After Mike Moran's landscapers mow and trim, they finish with the meticulous and uncommon touch of vacuuming a yard to leave it "perfect for a picture."

The arrival of daylight saving time Sunday steps up lawn-watering limits in nearly all of Central Florida from once to twice a week, marking the return of the growing season for lawns and prime time for pollution.

Grass cuttings, fallen oak leaves and other yard waste are packets of natural fertilizer that turn rivers and lakes into algae soup.

"There's no controversy over that," said Cris Costello, Sierra Club organizer in Florida. "Nobody disputes that it's a big problem but that it's easy to fix."

Fixing the problem means preventing clippings from migrating down gutters into local waters. That's easy relative to solving other pollution, including leaky septic tanks. But it's still a challenge, with contrasting opinions over solutions.

As owner of Royal Palm Landscape in Orlando, Moran seems more willing to experiment than the typical landscaper. For example, he is attempting to fuel a work truck with grass clippings and tree scraps.

Moran has used vacuums for years at modest homes, Winter Park mansions and luxury-auto dealers. He empties their bags at a landfill-compost site during regular trips to also dispose of tree and shrub trimmings.

He said the machines speed work, leave a home ready for a magazine feature, and "it's the right thing to do" environmentally.

If vacuuming seems like a win for the property owner and for the environment, not all in the landscape profession are impressed.

"It's flat-out nasty the dust, dirt," said Tom Burish, director of Florida Landscape Management Association, referring to emptying vacuum bags.

Excerpt from:
Vacuum, bag or blow before yard pollutes water

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March 7, 2015 at 7:18 pm by Mr HomeBuilder
Category: Landscape Yard