Lake Friendly Living

June 20, 2025

Lake-Friendly Living

All of us play a role in the health of our environment and the water quality within our lake. The way we care for our lake properties may look different from how we care for other properties. When you reside on or near the water's edge, the way you maintain your lawn and landscaping matters.

If you choose to fertilize your lawn with an early spring application, please remember to:

Use only materials with no phosphorus or phosphate. The middle number on the bag should be zero, indicating no phosphorus.
Request phosphorus-free fertilizer from lawn application services.
Leave a strip of unfertilized lawn along the lake edge as a buffer.
Consider testing your lawn before applying fertilizer to use the minimum amount necessary.

Remember: Of all the elements that feed into our waterways, phosphorus most significantly over-accelerates algae and plant growth.

Other Tips for Lake-Friendly Living:

Clean up your pet's waste. It is not “free fertilizer” and can negatively impact waterways.
Keep leaves, grass, and other yard waste out of lakes and the surrounding wetlands. Wetlands are the "kidneys" of our lakes and help filter incoming water.
Consider installing natural glacial rock at your water's edge to break up wave action, capture suspended sediments, and reduce erosion of your shoreline and lake floor.
Avoid shallow areas while boating. Stirring up the lake floor with wave action can cause erosion (mucky floors) and release nutrients to feed unnecessary algae blooms.

This Lake-Friendly Living mindset will help preserve our precious water quality. Let’s continue making positive impacts on our environment for Clear Lake's future generations.