Harrisonburg in Stormwater Magazine
Posted by Thanh on July 24th, 2008
The City of Harrisonburg, along with other Shenandoah Valley localities, was featured in the July-August issue of Stormwater Magazine in a article titled “Heritage and Promise”. The article describes the City’s cleanstream campaign which includes “A Doodie-Free Harrisonburg” campaign and “Harrisonburg’s Best Tips for Yard Care”.
“Jared Stoltzfus [Stream Health Coordinator] believes community activities can help connect people in a positive manner with the local waterways… [And] although these projects have been well received, Stoltzfus believes the city can do even more. The Department of Parks and Recreation received funds from the Department of Conservation and Recreation to restore 1,000 feet of stream bank along Black’s Run by removing a concrete retaining wall and installing instream structures to prevent erosion. The plan will create a more natural stream channel design. The project will also introduce a Proper Lawn Care campaign to educate residents and landscaping professionals on topics such as fertilizing, soil testing, and pesticide use.”
For more information on how you can help improve water quality, to become involved, or to receive a free soil test kit please visit www.cleanstream.org or contact thanhd [at] harrisonburgva [dot] gov.
I recently received my free soil test results. This is a $7 value… not a huge cost to begin with but it’s awesome that the city is willing to foot the bill. Your sample is sent off to the Virginia Tech Soil Testing Laboratory (http://www.soiltest.vt.edu/) and you receive results a few weeks later with handy recommendations like “50# of lime per 1000sqft.”
Thanks to Thanh and the city!
Just to clarify, the City isn’t paying for the testing. This opportunity for Free Soil Testing is made possible through a grant the City applied for. The grant comes from the Department of Conservation & Recreation’s Water Quality Improvement Fund. City staff is helping to make this possible. :)
Josh, I’m glad that you found the soil testing so easy and useful. Thanks for sharing your experience with everyone.
Soil testing is important for water quality because over-fertilizing your lawn or garden can contribute to water pollution when the excess nutrients (like nitrogen and phosphates) run off your lawn and into the stream. By soil testing, you can find out how much nutrient is already present in your soil and you can reduce the amount of fertilizer you need to apply. Its a way to help the environment (and save you money because you spend less on fertlizer). :)
Fall is a great time for soil testing!
FREE SOIL TEST KITS available.
You can test your lawns and gardens, receive a report with recommendations from the Virginia Tech Lab to apply the appropriate/needed fertilizers/supplements to your lawn and gardens now so that they’ll be ready for spring plantings!
Contact thanhd@harrisonburgva.gov to receive a Free Kit or visit http://www.cleanstream.org for more information.