SALEM — A guide with tips on how to keep your lawn green while conserving both water and money is coming to a mailbox near you.
The Greenscapes Guide, a 20-page booklet promoting environmentally friendly landscaping, is being mailed out to residents in Salem and eight other North Shore communities this week.
The guide covers topics ranging from composting to lawn watering to low-maintenance plants.
"We're always preaching about storm water, but this is what you can do in your yard and in the process, save yourself money and time," said Barbara Warren, the executive director of Salem Sound Coastwatch, one of the organizations helping to distribute the guide on the North Shore.
For example, mowing your lawn when it's wet can cause grass clippings to decompose more slowly and can cause disease to spread, the guide says.
However, leaving grass clippings on your lawn over the course of a season provides the equivalent of one regular fertilizer application, according to the guide.
About a half-dozen garden centers on the North Shore are also offering 15 percent discounts on Greenscapes-recommended plants when customers mention the Greenscapes program.
The guides will be mailed out to single-family homes this week. Guides can also be picked up at town/city halls and local libraries and can be downloaded for free at www.greenscapes.org.
They're being funded, in part, by 33 communities across the state, including Salem.
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