Raise the Blade Lawn Care
Seeking Local Businesses to Participate as Research or Demonstration Sites for Lawn Care Best Practices
Lake Champlain Sea Grant and partner organizations are seeking businesses within the Lake Champlain Basin to become research and/or demonstration sites for a suite of lawn care best practices. Please contact Kris Stepenuck (kstepenu [at] uvm.edu or 802-656-8504) if your business has an area of lawn and may be interested in participating based on the criteria described below.
Research Sites
Is your business willing to:
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have a small area of its lawn cut to 2 inches and another portion cut to 3 inches in length? (This can be managed in part by your existing landscaping company and in part by an undergraduate researcher.)
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place a small election-style sign on the lawn to alert people to the research underway?
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have an undergraduate student researcher visit the site regularly during summer 2017 to collect data on grass height, water infiltration rates, soil organic matter, soil moisture, and visual grass quality? Results will be shared with each business as well as the broader community.
Demonstration Sites
Does your business:
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maintain its lawn to a minimum height of 3 inches?
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cut no more than 1/3 of the grass blade length during each cutting?
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allow the grass clippings to decomponse on the lawn to help build soil organic matter?
Is your business willing to:
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place a small election-style sign on the lawn to alert people of your use of these recommended best practices in the Raise the Blade campaign?