Certain Weed + Feeds Now Banned in New York State

There are a lot of 'lawn' rules in New York State. You CANNOT use these weed and feeds on you lawn.

You cannot have phosphorus in your weed and feed, so you have to double check what you are buying does not have it. The fear is that the fertilizer would run off from rain or snow and get into the water sources.

What if phosphorus got into the water? What does it do?

Soil erosion is a major contributor of phosphorus to streams. Bank erosion occurring during floods can transport a lot of phosphorous from the river banks and adjacent land into a stream, lake, or other water body, according to usgs.gov. Toxic algea forms because of it getting into the water ways. This has been a massive problem especially for Western New York being on the shore of Lake Erie. There was a major boom in the 50s and 60s that effected farmers and more around the area.

How much phosphorus was found in the water?

According to the popular lawn care company, Scotts, over 10,000 metric tons.

"In 2011, we announced we would completely remove phosphorus from our lawn maintenance fertilizers, including Scotts^® Turf Builder^®, the best-selling lawn fertilizer in the United States. Only fertilizers used for new lawns continue to use phosphorus as it is necessary for these new plants to develop a proper root structure", according to the Scotts Miracle Grow website.

The DEC site says that any products that contain more than 0.67% phosphorus cannot be used on lawns in New York State.