Creating a lush and inviting landscape out of your lawn takes time and effort – and it also creates a lot of waste. There are steps you need to take in order to deal with this waste appropriately for the good of your lawn, your neighborhood, and the environment. Here are just a few things you need to know about Louisville lawn waste.
What is Lawn Waste?
Lawn waste is also called yard waste, and it is the organic waste products produced through gardening and landscaping. It includes:
- Branches
- Twigs
- Leaves
- Shrubbery trimming
- Pine needles
- Straw
- Wood ash
- Christmas trees
What is not considered lawn waste? Dirt, gravel, and rocks aren’t considered waste products so there is no need to fret about them – just find a creative way to incorporate them back into your lawn and landscaping!
What Should You Do With Lawn Waste?
In Louisville, the Waste Management District wants you to use certain methods of disposal for your lawn waste. They highly recommend using your fallen leaves, lawn clippings, and trimmings as mulch and reincorporating it back into your lawn. This works as fertilizer and will create a healthy, green and sustainable turf system for your lawn and you’ll be more than pleased with the results!
If you don’t want to find ways to reincorporate the waste your lawn creates you can collect it for pick up in either 20 to 40-gallon reusable trash cans with handles or put the waste in bags specifically sold for the collection of yard waste. If you want the city to pick up your waste, you must set it out for collection on the day it is scheduled in your neighborhood.
Pro Tip: Raise the blades on your mower to 3 inches. If the blades of grass in your lawn are longer they will help to create a stronger root system that won’t allow as many weeds to grow. It’s a natural weed defense that also creates less lawn waste!
Why Proper Repurposing or Disposal of Lawn Waste is So Important
Your lawn is a part of a larger, living system. When you don’t clean up your lawn waste properly there are risks involved. For example, when it rains any loose lawn waste will be washed away into storm drains and ditches. Fertilizers, chemicals you use in gardening, dirt, pet waste and even garbage will be washed away with it. This risks clogging up storm drains which can result in flooding or the waste reaching all the way to local rivers, lakes, and streams where it can poison fish or contribute to algae blooms – and that’s bad for your local environment.
Consider This
Your lawn does create waste, but you can take some initiative to make that waste less harmful in a few ways. First, try to limit how much fertilizer you use. The nutrients in fertilizers that are good for your lawn are bad for other living things if it bleeds into the surrounding environment. So, test your soil before you fertilize so you know how much fertilizer, and of what composition, you need to apply. This way you won’t be adding to storm water pollution. You should also only apply fertilizer to the specific areas it is needed, and try to use compost or organic mulch from your own lawn waste instead!
Second, use pesticides carefully. You should only apply them where you absolutely need them and avoid applying them in haste to surfaces such as driveways and walkways. Look at your local forecast and wait to apply the pesticide on a day when rain isn’t in the forecast and store the pesticides in places where they can’t spill out into the surrounding environment and get washed away by rainwater.
If you don’t particularly relish lawn clean up, Lawn Love is happy to come to the rescue! And if you ever have any questions about the best practices for your lawn to keep it healthy and environmentally friendly don’t hesitate to call!
