Lawns Are an Ecological Disaster

[lordsummerisle]

earther.com

Neil Tyson often conjectures that maybe aliens have concluded humans aren’t intelligent enough to contact. He’s probably referring to our capacity for war, but lawns may display our talent for fruitless carnage even better.
Americans devote 70 hours, annually, to pushing petrol-powered spinning death blades over aggressively pointless green carpets to meet an embarrassingly destructive beauty standard based on specious homogeneity. We marvel at how verdant we manage to make our overwatered, chemical-soaked, ecologically-sterile backyards. That’s just biblically, nay, God-of-War-ishly violent.

https://earther.com/lawns-are-an-ecological-disaster-1826070720

[MousePlayingDaffodil]

1. Well, I confess that my lawn is a disaster . . .

. . . but not in the way this fellow means.

[Boomer]

3. You beat me to it.

The "green carpet" in my backyard has been worn pretty thin by two large hounds. It looks more like a bog patch.

[Siwsan]

2. If I am ever able to move to another house, I want one without a lawn

I inherited the house I am in, now, and it has a huge house lawn plus a back lot. It's a massive effort and ongoing expense to keep things within the standards of the neighborhood.

I want my next house and yard to be small, and the yard will actually be a combo flower and vegetable garden. NO LAWN!!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Yes, they are. Turf grass is a "taker." It doesn't give anything back.

It doesn't flower so it doesn't produce nectar or pollen for bees and butterflies. It uses a ridiculous amount of water. People dump fertilizers and broadleaf weed killers on it, with the result that its roots go into the soil only a few inches, meaning it's fragile and needs even more water and fertilizer. The end result is that the soil itself is basically dead because the mycorrhizal fungi that attach themselves to the plants' roots to help them extract nutrients have been destroyed.

Mycorrhizal fungi provide a secondary root system that is more efficient and extensive than the plants' own root system. They are symbiotic organisms that live with the plant to help it access soil nutrients. In exchange, the plant provides carbon and sugars to the fungi. Almost all land plants employ this relationship to enhance their own root system’s capacity to deliver nutrients. Chemical treatment of turf grass disrupts this relationship, making the grass less capable of feeding itself and more in need of even more fertilizer. But people want that smooth, green lawn and are willing to kill everything else to get it.

I don't have a lawn. I tore it up some years ago and planted mostly native plants, flowers and shrubs. My next-door neighbor is a chemical freak who's trying to turn his tiny lawn into a mini-golf course. He hates me because my yard is "messy." But I bet my soil is healthy, and his is dead.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. I've been saying that for years...

Grass uses too much precious water

Grass has no function in the ecosystem, and you can't even eat it. Hardly anything out there eats it, except your dog when he's feeling down. Maybe your cat once a week or so. It's rumored that Canada geese eat the stuff, but you really, really don't want Canada geese hanging out anywhere near your home.

The nitrates from fertilization end up in the watershed where they feed algae blooms. There a huge problem with the blooms on Long Island and they occasionally poison the otherwise delicious shellfish.

Lawnmowers make a godawful racket.

The pesticides and weed killers are, well, pesticides and weed killers.

When I visited Phoenix years ago, the new condo complexes all had huge lawns and central air. Wander a out a little toward the desert and the old-timers had swamp coolers and cactus gardens. The more ambitious ones raked the sand into really neat designs. I may be a little too old and cranky to deal with a swamp cooler, but the cactus gardens and colored sand are just too cool.

[Civic Justice]

6. Maintaining a lawn has many positives in appreciation of what Nature provided.

I care for my FRONT AND BACK LAWN !!!!, THEY ARE BOTH KEPT CLEAN, WELL GROOMED AND UNCLUTTERED, it is an integral part of what is my home. We regarded our lawn the same when I was a kid growing up in a country rural town even as being a poor black family. We had a fenced section that was the Garden, and other sections that were for chickens and a sections that was reserved for a pig pen.

It's just a matter of how people consider and regard the land they own.

[Nitram]

9. The problem is, Civic, that a lawn is an ecological desert. It doesn't provide food or habitat,

it is so compacted that it doesn't allow groundwater recharge when it rains, and provides no shade in summer. It also needs frequent mowing which results in a waste of gas, air pollution, and more compaction of the soil. Native trees, shrubs, gasses and flowers are more attractive and require far less maintenance. They provide shade in the summer and food and habitat for all kind of beautiful creatures. Nothing wrong with a little lawn, but the less the better for the environment.

