into the groundwater. Drinking water that contains 10 milligrams of nitrate per liter of water exceeds the drinking water standards and should not be used, especially for infant formula.

The best way to prevent the movement of nitrate into the groundwater is to apply no more nitrogen than the grass, garden plants, shrubs, or trees can use during the time that the plants are growing. Sweep up any fertilizer that ends up on your driveway or sidewalks, or in your curbs. Reapply this fertilizer to your planted areas. This will allow the fertilizer to grow plants instead of washing off into nearby streams and lakes.

For maintaining established lawns, N.C. Cooperative Extension recommends the following fertilizer rates and schedule.

Your garden should need no more than 3 to 4 pounds of nitrogen per thousand square feet during the entire growing season. If split into at least two or three applications, the fertilizer will steadily feed the plants without seeping into groundwater.

The fewer pesticides you buy, the fewer you will have to store. Typical lawn and garden pesticides consist of weed killers or herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides. Purchase only the amount and kind of pesticide that you need. Pesticides should always be stored in sound, properly labeled, original containers. Sound containers are your first defense against a spill or leak.

Like fertilizers, pesticides should be stored in a locked, dry cabinet away from your well. Keep fertilizers and pesticides on separate shelves. Store dry products above liquids to prevent wetting from spills. Dry formulated pesticide spills should be swept up and applied to your lawn or garden at the appropriate rates. Liquid pesticide spills should be soaked up using absorbent materials (soil, sawdust, cat litter). Place all material in a sealed container and recycle at a hazardous household waste recycling center.

Pesticide storage areas must be kept free from combustible materials (such as petroleum products) or operations that present a fire hazard (such as welding). Burning pesticides or even empty containers can create extremely toxic fumes.

Just as it is important to keep your storage area away from your well, it is also important to keep your mixing site as far away from your well as possible. Spilled pesticides can move through the soil into the groundwater and pollute your drinking water supply. The farther your mixing and loading site is located from your well, the greater the protection to your drinking water supply. If possible, mix your pesticides on an impermeable surface, such as concrete, which will contain a pesticide spill.

It is also important to mix only the amount of pesticide that you will use. First, measure how many square feet are in the area to be treated, such as your lawn or garden. Then read the label on the pesticide container and follow the instructions. These are often given in terms of amount of pesticide to use per thousand square feet. By properly measuring and calculating, you should have little or no spray mix left in your spray tank when done.

Homeowners frequently use pesticides to kill or control weeds (herbicides), insects (insecticides), and fungi (fungicides) that attack their lawn or garden plants. Some of these pesticides can move through the soil and into the groundwater.

Guidelines for the safe use of pesticides are provided below:

• Accept a low level of weed, insect, and plant disease infestation.
• Use pesticides only when absolutely necessary.
• Identify pests correctly. Use the proper pesticides.
• Read and follow the directions printed on the container labels.
• Calibrate your spreader and sprayer to keep from applying too much pesticide.
• Do not spray or apply pesticides near your well.
• Do no spray or apply pesticides near your walkway and driveway.

Improper disposal of pesticide containers can lead to groundwater contamination because the chemical residue can leak into the ground. If you are using liquid pesticides, rinse the bottle three times. Be sure to pour the rinsings into your sprayer, not the drain. Discard empty and rinsed pesticide containers in the trash.

If you have properly measured the pesticide, you should have little or no spray left in your tank. The little that is left can be safely sprayed over the area that you treated.

Unused pesticides in their original containers can be recycled at hazardous waste collection centers or at pesticide container recycling programs offered by the county Cooperative Extension center. For more information on recycling lawn and garden pesticides, contact the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Waste Management at 877-623-6748.

Over-watering your plants can cause excess water to move through the soil. This water can carry pesticides or nitrates that can pollute your groundwater. The best way to avoid over-watering is simply to measure how much you are adding. You can measure water by placing shallow containers around your lawn or garden to collect the water from the sprinklers. Apply enough water to moisten the soil 4-6 inches deep for healthy root growth. This usually requires you to apply ¹⁄₂ inch of water on coarse, sandy soils and 1 inch on heavier clay soils.

One of the best ways to protect your groundwater is to use plants that are drought-tolerant and that are adapted to your area. Drought-tolerant or low-water-use plants can continue to survive once they are established, even during times of little rainfall. Because you do not have to water these plants, there is less chance that nitrate and pesticides will be carried with the water through the soil and into the groundwater. Some low-water-use plants for North Carolina are crape myrtle, elaeagnus, Eastern red cedar, Chinese and Japanese hollies, glossy abelia, and juniper.

If low-water-use plants are not practical, then try to use medium-water-use plants, such as azaleas. Water these plants only when they begin to show drought stress. Some plants will wilt when they are drought-stressed, while other plants will show marginal leaf burn.

Sediment in our streams and lakes can start as erosion from your property. Lawn and gardening activities such as establishing lawns, tilling gardens, or leaving areas without a cover crop can result in erosion. To prevent soil from moving off your property and into water resources, keep your soil covered with plants or mulch.

The best way to prevent bare areas that are easily erodible is to design your landscape to minimize steep slopes and areas that do not drain well. When you are establishing a lawn, minimize the exposure of bare soil by using straw to cover any ground that will be bare for more than 30 days before planting. Reapply the straw after planting. Be sure to plant at the best time for the type of grass you are using. Warm-season grasses (bermuda, zoysia, centipede, bahia and St. Augustine) should be planted in the late spring or early summer. Cool-season grasses (fescue, bluegrass, and ryegrass) should be planted in the fall. Water lightly to prevent water and soil from running off the surface.

Areas under large trees are easily laid bare when there are foot paths, children playing, or animals confined under the trees. This is because most plants that can withstand heavy traffic will not grow in the heavy shade under trees. To avoid having exposed soil under large trees, you can either mulch or grow shade-tolerant ground covers or shrubs. Then try to steer the heavy traffic away from the area by creating paths or locating play equipment elsewhere. If you must use the space under a tree, use a mulch or a porous patio (pavers, flagstones, etc.) to both protect the roots and prevent soil erosion.

The same solution should be used for shrubs; use a mulch around your shrubs or flower beds to protect the soil from erosion.

Maintain a "buffer" of mulched perennial landscaping around your garden to keep runoff from moving out of the garden and into the surface waters.

Your local N.C. Cooperative Extension center is a valuable source of information on lawn and garden care.

Related publications available from N.C. Cooperative Extension:

• Bermudagrass Lawn Maintenance Calendar, AG-431
• Carolina Lawns, AG-69
• Carpetgrass Lawn Maintenance Calendar, AG-541
• Centipedegrass Lawn Maintenance Calendar, AG-381
• SoilFacts: Managing Lawns and Gardens to Protect Water Quality, AG-439-21
• St. Augustinegrass Lawn Maintenance Calendar, AG-540
• Water Quality and Home Lawn Care
• Water Quality and Sprayer and Spreader Calibration, AG-152
• Zoysiagrass Lawn Maintenance Calendar, AG-432

Concept adapted for North Carolina from materials produced by the National Home*A*Syst Program, University of Wisconsin (author Karen Filchak, University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension).

North Carolina's modification of Farm*A*Syst and Home*A*Syst is coordinated by Deanna L. Osmond, North Carolina State University. Technical editing was provided by Judith A. Gale.

This project has been funded through the United States Department of Agriculture Water Quality Initiative Funds.

This publication is a revision of an earlier version. The authors would like to thank A. Bruneau, A. Russell, and D. Crouse for their earlier contributions.