Let's face it -- grass lawns are nothing but green concrete. They serve no actual constructive purpose other than to look pretty. Grass has such a shallow root system that most of the water put onto them runs off. And if you placed fertilizers or pesticides on your lawn, then this all runs off and goes down the drain to join the public drinking water supply. Yummy.
The best lawn care action you could do to help the environment would be to leave your lawn alone. Don't bother weeding it or mowing it, let alone watering or fertilizing it.
Meanwhile, In the Real World...
However, many of us who own property do not have the luxury of leaving our lawns alone. In America, there are laws about grass height. One recently passed law in Canton, Ohio gives a month of jail time to someone who won't mow their lawn.
In the town where I live, Clifton Heights, Pennsylvania, the grass can be no more than eight inches tall before you are given a citation. Granted, I've yet to see the lawn police, with their measuring sticks and ticket books, but people around here obey this law as if it was enforced rigorously.
Grass lawns became popular in France around the eighteenth century and were a sign of wealth, just like pale skin showed you didn't need to work outdoors like the peasants. Although pale skin has not caught on, manicured grass lawns did.
Why?
Somewhere lingering in our biological memory, perhaps we remember creeping though the tall grass, wondering if there was an enemy hiding in there to eat us. Having short grass means there's no place for anyone dangerous to hide. (Indeed, one reason why some places have grass height laws is to be sure no one is growing cannabis).
That's just my theory. A far more practical theory is given in A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder by Eric Abrahamson and David H Freedman. People like things to look orderly. Lawns are orderly. They act like frames to the perfect picture of our lives that we wish to present to the world.
And, after many generations, they've become the sign of organized normalcy. The book goes into great depth interviewing people who dared to grow native wild plants instead of a lawn. They usually received death threats from their neighbors for daring to not have a proper grass lawn.
The lawn care industry rakes in an estimated $30 billion per year in America. That probably is another incentive to keep up the tradition of having green concrete around your house.
What You Can Do
This attitude clearly has to change if you are seriously concerned about the environment.
If you live in an arid environment that doesn't normally grow grass, rip out your lawn. That's the conclusion that Las Vegas came to in 1999, paying their citizens to rip out their lawns. The estimated water savings is 55 gallons of water per square foot.
If you do have a grass lawn with an irrigation system, don't use the irrigation system anymore. That's an incredible waste of water at a time when experts claim there is a looming water crisis.
Never weed your lawn. The "weeds" actually help break up the soil to help water seep in better and not run off. Where you can, substitute native wild flowers, herbs or vegetables for gaudy gardens and trim grass. That will also help conserve resources and your time, as native plants are already used to the growing conditions where you live and don't need a lot of fertilizer, water or insecticides to keep them healthy.
Only mow your lawn when you are legally obliged to and that's it. You'll not only save your back, you'll help save fuel, money and the planet. When you do mow, use a push lawn mower so you can cut the grass emissions free. And if you feel you must fertilize, always use nitrogen- free fertilizer since reactive nitrogen is another contributor to climate change. And never mow when the grass is wet. You will get nowhere fast that way.
As suggested in A Perfect Mess (and by an astute Celsias reader who commented on lawn issues in past posts), when you do mow your lawn, just mow one or two inches around your property boundaries. This gives your property a picture frame orderly look and tends to keep the neighbors quiet.
Sure, you'll lawn will look patchy and (gasp) not like everyone else's lawn. But after a while, you'll get used to it. Making sure you're not wasting water and poisoning what we have left is the best thing you can do for you, your family and the underwhelmed neighbors.
If you've ever needed a good excuse to get out of yard work once and for all, this is it.
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