[Civic Justice]

14. I have a standard suburban lawn, avg. 50x150

I have a small shop like shed, as well as a space for a small personal garden.
My front lawn is more community environmental standard, for the ambiance of the community.

I understand the matter where some have very large sprawling lawns, that are generally non used to produce anything.
I have a variety of friends and some family who have had and some still with such massive lawns. They like looking at it!!! For me personally, I'd not want the expense and labor involved to have to cut and maintain such acreage.

I have a lawn man that comes on a bi weekly basis and takes care of my lawn, I only have to trim my shrubbery, because here, most lawn people don't do full service, they simply cut grass and run the weed-eater. In California, the lawn man I had did everything, including shrubbery and re-seeding and what ever was necessary.
As I get older, I know its not something I'm going to want to be consistent in doing, so I keep the lawn man. when I was a kid I cut peoples lawns for pay, so at this stage, I'm not interested in doing that, and for me my lawn size is not large enough to justify buying an expensive riding mower, nor out with a weed eater and etc. I do have a blower, to use for the driveway and patio. ((besides, I don't like snakes (laugh), so, it has to be managed so as not to see any in my yard))
I almost bought a lake front property when I moved here, but the thought of snakes did not set well with me, as I have friends who bought property because they wanted their own pond. I'd only want land with a pond if it is clean and a nice deck that avoid me standing in weedy areas where snakes might exist. that's just my person thoughts on that.

I've structured my budget where it fits to have the lawn maintained. So, its part of what I consider as monthly cost of home-ownership.

[Nitram]

7. I replaced 10,000 square feet of lawn with native grasses and wildflowers.

Doesn't need watering, fertilizer or mowing. I cut it down to six inches once a year with a brush cutter. Full of butterflies, birds and other wildlife.

[thucythucy]

8. Worse than the push mowers

are the riding mowers. Most of the gasoline consumed is burnt to push people's asses up and down their lawn. Then there are the weed whackers.

But worst of all are gasoline powered leaf blowers. They're unbelievably loud and obnoxious. They spew obscene amounts of toxins into the air. And they actually damage the grass or shrubs or whatever it is people are trying to "clean."

Future generations, assuming there are any, are going to be astounded at how we trashed the environment, burnt through our petroleum, and helped upend the planet's climate--all for the sake of this ridiculous institution: the American lawn.

[love_katz]

10. Huge kick and rec.

Exactly.

[hunter]

11. Some of our neighbors have installed synthetic lawns.

Our high schools have them too.

Those designed to look like real grass do, except they are too perfect.

(You can also get synthetic lawns in non-grass colors, maybe if you're from another planet and want something to remind you of home...)

Conserving water is a big deal here.

It will be interesting to see how well these lawns hold up.

Recycling worn synthetic turf is promised, but I expect most of them will end up as landfill when they have to be replaced.

On the other hand, delivering water consumes ever increasing amounts of energy. In the long run these lawns may mean less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than a regular lawn.

Myself, I'd rather go with plants that don't need a lot of water, and maybe gravel.

I've got nothing against golf, but why does every golf course have to look like a green grass lawn?

I think the game would be a lot more interesting if golf courses more closely reflected the local environment, not just sand traps and other hazards, but maybe rattlesnakes too...

[Duppers]

12. Small lawn here where the dogs play

ELECTRIC mower which we love - little noise and no hauling or storing the damn smelly gas.

[Rhiannon12866]

13. And drought areas are curtailing watering lawns, or prohibiting it entirely

How did lawns come to be a thing, anyway?

[Blanks]

15. I have horses goats and chickens...

The purchase of lawn mowers and gasoline in a community that produces neither gasoline or lawnmowers is an economic drain on the community.

If grass eating animals are allowed to, they will reproduce creating more grass eating animals, lawn mowers will not do that, gasoline will not do that.

There are places that use goats to keep the vegetation from getting out of control. The issue with grazing animals is that they have to be controlled, supervised, kept out of fruit trees, gardens, flower beds etc. but if communities invested in this kind of sustainable activity, the community would reap the economic benefits.

[Nitram]

17. The animals also fertilize the lawn. Chickens clean up parisites and bugs the other animals

leave behind. Sounds like you've got a good system going.

[Blanks]

18. It's a work in progress...

But after working at it for a couple of years, I’m beginning to think that there is a conspiracy at hand to keep people away from developing a symbiotic relationship with animals.

The benefits are immeasurable, not just in the effect on the environment, but the benefit to my personal well-being.

[Nitram]

19. Here's an interesting article about the concept of multi-species grazing:

https://onpasture.com/2014/12/29/managing-multi-species-grazing/

[Blanks]

20. Thanks...

The article reinforced a lot of things that I’ve discovered, but it also had a few tips that I hadn’t heard.

For example, sheep are what I need under my fruit trees, the goats stand on their hind legs and tear branches off my smaller trees.

[Nitram]

21. Goats can be very destructive. They are very good at clearing out underbrush, though.

[Blanks]

22. Goats tend to eat a plant from the top down...

Whereas horses tend to bite a plant off at the bottom.

You’re right, goats are out of control and unless you’re wanting everything eaten, flowers, vegetables and all, goats may not be the best animal to utilize for clean up.

My goats have no respect for electric fence. I always joke that according to the labelling on the electric fence boxes, you have to use the same electric fence to keep in goats as they use to keep in the velociraptors and T-Rex.

We like them though, they are such happy creatures.

[Nitram]

23. Blanks, there was a good article about goats in today's WaPo.

He almost didn’t see them at first.

A crowd of people standing along his usually clear jogging route up Eastern Avenue, straddling the District-Maryland border, tipped him off that something was up. Following their gaze into a small clearing of overgrown trees and wild flora, he saw something move.

“I thought it was a deer at first, to be honest,” said Spencer Douglas, 33, a financial analyst who lives in Mount Rainier, Md. “It took me a minute to be like, ‘Nah, that’s a goat.’ ”

A herd, to be precise.

Nine goats from a farm in Centreville, Md., took up residence this week on a plot of land in Mount Rainier, where they have been eating poison ivy, honeysuckle and other overgrown plants since Monday afternoon.

But these aren’t just any goats. They’re professional goats. And they’re in high ­demand.

Eco-Goats, which offers its services to clear invasive species, overgrown brush and ­difficult-to-handle plants such as poison ivy, poison oak and brambles, has been in business for about 10 years. Owner Brian Knox said he’s recently gotten pickier about what contracts the goats will or won’t take.

Eco-Goats used to deploy crews of up to 140 animals per job. But, Knox said, he’s learned that smaller is better, and he pared down the number of working goats to about 20, depending on the property’s size.

Goats come with benefits that crews of humans do not: They fertilize the land as they go, they’re relatively quiet, and they work night and day. Plus, Knox added, they’re fun to watch.

“Goats are really fascinating animals. They’re much more captivating than sheep or cows or horses, I think,” he said. “They’re kind of mesmerizing. It’s a lot like watching fish. You can waste a lot of time watching fish, and you can waste a lot of time watching goats.”

Though goats do not dig up roots of weeds or plants like poison ivy, they do pick off the leaves and destroy seeds, which can sometimes be spread when people clear foliage with methods such as mowing.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/theyre-kind-of-mesmerizing-these-nine-goats-draw-spectators-while-devouring-an-overgrown-maryland-park/2018/05/24/ecc6e6cc-5f54-11e8-a4a4-c070ef53f315_story.html?utm_term=.eaa1b52378cf

[Blanks]

24. Thanks for sharing...

The eco-goat concept is why I got into goats in the first place. I have 5 acres of land that is just laying fallow that I want to use them clear when I’m set up.

I do disagree with the article on one point though, I enjoy watching the horses graze just as much as the goats.

[NNadir]

16. I once wrote about the horror my neighbors must feel when contemplating my lawn:

Nitrogen, Climate Change, Drought, and Tree Physiology.

Sigh...

It was all about my little boy and the joy of weeds, but my little boy is a man now, an engineering student who'll be gone all summer overseas on a research project.

Sigh...

My lawn, a kind of convention of weeds, was so beautiful to share with my boy.

I had to take that beautiful walnut tree down when my septic failed.

Sigh...

Time goes so fast.