TURF

Turf is the highly fertilized short grass cover of lawns and golf courses. A third of Cape Cod houses have fertilized lawns. In some watersheds (e.g., Waquoit Bay) lawns are the major source of fertilizer nitrogen. The turf grasses store some fertilizer nitrogen and some is lost to the atmosphere during volatilization and microbial transformation. The remainder (approximately 60%) percolates into groundwater below the turf.