BayScaping

BayScaping: Because the Bay Begins at our Front Door
BayScaping is a "grassroots" outreach program designed to encourage homeowners, businesses, and municipalities to reduce their use of pesticides and fertilizers. Developed in partnership with the Maine Board of Pesticides Control, BayScaping recognizes that our lawn care practices can affect the health of Casco Bay. You can become a BayScaper by following a six-step plan of environmentally-friendly lawn care - email us to request a copy of this six-step guide.

Start BayScaping Today by Following These Tips

▪ Keep your lawn area small, which will help reduce stormwater runoff. Instead of planting grass, use trees and shrubs to absorb rainwater and prevent soil erosion.

▪   If planting grass, use a Bay-friendly mix of low maintenance seeds. Click here to learn about grass seed mixes suited for a variety of growing conditions. You'll also find out where you can buy these mixes locally.
▪   Test your soil to see what, if any, fertilizer it needs. If you must apply fertilizer, wait until late summer/early fall, when the soil is warm enough to absorb it.
▪   Check out the guide Gardening to Conserve Maine's Landscape: plants to use and plants to avoid from Maine Cooperative Extension.

▪ Visit the Maine YardScaping website to learn how you can join the growing number of Mainers who have decided to change their yard care ways – for the health of the environment, people, and wildlife.

We Found Pesticides In Stormwater

Since 2001, Friends of Casco Bay has been sampling stormwater around the Bay, and we've detected the presence of pesticides, bacteria, and nutrients -- pollutants that can damage water quality in Casco Bay. Learn about our findings in the Wildwood neighborhood of Cumberland Foreside.

Below: Through our stormwater sampling efforts, Friends of Casco Bay detected toxic pesticides flowing into Casco Bay from nearly every coastal community.

Recent News

BayScaping at Back Cove

An ecological landscaping project has taken over a section of Portland's Back Cove trail. This low-impact landscaping method is modeled after Friends of Casco Bay's BayScaping program. Learn more about this project and watch a video here.

You Care About Yard Care!

Friends of Casco Bay helped conduct a survey of consumer's preferences about lawn care practices. Click here to read a summary of the results.

Alberta Bans "Weed & Feed"

The Canadian province bans the popular weed killer, which kills birds and contaminates rivers. Read about it in The Edmonton Journal here.

Mainers Can Dispose of Pesticides

Maine residents can get rid of their banned or unusable pesticides for free. The Maine Board of Pesticides Control will collect and dispose of banned pesticides or pesticides that have become caked, frozen, or otherwise unusable at four sites throughout the state. Get more info at www.thinkfirstspraylast.org, or call 287-2731.

Help Fund our BayScaping Program
Your donation will help our staff and volunteers connect with homeowners and businesses to teach them how to grow green lawns that keep Casco Bay blue. Click on the button below and write “BayScaping” in the designation box one you get to the billing page. Thank you!