Alliance for the Great Lakes and ScottsMiracle-Gro Announce Multi-Year Partnership

Alliance for the Great Lakes and ScottsMiracle-Gro Announce Multi-Year
Partnership

Regional program emphasizes lawn care and best practices to preserve water
quality

MARYSVILLE, Ohio, April 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Alliance for the
Great Lakes and The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company today announced a multi-year,
regional partnership focused on public education about simple lawn care tips
to enhance water quality.

"The future of the Great Lakes has a lot to do with our actions in and around
the home," said Cameron Davis, president and CEO of the Alliance for the Great
Lakes, which is the oldest citizens' Great Lakes organization in the country.
"This partnership is a natural fit, drawing on our organizations' deep
understanding of the relationship between water, well-maintained lawns and the
environment. We're excited to be partnering with ScottsMiracle-Gro to educate
homeowners about making a difference."

The educational outreach program engages a variety of communication channels
to reach homeowners in the Great Lakes region. As part of the partnership,
advertisements, public service announcements, a web site, community outreach
events and in-store education materials communicate homeowner proper lawn
care, enhancing water quality and benefiting the environment.

"Homeowners recognize the need to protect water quality, yet lack information
on how to take action in their own backyards and surrounding community," said
Rich Shank, chief environmental officer, ScottsMiracle-Gro. "Working with the
Alliance for the Great Lakes, we're underscoring that properly cared-for turf
goes hand-in-hand with water quality - that the relationship between lawns and
water is not mutually exclusive."

The Great Lakes represent about one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water
and more than 90 percent of the United States' supply. A vital but limited
resource, clean water is critical for jobs, drinking and recreation. Founded
in 1970, the Alliance for the Great Lakes' mission is to conserve and restore
the world's largest freshwater resource.

Complementing existing national environmental stewardship and homeowner
education efforts with organizations like Keep America Beautiful and
Chesapeake Bay-area advocacy groups, ScottsMiracle-Gro's partnership with the
Alliance for the Great Lakes is further evidence of the Company's commitment
to protecting the environment and the quality of watersheds across the
country. The Great Lakes programming urges homeowners and communities to adopt
a series of simple lawn care behaviors, including:

-- Mow High - Longer grass is stronger grass that's able to shade the
soil, prevent weed seed germination, and promote deeper roots that
help
retain moisture and better absorb and filter rainfall.

-- Return Clippings - Mulching mowed grass recycles organic matter and
returns nutrients to the soil. Rich soil reduces erosion and runoff.

-- Use the Right Fertilizer - Unless feeding a starter lawn or a soil
test
indicates otherwise, choose a fertilizer that's low in phosphorus
or phosphorus-free.

-- Clean Up - Keep fertilizer and grass clippings off sidewalks, roadways
and other hard surfaces. This reduces the chance fertilizer and grass
clippings will run off hard surfaces into rivers, lakes and streams
and
keep nutrients on the lawn where they help lawns.

For more information on proper lawn techniques and their role in enhancing the
environment and the Great Lakes alike, please visit www.lawnsandlakes.com.

About ScottsMiracle-Gro

With nearly $3 billion in worldwide sales and more than 6,000 associates, The
Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, The Scotts
Company LLC, is the world's largest marketer of branded consumer products for
lawn and garden care, with products for professional horticulture as well.
The Company's brands are the most recognized in the industry. In the U.S.,
the Company's Scotts(R), Miracle-Gro(R) and Ortho(R) brands are market-leading
in their categories, as is the consumer Roundup(R) brand, which is marketed in
North America and most of Europe exclusively by Scotts and owned by Monsanto.
In the U.S. the Company operates Scotts LawnService(R), the second largest
residential lawn care service business. In Europe, the Company's brands
include Weedol(R), Pathclear(R), Evergreen(R), Levington(R), Miracle-Gro(R),
KB(R), Fertiligene(R) and Substral(R). For additional information, visit us at
www.scotts.com.

About Alliance for the Great Lakes
Formed in 1970, the Alliance for the Great Lakes is the oldest independent
citizens' organization in North America. Its mission is to conserve and
restore the world's largest freshwater resource using policy, education and
local efforts, ensuring a healthy Great Lakes and clean water for generations
of people and wildlife. More about the Alliance for the Great Lakes is online
at www.greatlakes.org.
SOURCE The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company

Keri Butler of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, +1-937-644-7410; or Cameron
Davis of Alliance for the Great Lakes, +1-312-939-0838 x222