The Grass Doctor

Fertilizing my lawn with and I have a dug well?

I have a dug well on my property which is used for drinking water. It's 15ft deep. I am thinking of spreading some fertilizer for the lawn. Is it bad to spread chemical fertilizers for fear of it leaking into the well? Or is 15ft deep enough? I wanted to spread grub-ex and weed and feed to get rid of all the weeds and moles.

Public Comments

1. Fifteen feet isn't very deep. I'd try to use organic lawn treatments whenever possible. Milky spore will get rid of the large grubs within 2-3 years, and is harmless to everything else. There are organic mole deterrents available at garden centers and home improvement stores. You're probably safe with many fertilizers, they're elemental, but I'd read the package carefully first, or check them out online. Hope this helps...
2. Please do not poison your ground or your water. Runoff will get in there quickly, the rest will take some time, but it will get in there. Anything that will get rid of a weed or a mole is a poison. As for the moles, look kindly upon them. They do more for the health of your lawn than any amount of costly chemical fertilizer will do -- they distribute nutrients, aerate the ground, and eat locust grubs (as well as a few of your bulbs). Yes, their burrows can be unsightly, but they do so, so much good for your yard. I live in the Catskills of NY where most of our water is funneled down south for drinking. Anyone within 100 yards of a body of water (even a seasonal stream) is prohibited from using lawn fertilizers and chemicals. Over the past 20 years, what used to be pristine clean water is now contaminated, and the "fertilizers" have given rise to a whole new wild water cress that is choking waterways, killing aquatic life, depriving water of oxygen....and this stuff does not die, even in the coldest, harshest winters it thrives and destroys bodies of water. We are not very populated, but what little fertilizers have been used are killing the fish and water ways. Imagine what a suburban area of weed-free lawns puts into the groundwater.