What is controlled drainage and subirrigation?

One of the most important jobs for a grower is managing water. Some areas of the United States have plenty of rainfall throughout the growing season. Others do not. And still others have too much water at some times of the year and not enough water at others. All of these different farm fields need …

How does low-impact development help manage stormwater?

Cities can have many benefits when designed well, including reducing carbon imprints. Another way cities can improve their environmental impact is by using “low-impact development” with regard to water management. Also called “green stormwater infrastructure,” it provides planners with a toolbox of practices and approaches to manage water during rain events and snowmelt. On undeveloped …

How can I manage my lawn to prevent nitrate pollution?

Lawns are a major part of urban ecosystems. Turf grasses represent one of the major crops in the United States. The area of lawns combined would be about equal to the size of the entire state of Wisconsin. Lawns have several environmental benefits, including carbon sequestration, reducing urban heat, and reducing. However, if they are …

Can moss help clean up waterways?

In a word, yes! In a paper published in the Journal of Environmental Quality (2021), researchers studied a type of submerged aquatic moss. Fontinalis antipyrectica has a common name of “willow moss” and can even be installed in home ponds. Willow moss is a species in the class Bryopsida, which includes over 11,000 moss species around …

Do wildflowers help reduce runoff in roadside soils?

Road construction and roads themselves can cause more problems than just a rush hour traffic jam. My research focuses on using wildflowers to help reduce some of these problems – in addition to being pretty! Paved surfaces, such as roads, cannot absorb rain during storms. Rain or snowmelt becomes runoff that flows to the soils …