04/14/2025
A wonderful read in the IRNA Newsletter!
Thank you Indian River Neighborhood Association
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BE PART OF THE SOLUTION, NOT THE PROBLEM
Spring is here in beautiful Indian River County. You can almost hear the green grass growing. That means more frequent mowing. Please DO NOT blow the grass clippings onto the road, down storm drains, into swales, ditches, canals or other water bodies.
Be sure to instruct your landscaper of these rules. Grass clippings and other yard debris end up in our lagoon where, as they decompose, take up oxygen and give off nitrogen and phosphorus to an already impaired lagoon. These excess nutrients fuel the algal blooms that cloud the water preventing seagrass growth.
Loss of seagrass is the cause of manatee starvation and death and the death of juvenile fish species that use seagrass as shelter from predators. Ultimately, these clippings and other plant material, along with sediment runoff, become the mayonnaise muck that covers the sandy bottom of the Indian River Lagoon.
So, what to do with those grass clippings.
• Leave them to decompose on your lawn as a valuable source of nutrients
• Bag them for use as mulch on plant beds
• Add them to your compost pile or bin
• Dispose of them with your other yard waste for municipal collection
Be part of the solution, not the problem.
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Only Rain Down the Drain! Remember, keeping grass clippings out of the road/stormdrains is part of IRC's Fertilizer Ordinance to help protect the Lagoon!
