On July 23rd, 2008 Jacksonville mayor John Peyton signed a bill designed to reduce the amount of nutrients that end up in the St. Johns River by limiting fertilizer usage. The bill is based on the Florida Green Industries Guide to Best Management Practices for Protection of Water Resources in Florida (BMPs) which is a guide most industry professionals have been referencing for years. In fact all of our technicians have successfully completed the Florida Green Industries Best Management Practices Training Program which is certified by Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection

Unfortunately the media circus that accompanied this legislation would lead you to believe that the excessive use of fertilizer by turf management professionals is the lone cause of river pollution. Truth be told if anyone is applying more fertilizer than necessary it’s more than likely those homeowners who choose to do it themselves. Industry professionals are far less likely to over apply fertilizer for many reasons. First of all we know how to make sense of the label on a bag of fertilizer. The spreaders we use to apply fertilizer are calibrated precisely on a daily basis. And we are already up to date on all of the BMPs, meaning we know exactly how much fertilizer a plant can make use of. We wouldn’t throw money away by applying more fertilizer than the plant can use. How many do-it-yourselfers can calibrate their spreaders, or tell you how many pounds of nitrogen is in a bag of fertilizer? And I’m sure the overwhelming majority have never even heard of the BMPs.

As industry professionals and local residents the health of the river is extremely important to us. We will gladly follow all guidelines set forth in the new fertilizer ordinance. Hopefully homeowners will do the same.