Keep it on the Lawn

Fall is a good time to do some lawn maintenance and prepare for next spring's growing season. One of things you can do to improve your lawn and water quality this season is to keep the leaves on the lawn!

Mulch-mowing helps Mother Nature keep your lawn lush, green and healthy and saves you time and labor.

Fewer leaves in the street mean better environmental stewardship:

• Leaf piles may clog the storm drain system causing flooded streets & potentially flooded properties.

• Leaf pile storm water runoff dumps phosphorus leachate into the Roanoke’s streams and rivers potentially decreasing oxygen availability for fish and other aquatic life.

Fewer leaves in the street mean cleaner, safer, & more aesthetically pleasing streets:

• Leaf piles may become dangerous unseen obstacles if workers have to plow an early season snow.

• Leaf piles may become slippery when wet, creating potential hazards for pedestrians.

• Leaf piles may become fire hazards if a vehicle’s exhaust or a careless cigarette comes into contact with dry leaves.

Healthy soils can soak up stormwater

Mulch-mowing adds needed nutrients to your soil. When soils are healthy, they soak up stormwater runoff. A technique called soil restoration, enhances compacted soils to improve their porosity and nutrient retention. Soil restoration improves soil structure by increasing porosity for root growth and microbial activity, and retain more water and nutrients for plant uptake.

You can enhance your soil's health by adding compost.  Composting leaves and grass clippings with other organic matter enhances soil structure, infiltration, root growth, and water-holding capacity and reduces soil compaction. 

Increasing  soil porosity can reduce runoff approximately 30% to 50% when used with other practices throughout a watershed, such as rooftop disconnections and grass channels. You can learn more about reducing stormwater runoff in the Roanoke Stormwater Ideabook.

Only Rain Down the Storm Drain 

The City of Roanoke is serious about improving the quality of stormwater entering our creeks, streams, and rivers. Citizens have a role in this effort by helping to ensure that only rainwater enters the City's stormwater drainage system. Curbs, gutters, ditchlines and other stormwater conveyances are all considered portions of the City's stormwater drainage system.

This system is designed for local flood control and moves stormwater during rain events into the nearest local waterway. The stormwater that enters this system is not filtered or treated in any way and flows through the pipe network before discharging into the nearest creek or stream. The mowing or blowing of grass clippings and leaves into the City’s stormwater drainage system is not only an “illicit discharge” but also considered stormwater pollution because this practice can impair water quality as well as restrict water flow and/or create localized flooding.

Report an illicit discharges!

Residents who observe illegal dumping or observe pollutants within waterways or storm drains should contact the City of Roanoke, Stormwater Division at [email protected]  or by calling 540-853-5900.