Seasonal ban ends, scientists still warn against fertilizer use

The law about how you can take care of your own lawn is changing, and the seasonal fertilizer band is coming to an end.

But just because the ban is being lifted doesn’t mean there still aren’t restrictions to using the fertilizer, as there are still “fertilizer free zones.”

That means the fertilizer has to stay 10 feet away from things like canals, ponds, or lakes to prevent any runoff.

WINK News spoke with one Florida Gulf Coast University professor who says, while it is good that the city takes these precautions during wet season, the mentality shouldn’t change during the dry season.

Professor James Douglass says the ideal amount of fertilizer to be using is zero. He says there is always a chance the nutrients from fertilizer can get into the waterways, which could cause algae blooms.

He stressed using fertilizer isn’t worth the risk of damaging our waters.

“Especially if your sprinkling the yard to water during the dry season, that stuff still washes down and gets into the waters were causes algae blooms,” said Douglass. “There are many types of plants that don’t need a lot of nutrients if we just use some different plants and use some native plants we don’t need to use fertilizers anymore.”

Douglass says the people have a belief that if they stop using it, their lawns won’t be green and their plants will die. He says that is not the case and people just need to be more open minded to using native plants, that don’t require much maintenance.