Winter Watershed Workshop: Recap

With the snowflakes flying yet again today, it seems an appropriate time to do a recap of our recent workshop: Winter home and watershed care: Tending your house, yard, and river.

About thirty citizens gathered on an almost spring-like evening at St. Paul's Saint Anthony Park Library to discuss the environmental impacts of snow and ice removal, as well as plan for watershed-friendly lawncare with native plants, rain gardens, composters, and more.

Katie Schonhorst and Connie Fortin of Fortin Consulting, Inc. explained the variety of products and chemicals used to remove snow and ice, and the environmental impacts of each. They then offered tips for the least harmful ways to deal with snow and ice.

If you weren't able to make the workshop, or were there but want some refreshers, here are some resources on the information they covered:

• The MWMO's educational page on winter snow removal for homeowners
• Info on different types of deicers
• Environmental impacts of road salt and salt alternatives
• Effects of road salt on groundwater

Then we started thinking spring! We talked about a variety of things homeowners can do in their yard and garden to protect water quality, including lawncare, rain gardens, rain barrels, native plants, composting, and more.
Some great resources covering these topics include:

• Wisconsin DNR's Rain Gardens - A how-to manual for homeowners (PDF)
• The Blue Thumb program, and particularly their Plant Selector
• Reduce.org's page on lawns and gardens, which includes info on composting, fertilizer and pesticide use, mowing, and landscaping
  

Thanks again to the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization and the City of St. Paul's Department of Public Works for making this workshop possible!


Photo courtesy of Katie Schonhorst, Fortin Consulting, Inc.