You can't beat the smooth feeling of a thick lawn under you feet, and when viewed from the water, nothing beats the look of a well manicured lawn against the waters edge. I love the look; I love the feel. But when I see it, under currents of environmental impact swell up in my mind.

Beautiful lake front lawns are possible, but they must be treated with care. Lawns that run to the pond's edge will have runoff. But, environmentally friendly waterfront lawn treatment is possible.

I have always been proud of maintaining a strong and healthy lawn. Many waterfront properties have owners that feel the same way. When I started to make a commitment to organic methods, I realized that weed free lawns are almost impossible without some sort of commercial pesticide.

Several years ago an elderly couple that loved birds moved across the street from me. They were very aware of how healthy my lawn was. They also were very interested in how I built it, and I was very open with them and revealed the information on how the lawn was formed. It was built through happen stance.

When my house was originally built, the lawn was planted on clay type loam and had a very strong angle from left to right. I didn't like the look; it made the house look crooked and uneven.

After the house was turned over to me, I searched for a source of loam that was rich in organic material, yet light and fluffy. My friends told me I was crazy because such loam would settle and compress after a year or two. They were right, but so was I.

The merchant I decided on using had run a pig farm for years. The field that he was striping had been fertilized with pig manure and turned regularly. The merchant increased his output by finely screening the loam before he shipped it. This made it light and fluffy; this is why my friends thought I was crazy to use it.

I went ahead with my plans anyway. I felt the light soil would allow seeds to germinate and implant roots with ease; I was right. There was one side benefit of having organic pig loam that I was unaware of at the time. My pig soil had a high PH. And lawns love a high PH level!

When I revealed this to my new neighbors, they checked on the loam I recommended but felt they were getting poor value because it would compress. They ordered loam from another supplier and to this day have had to use a large amount of commercial fertilizer and pesticides to obtain desired results.

One morning I ran into my neighbors at the mail box. They were excited that a pair of mocking birds had taken up residence in one of their hews. The next day the couple was out fertilizing their lawn which was followed up with an insecticidal treatment. The Mocking bird's chicks ended up paying the price and much to my amazement the couple hadn't realized what they had done.

The same goes for lakeside lawns, and although I love the look and feel, I can't help but get a funny feeling when I pass them. Maybe some people, like my neighbors, don't realize the side affects of some lawn treatments.

Most commercial lawn treatments have strong warnings about the affects they can have on aquatic insects and birds. But, with the amount of warnings and fine print on these packages, most of us do not read them thoroughly.

I'm no expert on the environmental impacts of fertilizer and pesticides on ponds but I've found a good resource. It is LakeSmart that is administered by the DEP. It never hurts to educate yourself.

Remember lawns love a sweet soil. Limestone is the key ingredient to a healthy strong lawn and it has a low environmental impact considering the amount of acid rain that Maine is subject to.

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