This installment hits a little close to home and hate I have to point out some of my own. I have seen this all over campus the last couple of weeks. Campus landscape has been putting out fertilizer in all the turf areas. They actually borrowed the Turf Program's tractor to spread it. If you've looked down while walking anywhere on campus you've probably seen it. The green prills indicate it is probably polyon, which is a slow release type of fertilizer. They have 'layers' of nutrients that are slowly released as the coating is broken down. A good fertilizer that doesn't burn the turf and requires fewer applications.
The problem comes in with the amount of fertilizer that ended up in non turf areas, namely concrete. By using a broadcast spreader it is very easy to throw fertilizer out of turf areas and into the street. However, all this street fertilizer is a waste of money and looks bad.
Turf is often finger pointed as a wasteful means of land use with all the maintenance requirements and chemicals needed. I most certainly disagree with that accusation, however seeing piles of fertilizer does not help our image. A little more care could save a lot of bad publicity.
