July 10, 2021 at this year’s annual meeting, the majority attending noted a major increase in weed growth in our lake. This was confirmed by secchi disk readings which for the first time in decades showed a dramatic decrease in water clarity depth. We CAN slow the growth of weeds in our lake. For more info, also check the Environment tab of this website.

Right now, you can help slow weed growth starting today by:

1. Stop feeding the weeds in the lake - quit fertilizing your grass because you are also fertilizing the lake weeds even more than your grass. The best thing you can do for your grass is to mow it higher with a mulching mower (more here for healthy grass tips). Carefully fertilize flowers away from shoreline.

2. Stop mowing a 3-4 foot strip closest to the shoreline. As grass and shoreline plants get bigger, so does the filtration system of roots to keep nutrients away from your lake which slows the growth of the weeds in your lake.

3. Consider adding some native plants to your shoreline, or anywhere in your yard. Their deep roots quickly grow to create a filtration system that captures and uses the nutrients before they hit the lake and grow weeds and algae bloom there. See variety of pictures and examples below ranging from the “Just don’t mow and enjoy the mystery of what blooms” to a large scale model project done at Varsity Day Camp. More pictures will be added to show variety as more people are beginning to experiment around Cordley Lake in S.O.S - Save Our Shoreline!

The “Just Don’t Mow A Strip” is what this homeowner on Portage Lake did. And the picture below shows how his shoreline looked that August. Note that he did not plant a single thing! These milkweed flowers were just waiting to pop up and attract butterflies and dragonflies - and they will come back next year, too!

And Bonus - geese don’t like to come travel where the view is obstructed, so even there is a wide opening to the dock, they won’t come up on the grass:-)

2019 Varsity Day Camp Large Scale Project using Native Plants

Quick Overview of 2019 Shoreline Enhancement Project at Varsity Day Camp using Michigan Native Plants

In addition to being easy to grow and capturing nutrients before they get into the water, Michigan Native Plants can help stabilize our shorelines with their long roots. This is beneficial even when fertilizers are not used because some nutrients exist naturally, and come in from other places. For this project we chose 30 different species with a focus on plants that bloom to add visual interest and attract birds, butterflies, and hummingbirds. In June of 2019, we planted 912 plugs in the 3 areas circled above. Below are the layouts showing the plants used in each section. For more pictures, and info about this project and the people who made it possible, scroll to the bottom of the page.

The story behind the Shoreline Enhancement Project at Varsity Day Camp

In the fall of 2018, Janee Kronk met Terri Wilkerson at the Inland Lakes Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan in a Shoreline Stewardship workshop. Janee is a landscaper increasingly focused on shoreline projects. Terri is person interested in water preservation, especially inland lakes like Cordley Lake which is the one she lives on. They discovered that that they only lived minutes apart and began thinking of a place to do a model project. They chose Varsity Day Camp because of its deep roots in the community, a chance to involve kids in the initial planting and ongoing potential engagement, and the fact that Terri could easily take pictures over time to document the evolution of the project so that others could see how it progresses and hopefully be inspired to work more with Native Plants.

A budget of only $2,500 was proposed for the entire project counting on volunteers to do the labor under Janee’s supervision. Craig Kivi, a local Realtor who lives on a nearby lake suffering from decreasing water quality, quickly stepped up to donate money so that the initial design could be created to show others what the project would look like. Other individuals contributed, as did the Crossroads Sierra Club, the Livingston Land Conservancy, and the Cordley Lake Association to make the project possible. We appreciate all the support the community has shown and the help Varsity Day Camp to make this happen.

Use the design plans above as inspiration for adding native plants to your shoreline, whether it is a completely new installation like at Varsity, or just tucking a few plants into a strip you have stopped mowing.

UPDATED PHOTOS OF THIS SHORELINE AFTER 2 YEARS WILL BE COMING IN A FEW WEEKS. WE ARE VERY PLEASED WITH THE HIGH PERCENTAGE OF PLANTS THAT HAVE TAKEN.