Yesterday I was able to volunteer a couple of hours to help Helen setup the Lynnhaven River Now Booth at the Mid-Atlantic Home and Flower Show. As a volunteer I had a chance to get a sneak preview of the landscape displays. Most were very impresses, especially this early in the year, seasonal color is definitely a challenge.

Be sure to stop by the booth to get information about soil sampling and rain barrels, both are important clean water practices.

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I was reading in the paper this morning about the Flower Show and I was disappointed that there was only one presentation related to green gardening, Making Your Own Compost and Tumblers. I really thought we were heading in the direction of more sustainable garden landscapes.

Please visit the Lynnhaven River Now booth and see all the green initiatives that are helping clean up our area waters.

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We had about 7″of snow in our neighborhood and it made for a very pretty scene.

Our favorite past time the last two days is watching the cardinals, blue jays, downy woodpeckers and the many small visitors to the feeder.

I feel I have finally come up with an inexpensive way to thwart the squirrels from tipping over the feeder.

Try not to use harsh chemicals to melt the snow on impervious surfaces because as the snow melts it will wash on to your lawns, flower beds or down the the driveway to the sewer drains .

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Another minor setback for cleaner water.

House Bill 329 (The bill concerning usage of phosphorus containing fertilizers) will be carried over to the 2011 General Assembly session

It appears the bill did get the industry’s attention.

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I just spent three days at the Mid-Atlantic Short Course in Virginia Beach. I attended many informative presentations but the most applicable was one concerning Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, PA. They are planning  a building that is completely sustainable. Check out link to Phipps Green Heart The Landscape Architect is Andrpogon Associates

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What is a watershed?

Today is a perfect day in Virginia Beach to discuss watersheds. It’s raining quite hard at times and one can observe the rain water flowing off of lawns and driveways into the street and down to the storm drains.

Where does it go?

Eventually it will end up in one our rivers and over time into one of our bays or sounds. This is a non-point pollution source because this water is totally untreated.

What is a watershed?

It’s the land that the water flows over or under to get to our rivers and bays.

In a particular watershed all the land drains to a particular body of water. In Virginia Beach there are five major watersheds. That is a large number for area the size of Virginia Beach.

People who live in the area should know their watershed address. Do you know what your address is?

Try to find out before my next post. More to Come

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This is my first attempt to write a post on my blog.

The emphasis of my blog is, as the title suggest, ‘Dedication to Clean Water Practices’. This means I hope to help people in our local area understand the serious need to use environmentally safe practices during their daily routines and particularly in what and how their interact with their outside surroundings.

I am not a scientist or an expert but a concerned citizen. There are so many great blogs that cover all related subject matter on the environment, conservation, clean water practices, etc. that I will attempt to write about our local area and the problems we can try to reduce.

I hope to study the internet and collect ideas from people around the country that we might be able to introduce locally.  

Look for my upcoming post, in which I will introduce the discussion of watersheds and what their means to us.

Take a look at this link to calculate ‘Your Bay Footprint’

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