BIDDEFORD — Temperatures in Biddeford will top 70 degrees today ”“ a sign that summer isn’t far off. With that in mind, the city is asking residents to adopt more environmentally-friendly lawn care practices.

On April 25, the Biddeford Conservation Commission officially launched the YardSmart program, Commission Chair Tom Craven said last Thursday. Inspired by a successful Kennebunkport campaign called Lawns to Lobsters, Craven said the program asks Biddeford residents to voluntarily comply with the best management practices, or BMPs, established by the Maine Board of Pesticides Control.

Craven said the Kennebunkport Conservation Commission rolled out Lawns to Lobsters in 2009, with its name serving as a reminder that “everything we put on our lawns and gardens ends up in the water supply.”

In other words, improper lawn care practices cause excess levels of nitrogen and phosphorous to turn up in rivers and streams, according to Craven, affecting drinking water as well as the fishing industry ”“ an industry that is a boon to many Maine communities’ economies, including Biddeford’s.

Guy Casavant, the city’s public works director, said in an email Saturday, that Biddeford has been following the state’s BMPs on public land for “well over 10 years,” and he commended the Conservation Commission’s efforts to get residents on board with the practices, too.

“I think the recommendations from the Commission to homeowners (are) appropriate and not too onerous with many benefits,” said Casavant. 

Craven said there are 10 steps people can follow to comply with the state’s BMPs. First, as a means of determining a baseline, people should test their soil, he said. Free soil test kits are available at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s York County office, at 21 Bradeen St. in Springvale.

Additional tips include avoid fertilizing when it’s raining, let your lawn grown three inches or taller before cutting it and create a 25-foot “buffer zone” of untreated vegetation around any wells, wetlands or other bodies of water.

If you don’t care for your lawn or garden yourself, Craven said it’s important to discuss BMPs with those who do, such as landscaping companies.

“We see in my neighborhood that there is one company that comes around and goes to almost every property with one of those riding spreaders, and we don’t even know what it is,” he said. “They’re putting up all these little hazard signs for pets and for children.”

For a complete list of BMPs or to take the YardSmart pledge, Craven said people can stop into City Hall or visit www.biddefordmaine.org/conservation.

Craven added that he hopes the YardSmart program will aid in the city’s efforts to clean up Thatcher Brook, which is currently listed as an “impaired stream” by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

Biddeford Planning Engineer Jennie Franceschi told the Journal Tribune in January that one of the first goals of the city’s Thatcher Brook Watershed Management Plan is to reduce the levels of phosphorous in the brook, which flows through Biddeford and Arundel and eventually into the Saco River.

“The city wants to be proactive (with Thatcher Brook), and this is just another piece of the puzzle,” Craven said of the program.

— Staff Writer Angelo J. Verzoni can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected].