Trout Friendly Lawns

trout friendly lawns sign
Trout Friendly Lawn Sign

Clean Air Lawn Care Jackson Hole has teamed up with the Jackson Hole Clean Water Coalition and several other local businesses to protect our waterways and native fishery with safe, healthy landscape practices. Thanks to our organic and sustainable approach to lawn care, Clean Air Lawn Care has been nurturing pet-, pollinator-, and trout-friendly lawns in Jackson Hole since 2011. Now you can officially certify your lawn and get a colorful trout sign to show for it! Certified Trout Friendly Lawns follow maintenance and landscape practices that keep our prized waterways clean and abundant wildlife healthy.

Want to get certified as a Trout Friendly Lawn? It’s easy! Make sure you’re following the four guidelines below and head to the Trout Friendly Lawns website to get your yard certified. Click the “Basic” or “Gold” level certification button, fill out the form, and get certified. Purchasing the yard sign is optional, but it’s a great way to show your support for your local community and ecosystem.

If you need help with the process, get in touch we can help! If you’re already a Clean Air Lawn Care customer, you might already qualify as a certified Trout Friendly Lawn. 

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What is a Trout Friendly Lawn?

4 practices for a trout friendly lawn

The benefits of maintaining a Trout Friendly Lawn include conserving water, protecting water quality, creating and strengthening habitat for fish, birds and wildlife, supporting insect populations, and saving money on water and other utilities. Trout friendly lawns are also pet-, kid- and pollinator-friendly lawns. So what exactly is a Trout Friendly Lawn and how can you get one? Follow the four main guidelines below, and then head to the Trout Friendly Lawns website to get certified. If you have questions or need help with your Trout Friendly Lawn care, get in touch with us. We are committed to seeing more Trout Friendly Lawns in our community.

  1. Limit Fertilization. Many common fertilizers are high in nitrogen, which can quickly green up lawns. However, this short-lived nitrogen often ends up in surrounding waterways because it seeps into the groundwater or ends up in the run-off that feeds directly to surrounding creeks, rivers, and lakes. Using organic and slow-release fertilizers for your lawn is a safer and healthier way to fertilize your lawn. Remember not to fertilize within 20 feet of water.
  2. Be Water Wise. Overwatering not only uses too much of a precious resource, but it also contributes to water pollution by increasing runoff. There are many little things you can do to become more water-wise in your landscape and lawn care. Some of these include watering at dawn or dusk, turning off your irrigation system when it rains, and mowing your grass high.
  3. Plant Natives and Maintain Streamside Buffers. Planting native, water-wise plants and maintaining at least 5 feet of streamside buffers directly impacts your local ecosystem.  The unspoiled vegetation reduces erosion and runoff, requires no irrigation or fertilizer, and provides a habitat for pollinators, birds and other local wildlife.
  4. Use Herbicides and Pesticides Appropriately. Excessive or unnecessary applications of pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides negatively impact water quality and native plants, insects, fish, and wildlife. However, it is important to treat noxious or invasive weeds and to follow the recommended guidelines on product labels. Contact Teton County Weed and Pest District for invasive species management plan information.

Become a certified Trout Friendly Lawn here. You can get a basic certification or a gold certification. Either way, we can help you become Trout Friendly with our organic approach to lawn care.

See If You Already Qualify

How Clean Air Lawn Care Creates Healthy, Trout Friendly Lawns

clean air lawn care logoYou’ll notice the Clean Water Coalition’s Trout riding next to the Clean Air Lawn Care Monty Moose mascot on our trucks these days. That’s because we’re showing our continued dedication to keeping our precious mountain ecosystem healthy and vibrant. The health of wildlife, pets, pollinators, and families has been and will always be our number one priority. So, partnering with the Clean Water Coalition and their Trout Friendly Lawn program was an exciting and easy choice for us. Our lawn care service might automatically certify you for the Trout Friendly Lawn program because we have always been dedicated to the following principles with our lawn care approach:

  1. Use natural, organic, and low-nitrogen fertilizers when needed. We use high-quality and organic treatments that focus on the health of your lawn’s soil. We avoid high-nitrogen and synthetic fertilizers because they can harm the health of the soil and nearby waterways.
  2. Mow high. We mow high because it’s been proven to lead to healthier, more water-efficient lawns. Longer grass blades can capture more sunlight, grow larger root systems, and hold more water than grass blades that are cut shorter.
  3. Leave grass clippings on the lawn. We leave clippings on the lawn to return much-needed nitrogen and organic matter to the soil.
  4. Avoid chemical and synthetic herbicides and pesticides, and use natural herbicides when needed. We are dedicated to organic lawn care, so we avoid synthetic and chemical pesticides at all costs. We use bio-based and pollinator-safe weed control when it is needed or requested. You can read more about our pet-safe weed control here.
  5. Nourish the soil to create healthy, water-efficient, and weed-resistant lawns. Our sustainable lawn care approach starts with the soil. We feed the soil with all-natural fertilizer and soil builder treatments that contain essential nutrients and minerals, amino acids, and active microbes. Healthy soil grows healthy grass, and healthy grass resists weeds and pests. Plus, it requires less water than chemically treated or un-treated lawns because it can hold more water and host healthier root systems.

Would you like to learn more about or sign up for our sustainable and trout-friendly approach to lawn care? Get a free estimate here.