Meta tags:
author=Opinion;

Headings (most frequently used words):

vermont, and, member, supported, journalism, informing, engaging, to, lawns, follow, along, opinion, more, gift, informs, empowers, donate, now, keep, independent, news, free, every, pat, suozzi, lakes, streams, like, fewer, too, lucie, lehmann, vermonters, it, time, get, rid, of, your, latest, posts, joshua, reap, trade, education, solves, than, just, labor, shortage, peggy, stevens, protecting, lake, memphremagog, from, pfas, must, be, priority, dorrine, dorfman, charlene, webster, following, up, on, act, 72, vtdigger, topics, info, counties, monthly, sustaining, for, neighbor, share, this, read,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
and (39), the (20), vermont (17), #opinion (12), lakes (10), share (9), 2025 (8), vtdigger (7), from (7), #donate (7), more (6), september (6), lake (6), native (6), click (6), opens (6), new (6), window (6), education (5), suozzi (5), ponds (5), that (5), this (5), lawn (5), lawns (5), with (5), search (5), journalism (4), news (4), health (4), tip (4), member (4), variety (4), vermonters (4), pat (4), all (4), are (4), other (4), help (4), garden (4), for (4), like (4), get (4), along (4), streams (4), linkedin (4), facebook (4), free (4), email (3), about (3), public (3), safety (3), environment (3), economy (3), housing (3), government (3), politics (3), advertise (3), contact (3), buy (3), merch (3), board (3), newsletters (3), give (3), supported (3), informing (3), engaging (3), views (3), commentaries (3), submit (3), commentary (3), will (3), latest (3), protect (3), mowing (3), plant (3), into (3), not (3), can (3), you (3), your (3), follow (3), required (2), powered (2), project (2), community (2), life (2), pieces (2), contributed (2), readers (2), newsmakers (2), strives (2), publish (2), broad (2), range (2), have (2), here (2), act (2), water (2), pfas (2), one (2), stop (2), federation (2), planting (2), lists (2), plants (2), shrubs (2), trees (2), maintenance (2), tips (2), mainly (2), would (2), their (2), time (2), nearby (2), far (2), stream (2), runoff (2), nutrients (2), pollutants (2), state (2), stormwater (2), many (2), lucie (2), lehmann (2), rid (2), describes (2), she (2), her (2), whatsapp (2), bluesky (2), fewer (2), too (2), menu (2), youtube (2), instagram (2), obituaries (2), stories (2), podcasts (2), jobs (2), close (2), every (2), gift (2), informs (2), empowers (2), now (2), keep (2), independent (2), website, name, write, comment, loading, comments, newspack, trust, ltd, windsor, windham, washington, rutland, orleans, orange, lamoille, grand, isle, franklin, essex, chittenden, caledonia, bennington, addison, counties, policies, sharing, faq, careers, meet, our, team, info, culture, topics, job, ways, become, tagged, request, correction, newsletter, something, say, applies, grades, requires, appropriately, trained, professional, provide, remediation, dorrine, dorfman, charlene, webster, following, those, whose, drinking, comes, risk, exposure, harmful, chemicals, sources, peggy, stevens, protecting, memphremagog, must, priority, construction, industry, remain, most, knowledge, driven, human, sectors, workforce, joshua, reap, trade, solves, than, just, labor, shortage, posts, has, published, includes, landscape, design, templates, plans, well, while, was, created, shore, property, owners, designs, completely, relevant, anyone, who, change, desert, landscaping, booklet, interested, but, sure, how, started, removing, species, reduce, pollution, quality, bring, pleasure, full, require, little, leisure, out, enjoy, even, live, laden, sediment, end, eventually, contribute, creating, flowing, across, also, erode, roads, carrying, dirt, gravel, salts, closed, beaches, champlain, toxic, cyanobacteria, blooms, consisting, phosphorus, 800, august, read, grass, its, shallow, roots, does, absorb, much, rainwater, however, deeper, root, systems, which, significantly, reduces, absorbent, add, another, very, important, benefit, less, improving, recent, piece, author, wonderful, transformation, took, place, when, removed, planted, perennials, grasses, yard, came, alive, color, attracting, sorts, birds, butterflies, bees, benefits, doing, including, reduction, use, pesticides, hinesburg, president, voice, members, represent, instructions, link, friend, posted, open, pursuit, truth, skip, content, monthly, sustaining, neighbor,

