2004-05-13

The American Lawn

I've hated grass for years. It has it's uses but is often planted by folks because it's habit... it is what you do if you have bare dirt... a social norm. Unfortunately it makes absolutely no ecological sense:

In the United States, lawns occupy more land than any single crop, including wheat, corn or tobacco. (Newsweek June 21, 1993)

Ten times more chemical pesticides are applied to lawns than farm crops. (Newsweek June 21, 1993)

Of the 34 major lawn care pesticides, 32 have not been tested for their long-term effects on humans and the environment. (Newsweek June 21, 1993)

A gasoline-powered mower spews out as much smog-forming gases as 30 average cars in one hour. (The Capitol Times, May 11-12, 1996)

Thanks to my dad's patience I'm currently in the middle of an experiment with his well shaded lawn. It's not very thick and has never grown very well because of all the tree shade... a perfect place for a nice woodland shade garden. He hasn't cut it for nearly four weeks and the result is alot of wildflowers that my parents have never seen before. I think it will be quite pretty and it is a huge ecological improvement over mowing. We'll see what happens.

I hope gas prices continue to skyrocket. Maybe if they get high enough Americans will stop mowing so often. Maybe they'll question a common practice that should have been abandoned long ago.