Characterization of Turf Practices in Five North Carolina Communities

Abstract

Limited information exists on specific urban lawn care practices in the United States. We conducted a door-to-door lawn care survey in five North Carolina communities to determine suburban fertilizer, pesticide, and water use. These communities, Cary, Goldsboro, Kinston, New Bern, and Greenville, are mostly located within the Neuse River basin, a nutrient-sensitive water resource. Residents in Cary used lawn care companies more than twice as frequently as residents in the other communities (43 compared with 20%). Cary had the smallest mean lawn size (445 m2), while the largest was in Goldsboro (1899 m2). Tall fescue [Festuca arundinacea Schreb.] was the predominant grass type in Cary (99%), and centipedegrass [Eremochloa ophiuroides (Munro) Hack.] or centipedegrass mixtures were the predominant grass types in Greenville and New Bern. Kinston had the lowest fertilizer usage with only 54% of the residents using fertilizer; Cary had the highest rate of 83%. The average N fertilizer rate applied to the lawns was dissimilar ranging from 24 to 151 kg N ha(-1). Analysis of variance results for fertilizer rates and household income indicated a significant difference (P < 0.05) in application rate between high- and medium-income levels and the low-income level. Cary, Goldsboro, and Greenville had approximately the same number of fertilizer applications per year (1.5), whereas the average number of fertilizer applications per year in New Bern was 3.0. Most household residents (53%) used instructions on the bag and either grass type and/or lawn area to guide them on fertilizer application rates.

The residential landscape: fluxes of elements and the role of household decisions

“…Among our surveyed 360 households, N fertilizer application rates similarly were variable, with a few households contributing disproportionately to total N fertilizer inputs among all households, and about one-third of all households reporting that they did not apply fertilizer at all (Fissore et al 2011). These results are consistent with findings from studies in North Carolina (Osmond and Hardy 2004) and Maryland (Law et al 2004). The large range in N fertilizer application regime reflects a highly variable, household-specific decision that is made annually, indicating that there is the potential for large flexibility (i.e.…”

“…Nitrogen fertilizer use is a widespread practice in households in the U.S. (Law et al 2004) that occurs with a wide range of application rates (Petrovic 1990;Osmond and Hardy 2004). Among our surveyed 360 households, N fertilizer application rates similarly were variable, with a few households contributing disproportionately to total N fertilizer inputs among all households, and about one-third of all households reporting that they did not apply fertilizer at all (Fissore et al 2011).…”

Residential landscapes as social-ecological systems: a synthesis of multi-scalar interactions between people and their home environment

“…In surveys from Ohio, North Carolina and Oregon, approximately 16-43% of households use professional landscaping services (Robbins et al 2001;Osmond and Hardy 2004;Nielson and Smith 2005), while 70% of US households cared for at least one aspect of their own yard (NGA 2007). Professionally maintained yards often rank higher in aesthetic lawn quality, as measured through grass color (greenness) and a lack of weeds (monoculture), than do-it-yourself approaches (Cheng et al 2008;Alumai et al 2009).…”

“…More than half of US households apply synthetic fertilizers to their yards, but the variability in application rate, timing and amount is high (Robbins et al 2001;Law et al 2004;Osmond and Hardy 2004). Do-it-yourself approaches result in a significant range of fertilizer application rates (e.g., 10-370 kg N ha −1 year −1 ; Robbins et al 2001;Law et al 2004;Osmond and Hardy 2004).…”

“…Do-it-yourself approaches result in a significant range of fertilizer application rates (e.g., 10-370 kg N ha −1 year −1 ; Robbins et al 2001;Law et al 2004;Osmond and Hardy 2004). In contrast, professional management services have a smaller range of application rates (e.g.…”