Text of the page (random words):
pat suozzi vermont lakes and streams like fewer lawns too vtdigger a monthly sustaining gift informs and empowers donate now to keep independent vermont news free for every neighbor every gift informs and empowers donate now to keep independent vermont news free close donate search for search advertise government politics housing economy environment education health public safety vermont s free newsletters jobs board podcasts latest stories opinion obituaries donate buy merch share a tip about us contact follow along facebook instagram youtube x linkedin member supported journalism informing and engaging vermont close vermont s free newsletters jobs board podcasts latest stories opinion obituaries donate buy merch share a tip about us contact follow along facebook instagram youtube x linkedin member supported journalism informing and engaging vermont skip to content vtdigger news in pursuit of truth donate open search search for search menu donate menu advertise government politics housing economy environment education health public safety posted in opinion pat suozzi vermont lakes and streams like fewer lawns too help protect vermont s lakes and ponds stop mowing and plant a garden by opinion september 9 2025 7 04 am share this click to share on facebook opens in new window facebook click to share on bluesky opens in new window bluesky click to share on x opens in new window x click to email a link to a friend opens in new window email click to share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin click to share on whatsapp opens in new window whatsapp commentaries are opinion pieces contributed by readers and newsmakers vtdigger strives to publish a variety of views from a broad range of vermonters commentaries give voice to community members and do not represent vtdigger s views to submit a commentary follow the instructions here this commentary is by pat suozzi of hinesburg suozzi is the president of the federation of vermont lakes and ponds in the recent opinion piece vermonters get rid of your lawns author lucie lehmann describes the wonderful transformation that took place when she removed her lawn and planted native perennials and grasses her yard came alive with color attracting all sorts of birds butterflies native bees and more she describes many of the benefits of doing this including reduction in the use of pesticides i would like to add another very important benefit of less lawn improving the health of vermont s lakes and streams grass with its shallow roots does not absorb much rainwater however native plants shrubs and trees with their deeper root systems are far more absorbent which significantly reduces stormwater runoff read more lucie lehmann vermonters it s time to get rid of your lawns by opinion august 26 2025 7 00 am even if you live far from a lake or stream runoff from a lawn laden with nutrients sediment and other pollutants will end up in a nearby stream and eventually into one of the state s 800 lakes and ponds the nutrients consisting mainly of phosphorus contribute to creating the toxic cyanobacteria blooms that have closed so many beaches along lake champlain and on other lakes in the state stormwater flowing across your lawn can also erode roads carrying that dirt and gravel along with salts and other pollutants into the lakes and streams removing lawns and planting native species can help to reduce this pollution protect water quality and bring you the pleasure of a garden full of life that will require little to no mowing and give you more leisure time to get out and enjoy a nearby lake interested but not sure how to get started we can help the federation of vermont lakes and ponds has published a landscaping booklet that includes a variety of landscape design templates and planting plans lists of native plants shrubs and trees as well as maintenance tips while this was created mainly for lake shore property owners all of the designs native plant lists and maintenance tips are completely relevant to anyone who would like to change their lawn desert into a garden help protect vermont s lakes and ponds stop mowing and plant a garden latest opinion posts joshua reap trade education solves more than just a labor shortage the construction industry is and will remain one of the most knowledge driven human powered sectors of the workforce september 8 2025 5 37 pm september 8 2025 5 37 pm peggy stevens protecting lake memphremagog from pfas must be a priority those whose drinking water comes from the lake are at risk of exposure to pfas and other harmful chemicals from a variety of sources september 7 2025 6 36 am dorrine dorfman and charlene webster following up on vermont s act 72 act 72 applies to all grades k 12 and requires an appropriately trained education professional to provide remediation september 5 2025 4 18 pm september 5 2025 4 19 pm all opinion have something to say submit a commentary here vermont s newsletter request a correction submit a tip tagged commentaries opinion pat suozzi opinion pieces contributed by readers and newsmakers vtdigger strives to publish a variety of views from a broad range of vermonters more by opinion member supported journalism informing and engaging vermont vtdigger become a member ways to give newsletters job board buy merch contact us share a tip advertise topics government politics housing economy environment education health public safety life culture info about meet our team careers faq community news sharing project policies counties addison bennington caledonia chittenden essex franklin grand isle lamoille orange orleans rutland washington windham windsor 2025 vtdigger a project of vermont journalism trust ltd powered by newspack loading comments write a comment email required name required website