Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program will host a residential rainwater harvesting and turf management training for Brazoria County residents May 12 in Angleton.
The free, in-person event will be 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension County Office, 21017 CR 171, in Angleton. Online registration is required at tx.ag/May12Angleton.
Attendees who register for the event will receive updates, instructions to join the meeting and materials related to the meeting via email. They can register online or contact John Smith, AgriLife Extension program specialist, College Station, at john.smith@ag.tamu.edu or 979-204-0573 with any questions.
The training is being offered in collaboration with the Bastrop Bayou Watershed Partnership.
“The Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program aims to improve and protect surface water quality by enhancing awareness and knowledge of best management practices for residential landscapes,” Smith said.
On the agenda
Attendees will learn about the design and installation of residential rainwater harvesting systems as well as appropriate turf and landscape species based on local conditions and other practices.
“Management practices such as using irrigation delivery equipment, interpreting soil test results and understanding nutrient applications can help reduce runoff and make efficient use of applied landscape irrigation water,” Smith said.
Dean Minchillo, AgriLife Extension program specialist in Dallas, said the program will cover proper fertilizer application and efficient water irrigation, which can protect and improve water quality in area creeks. Attendees will also learn about collecting rainwater for residential landscape needs and reducing stormwater runoff.
Justin Bowers, watershed coordinator for the Bastrop Bayou Watershed, will also discuss updates on Bastrop Bayou Watershed Protection Plan activities to improve and protect water quality in this watershed during the event.
Soil testing
Participants can have their soil tested as part of the training. The soil sample bag and analysis are free to Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program participants.
Residents can pick up a soil sample bag with sampling instructions and the Urban and Homeowner Soil Sample Information Form at the AgriLife Extension offices in Brazoria County at 21017 CR 171, Angleton. Bags containing residents’ soil samples should be returned to the location where they were obtained prior to the meeting or by one week after the meeting, or soil samples can be brought to the training where we will have soil bags to transfer the soil into. Attendees should not mail the soil sample to the lab.
Samples will be grouped into one submission and sent to the AgriLife Extension Soil, Water and Forage Testing Lab in College Station for routine analysis, including micronutrients, pH, conductivity, nitrate-nitrogen, and other parameters.
The training will include information on how to understand soil test results and nutrient recommendations so residents can interpret results once the analysis is mailed to them.
Funding for the Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program is provided in part by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality through a Clean Water Act § 319(h) grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The project is managed by the Texas Water Resources Institute, part of Texas A&M AgriLife Research, AgriLife Extension, and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University.
