Keep lawn mowing’s grass clippings on your lawn – not out on the street
The City of Mountain Lake has issued a reminder to city residents to keep their lawn mowing’s grass clippings on their lawns – and NOT blown out into the street.
Grass clippings blown into the street are washed into Mountain Lake. These clippings are high in phosphorus which promotes the growth of Curly-leaf pondweed – and other vegetation. By keeping grass clippings on lawns, it helps reduce the amount of phosphorus entering the lake.
According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Curly-leaf pondweed is a non-native, invasive submersed aquatic plant that was first observed in Minnesota in about 1910. Curly-leaf pondweed is present in more than 750 lakes in 70 of the 87 counties in Minnesota It is generally the first pondweed to come up in spring and dies in mid-summer. Leaves have undulating and finely serrated edges. In spring, Curly-leaf pondweed can interfere with recreational and other uses of lakes and rivers by producing dense mats at the water’s surface. Matted curly-leaf pondweed can displace native aquatic plants. In mid-summer, curly-leaf plants usually die, and dying plants accumulate on shorelines. In Minnesota, Curly-leaf pondweed has caused problems in lakes by producing extensive mats in 3-to-10 feet of water. In mid-summer, the plant is often a problem in lakes with low water clarity and Secchi depths of three feet or less. Curly-leaf may grow to problem levels in a lake one year, but not the next. This appears to be due to the weather, which can cause variations from year-to-year in environmental conditions in lakes.
A great deal of time and money has been spent – and continues to be spent – by the city and its Lake Commission in improving the water quality of the lake.
