An environmental commitment to supporting healthy green spaces
Sponsored by Fertilizer Canada
Summer is in full swing and families are enjoying time outdoors on their lawns, in their gardens, or at their cottages. As more and more people tend to their vegetable and flower gardens and ensure their lawns are maintained for the season, it is important to remember the importance of proper fertilizer use.
4R Nutrient Stewardship
Based on scientific principles, the 4R’s of nutrient stewardship ensure that fertilizer is applied:
- with the right source;
- at the right rate;
- at the right time; and
- in the right place.
This approach promotes a healthy, lush greenspace through increased nutrient uptake due to minimal nutrient loss to your plants or lawn. This can also reduce pollutants, reduce run-off into waterways, and cool the temperature of the surrounding air.
Sustainable Care of Healthy Green Spaces
Did you know that a healthy, properly fertilized lawn has the same cooling power as three or four air conditioning units, reducing the temperature around your home by 4°C to 8°C? Healthy turf also produces an amazing amount of oxygen. A 50-by-50-foot area of turf creates enough oxygen every day for a family of four. Ensuring your green space is fertilized has many benefits, but it is important to remember to fertilize properly.
Healthy green space makes a tremendous contribution to our environment and provides outdoor recreation space suitable for children, pets, and people of all ages. The key to realizing these benefits is to ensure green space is cared for sustainably. Read labels and follow directions when feeding plants and turf.
Save It, Use It, Share It
As the summer season ends, many homeowners also find themselves with excess fertilizer. There are many options to properly manage this fertilizer in ways that are both economically and environmentally beneficial.
The first option is to simply save your fertilizer for next season. This will allow you to continue your lawn’s healthy growth for next year and give you a head start on your summer lawn.
The second option is to use your fertilizer in the fall. While your lawn may not be growing above ground, the root system still needs nutrients to help it come back healthy and strong in the following season.
Lastly, you can share your fertilizer with a neighbour and let them experience the benefits of proper fertilizer use.
A Commitment to the Environment
Fertilizer Canada is proud to continue their commitment to the environment by implementing practices to improve water quality across Canada and remains at the forefront of industry-leading research that verifies the economic, social, and environmental benefits of 4R Nutrient Stewardship. MW
Garth Whyte is President and CEO of Fertilizer Canada, joining the association in June 2015. Garth brings decades of industry association, advocacy, and government experience. He is currently a member of the Fertilizer Canada Board and is on the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute Advisory Committee.
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