The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program will host a residential rainwater harvesting and turf management training on Oct. 3 for Kendall County.
The free event will be at the Comfort Public Library, 701 High Street, in Comfort, from 1-5 p.m.
Participants can RSVP at hlhw.tamu.edu/workshops or by contacting John Smith, AgriLife Extension program specialist in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Bryan-College Station, at 979-204-0573 or john.smith@ag.tamu.edu. Attendees who RSVP will receive updates and training materials via email.
The training is offered in collaboration with the Upper Cibolo Creek 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.
Residential landscape best practices on the agenda
Participants will learn about the design and installation of residential rainwater harvesting systems and appropriate turf and landscape species based on local conditions and other best 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.
“Proper fertilizer application and efficient water irrigation can protect and improve water quality in area creeks, and collecting rainwater for lawn and landscape needs reduces stormwater runoff,” said Dean Minchillo, Texas Water Resources Institute, TWRI, program specialist, Dallas.
Ryan Bass, watershed coordinator for the Upper Cibolo Creek watershed, will also discuss updates on their activities to improve and protect water quality in this watershed during the event.
Soil testing part of program
Residents can also have their soil tested as part of the program. The training will include information on understanding soil test results and nutrient recommendations to help interpret results once the analysis is mailed to them.
Sample bags and testing are free to program participants. Residents can pick up bags, sampling instructions and the Urban and Homeowner Soil Sample Information Form at the Kendall County AgriLife Extension Office, 210 E. San Antonio Ave #9, in Boerne.
Bags containing residents’ soil samples should be returned there prior to the training, or by Oct. 10. Soil samples may also be brought to the training, where staff will have soil bags to transfer the sample into. Please do 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.
Funding for the 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 TWRI, a unit of Texas A&M AgriLife Research that brings together expertise from across The Texas A&M University System.
