As Spring comes nearer, many homeowners are getting ready for the yearly resuscitation of their lawn from the long winter's nap. They are preparing the sprinklers, the fertilizers, the de-thatchers, the aerators, sharpening and tuning lawn mowers, etc. But I have another suggestion: Get ready to kill you lawn.
Ok, everyone put down your guns and sickles. Take a deep breath and hear me out.
When I lived in Arizona, having a lawn was a luxury. Not only do you have to contend with the concrete-like soil (caliche or hardpan), you have to water at least once a day and over-seed with a winter crop every fall. In other words, it just wasn't practical. It is very rare to see a lush lawn in Phoenix except on a golf course (and there are plenty of those). Most people landscape with cacti, gravel, and fruit trees. Unfortunately, some homes landscape strictly with rocks, giving rise to the term "moonscaping". Some moonscapes even use unnatural colored rocks, like blue or chartreuse. But this approach is not what I am advocating.
Having spent those years sans grass changed my way of thinking about lawns. A lawn is, quite simply, a stupid thing to have. You can't eat it. You have to water it constantly. And to top it off, you have to, uh, top it off (mow it). Believe it or not, but grass is the largest crop grown in America, and it is pointless. The only thing it is good for is it's nice to look at and walk on.
Many people will claim they have lawns for their kids to play on. But let's be honest: how many kids are actually out playing in their yards? In my neighborhood, which is a very typical middle-income, working class neighborhood, most of the kids are either inside playing with their Wii, or outside playing on the street. The only people I see walking on the lawns are the fathers pushing their mowers across it.
I believe the American lawn has gained the status of the fabled 1970's living room, which became a showcase for the nice family furniture and decor, but nobody ever "lived" in it. The same is true with the lawn: we expend huge amounts of time and resources simply to admire it from our kitchen windows. It's something every home owner thinks they HAVE to have because your father had one, and his father had one, and his father....
If you go back enough fathers, you'll likely end up in Europe and England, where we can squarely place the blame for our lawn love affair. But realize that across the Big Pond, it is mostly cool and wet--the perfect climate for a lush lawn. And back in the Victorian era, when gardens and lawns really became popular, many people had sheep to crop the lawn. Last I looked, my HOA doesn't allow sheep, and try as she might, my dog tends to throw up anything she eats.
In the 21st century, we have growing concerns about the upkeep of lawns. Water is a precious resource in the West and Southwest, and it is becoming more and more scarce and expensive. If scientists are right about their global warming predictions, the West will get
even drier. The other obvious resource in jeopardy is the gasoline to power our mowers. And please don't forget the noise and air pollution caused by these mowers. Many of my otherwise lovely Sunday mornings have been spoiled by the incessant drone of lawn mowers and their putrid exhaust.
I used to have neighbor who specifically picked out a one-acre lot on a cul-de-sac so he could have a large lawn. Sure enough, he has a huge back yard, where 95% of it is grass. This man spends as much time and resources on this "crop" as a small-scale farmer. But whereas a farmer can take his crop to market and reap the rewards of his hard-earned efforts, my poor neighbor mows his lawn every week and puts the grass clippings in the trash. Isn't that wonderful? Think of the time he could save if he cashed his paychecks into $1 bills, ran them through a paper shredder, and then put
those in the trash. So what about his kids? They spend most of their outdoor time playing in the street.
Hopefully you are getting the idea of how ridiculous and irresponsible it is to keep a lawn. I don't wish to insult those of you who have a wonderfully manicured lawn, which is something you undoubtedly take great pride in. Heck, even I have a lawn, albeit a small one. My intent is to get people to rethink their lawn. Please don't accept a lawn as the status quo. Is it really necessary, or is it there simply because you think that's what you're supposed to have in your yard?
In this era of "green" homes and yards, the lawn is the #1 evil in terms of waste. It's time to think about evolving your ideas of what a typical American yardscape should be. In future articles, I will present some ideas I have learned about this yard revolution. I invite others to share their ideas and what they have done.
In the meantime, here is a web article by Sunset magazine on this very topic. Included are 14 ideas of how to transform your yard to a lawnless oasis:
