Death to the Pointless Grass Lawn!
Love your yard by killing your lawn
Death to the non-native grass lawn!
Why? You might ask. Because it’ll make Mother happier and healthier — trust me, we converse regularly. Oh, and you will save money.
Grass lawns are a space for Homo Sapiens to glance upon and occasionally walk about and for our pets to enjoy. Beyond that, they don’t provide much value to the other species with which we share the planet.
As a budding ecologist, I enjoy seeking understanding and lessons from large, complex systems. As a technologist, I seek scale in my endeavors. Yet as a lover of Earth, I know the importance of stewarding one’s local spaces.
I ripped out the non-native lawn at my parent’s home in San Diego. By eliminating your lawn, you make space for small fruit trees, native plants and grasses, and the critters that rely upon those micro-ecosystems while reducing your water usage 🙂
A brief history of lawns
The first records of Homo Sapiens intentionally seeding a lawn dates back to 12th century Japan for the purposes of livestock grazing. Later that century and in the following, manicured lawns began showing up for sports use.
So when and where did the modern ornamental lawn originate?
Throughout our species’ history, much of our time was spent foraging for food and ultimately growing our food once we developed agricultural practices. Not worrying about food procurement was a luxury that only the elite class had.
Just as rich individuals today enjoy a Lamborghini as a status symbol, so did our 16th-century brethren albeit with a different toy.
Maintaining a healthy, lush lawn is time-consuming. Throughout the 16th century, only kings and noble aristocrats had the funds and servants to maintain a grass lawn which consumed time, money, and manpower without much quantifiable value in return. Thereby, it signified status as a green lawn was perfect for boasting a grand castle.
Okay, to be fair, a grass lawn provides an open clearing to see approaching enemies in the likes of foreign powers or one’s own starving proletariat.
Throughout the 16th to 18th centuries, lawns in Europe began to expand as the growing middle class sought to flaunt their own sliver of status. 20th-century America is where the lawn infatuation takes flight as a well-kept lawn becomes less of a status symbol as the middle class is vast and flush with lawns and more so a sign of being a positive member of society. A yard in disarray signals troubles within the home or a man lacking the pride to perform basic home upkeep.
There is a silver lining to lawn maintenance as it requires no plant knowledge. An ordinary person may regularly engage with a strange semblance of nature whilst in the built environment. That interaction can have a grounding effect, if not pawned off on one’s landscapers.
The state of affairs
I am no fan of non-native ornamental grass lawns. Frankly, they’re bland and devoid of abundant life. Smith et al. state it best: “Intensively managed and offering limited habitat opportunities for both plants and insects, lawns are biodiversity poor and ecologically insensitive.”
According to a recent NASA-sponsored study, grass lawns in the U.S. cover roughly 164,000 square kilometers, equivalent to ~30,000 football fields and larger than the state of Georgia. This makes the lawn our largest irrigated crop.
That’s a lot of land and an enormous amount of water to keep it looking pretty, as the majority of grass lawns use non-native grasses, which require intense upkeep. Milesia et al. offer that:
If the entire turf surface was well watered following commonly recommended schedules there would also be an enormous pressure on the U.S. water resources, especially when considering that drinking water is usually sprinkled.
Reportedly, U.S. lawns use, on average, ten billion gallons of fresh water daily and 90 million pounds of pesticides a year.
I envision a future where we choose not to use gallons upon gallons of fresh drinking water to prop up thirsty, invasive grasses and instead choose to steward land with an intimate connection and native plants at the forefront.
The beautiful potential
There is an immense promise for what we could do with all of that space that sits within arms reach.
What if every yard grew food? What if we only used native plants so that they’re adapted to the local climate and provide a healthy ecosystem for insects, fungi, and the like?
Native plants have co-evolved with a particular space over millennia. They can bring beautiful stability to any landscape.
There’s intense pressure to use less water in my hometown of San Diego as we’re perpetually in a drought. Our native flora is diverse and drought-resistant making their use an excellent choice for yards of all shapes and sizes.
How to get started
Take a slow, pensive stroll through your yard. Ask it: “What do you want? How can I best steward you?”
There are ample resources to help get you going! Check out the Wild Yards Project for ideas on rewilding yourself! thrive lot offers a paid option to revamp your yard completely.
California Native Plant Society and their latest campaign, Bloom! California, is a great place to learn more about one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. Look at the native plants in your state and local area and bask in their uniqueness and beauty.
The best way to learn is to do. Start with finding a local nursery that sells native plants, and saunter through their facility. Ask questions and visualize how you can reimagine your yard if you have one.
There are many yards out there. Let’s make them native and grow a bite or two 🌱
