Applications of lawn fertilizers and other lawn chemicals may directly run into the lake when it rains. Before conducting any fertilizer applications take a soil sample and determine what nutrients are necessary for a healthy growing lawn. These services are often offered at low or no cost through the local soil and conservation service or […]
Fertilizer Management Read More »
Establishment or maintenance of an area of native plants and grasses in an approximately 100 foot buffer along the lake shore can enhance nutrient filtering all while increasing vital habitat for the lakes inhabitants. Creating such a buffer can help to intercept sediment and phosphorus before it flows into the lake thereby helping to reduce
The Association employs a limnologist (a specialist in lake ecology) to monitor the health of the lake. Monitoring includes annual checks of the lake’s ecological balance, together with tests of its water with regard to acidity, oxygen, organic matter, and trace elements. This information is used by the Association’s Lake Committee in its recommendations for
Water Quality: Algae and Weed Control Read More »
Aside from the irritation caused by mosquito bites, we need to be concerned about the role mosquitoes play in transmitting West Nile virus (which has now spread throughout the USA) and several forms of encephalitis. There are 62 mosquito species in the state: some feed during the day and others at night; some breed in
These are a group of predatory worms (annelids, related to earthworms), one type of which attacks mammals. They lie on shallow, mucky (not sandy) bottoms in quiet water and react to moving shadows by swimming towards the shadow-casting object. Their bite is totally painless and non-toxic because the saliva includes anesthetics, anticoagulants, and powerful antibiotics,
A small aphid-like insect from Japan, the woolly adelgid can kill mature hemlocks and can become a serious problem around Lake Sagamore and, more generally, in the Northeast. Make sure that you inspect your trees (those infected will have brittle, dark leaves covered with white wool on the underside). To prevent the loss of the
Deer ticks are the vector for Lyme Disease (as well as 15 other diseases, including erlichosis, babesiosis, and spotted fever) because ticks feed repeatedly during their life cycle and carry infection from one animal to another. No bigger than a poppy seed in their nymph stage, and the size of a pin head as adults,
Deer, usually an icon of nature’s pastoral beauty, can also be a pest when their population is in an expansion cycle. Residents are encouraged to landscape with plants that are generally unattractive to deer, such as mountain laurel, ferns, daffodils, and evergreens (but not arborvitae). Despite lists (such as this) of vegetation deer may spurn,
Erroneously considered to be larvae of gypsy moths, tent caterpillars emerge every several years in vast numbers and can severely defoliate trees. While healthy trees rarely die as a result of caterpillar action, the infestation is unsightly and damaging. Egg masses of tent caterpillars are easily seen in fall and winter, as black “bracelets” clasped
Canada geese are a protected species, yet without their natural predators to control the geese population they can become a pest. Their droppings may foul lawns and contribute unnecessary nutrients to the Lake. The Association annually receives a Federal EPA permit to have geese eggs addled, which has enabled control of their proliferation. Geese prefer