Professional lawn services blow grass clippings into the street all the time in our neighborhood when cutting between the sidewalk and the street, but I rarely see any homeowners do it, at least intentionally. Now I wonder why the lawn services do it...
Keeping your grass clippings off city streets will not only help improve the quality of the local water supply, it could save you a couple hundred bucks. While the last few days was hardly an indication, the spring weather has brought out the lawnmowers once again, as well as the problem of keeping cut grass and all it carries out of city sewers and waterways.Baraboo Utility Superintendent Terry Kramer said grass is a slight nuisance for workers when clippings get into the sewer system, but the main problem is the chemicals they carry with them.
"Anything that goes down the storm sewer goes into the river, and you're adding pollutants to the river," Kramer said. "It doesn't plug the catch basins like brush, but you're adding green matter and phosphorus, and at our plant we've got to take it out because it's bad."
Sauk County Conservationist Joe Van Berkel said people can save work, time and money by leaving the clippings on their lawns.
"Cycle those nutrients back into the soil and add less fertilizer," he said. "(Cut grass) decomposes very quickly."
Van Berkel said excess nitrogen and phosphorus, which promotes the green color in grass, are the main side effects of grass clippings going down the drain. He said both contribute to algae and weed growth. Another adverse affect is oxygen reduction.
Ever notice how robins jump, while other birds will walk, such as starlings will walk, through a lawn? I suspected that perhaps the vibration from jumping caused grubs and worms to recoil or move in some way - and maybe it does - and because of that, the robin sensed the movement by the sound or vibration.