lakes

Simple yard and garden maintenance practices that can save time, effort, and money, and help keep lake waters safe for people, pets, and wildlife.

Diagonal channels across driveways or pathways that intercept stormwater runoff and divert it to a stable treatment area.

Vegetated swales, also called bioswales, are shallow open channels lined with dense vegetation that slow, filter, and convey stormwater runoff.

Turnouts and rock aprons receive channelized flow from swales, ditches, and culverts and convert it to sheet flow before entering stable vegetated areas. Turnouts are extensions of ditches that redirect water, slow it down, and disperse it. A rock apron is a shallow basin lined with stones used to settle and filter water from concentrated flows.

Manage for native vegetation and pathways along shorelands to minimize risk of human contact with ticks and prevent tickborne diseases, including Lyme Disease and Anaplasmosis.

Natural communities are made of plants and animals growing and living together in landscapes characterized by specific soil, water, and climate conditions. Native shoreland vegetation is essential for protecting lake water quality and wildlife habitat. Vermont has over 800 lakes with several natural lakeshore communities, ranging from cobble and sandy beaches to wetlands to northern hardwood forests. Planting native species and protecting and encouraging natural plant communities along Vermont shorelands is one of the most important things we can do to protect lake health, clean drinking water, biodiversity, and recreational opportunities.

Rain gardens are both aesthetic and functional concave gardens with native plants that filter stormwater runoff, reduce erosion, and replenish groundwater.

Meandering and switchback pathways that are stable and shed runoff regularly prevent erosion and stabilize high traffic areas. Methods include path delineation, crushed stone, Erosion Control mix, and water bars.

Permeable paver blocks and geogrid reinforced aggregate or turf are structural surfaces consisting of a permeable material underlain by a storage or infiltration reservoir. They can be installed to infiltrate, filter, and store stormwater.

Invasive species are non-native plants, animals, algae, fungi, or pathogens that threaten and often outcompete native species and undermine the function and integrity of an ecosystem. They are typically a result of human degraded environments and introduction. Limiting the growth or eradicating invasive species is critical to protecting the survival and diversity of native plant species, which are the foundation for ecosystem health, wildlife habitat, water quality protection, and aesthetic and recreational value.