Fertilizer or Pesticides in Watershed Areas

From the Community Development Department

If you live in the Cobbetts Pond and Canobie Lake Watershed Protection Overlay District and plan to maintain your lawn or garden, please be aware that the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizer can be harmful to water quality.  For those who desire to control pests and keep their lawns and gardens flourishing, there are acceptable alternatives to pesticides and chemical fertilizers. 

An alternative to pesticides is to initiate biological, cultural, or horticulture controls of pests.  Examples of biological control could mean using natural enemies to control pest population, such as lady bugs, green lacewings, and decollate snails and toads.   Pheromones could be also used to disturb reproduction patterns of pests.  Cultural or horticulture control of pests involves methods  of making conditions less favorable to pests, such as mowing your grass high to shade out weeds or using different turf seed mixes or “first-class” certified lawn seed to resist a variety of lawn pests.  Also, consider reducing your lawn size or totally removing your lawn in favor of native plants.  Keep pests out of your home by caulking and filling holes around skinks and light fixtures. 

Lime, agricultural composts, and organic fertilizers that are water-soluble and slow-release are acceptable alternatives to chemical fertilizers.   Manure is strongly discouraged.  Other alternatives to chemical fertilizers include leaving grass clippings on your lawn and garden and planting clover and any legume plants that fix nitrogen into the soil from nodules on their roots.  

For more ideas on the control of pests without using pesticides and fertilizing your lawn and garden without the use of chemical fertilizers, visit http://www.agriculture.nh.gov. 

To determine if your property is in the Cobbetts Pond and Canobie Lake Watershed Protection Overlay District, refer to the Cobbetts Pond Watershed Protection Map and Canobie Lake Watershed Protection Map.  The maps can be found online at www.windhamnewhamphire.com or at the Community Development Department.