With climate change, it’s time to rethink your yardDate: 3/28/2023 Ah, spring. It’s time to enjoy longer and warmer days and to get the yard ready for the growing season. Outdoor cigar smoking season is upon me.
This is the time when people think of how to make their lawn better. It’s the time of the year when I think about how to get rid of my lawn.
There is a tremendous obsession in this country about lawns. Collectively, Americans seem to be in competition with one another about how their lawns look and are willing to work very hard and spend a fair amount of dough on making sure they have a lush outside carpet.
I’m afraid that I’m not one of those Americans.
You see, my wife and I have started doing other things than attempt to pour finances and effort into something that isn’t supposed to exist in nature in New England.
Heresy, you say. Heresy!
I still have some lawn left but I have removed a bunch of it for a vegetable garden (which now that I’m “retired” I will devote more energy to it) and for spot flower gardens. Our goal is to have more native plants that encourage a healthy population of pollinators — bees.
Here is something to ponder. The Princeton Student Climate Initiative has collected some interesting facts about lawns. The group wrote. “In America, over 40 million acres of land are covered by lawn, or, more specifically, turf grass. While lawns can function as “carbon sinks,” soaking up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, this benefit is often outweighed by the heavy carbon cost associated with the maintenance of these lawns. Rather than alleviating climate change, lawns may be contributing to it. The main culprits are lawn equipment, specifically gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers, and synthetic fertilizers. Ultimately, Americans should consider alternatives for the technological and chemical ways they are treating their lawns, and even consider the potential of changing the structure of their lawn entirely.”
A study published in the Journal of Environmental Management in 2016 reports the amount of water used to maintain lawns is enormous. Golf courses use between 100,000 and 1 million gallons of water per week in the summer, according to the Alliance for Water Efficiency.
So, the chemicals we use, the gas-powered appliances we employ and the water we allocate are not doing us very much good in the bigger picture.
We expend all of that effort and money for what? Aesthetics?
With the evidence of climate change all around us this winter, it’s time, in my humble opinion, to rethink the classic American yard.
We are slowly but certainly making sure flowering plants in our little gardens are native. We have a long way to go. Native plants, according to the PennState Extension Service are far better than non-native additions. Diversity is important and “weeds” such as goldenrod and milkweed are welcomed additions as pollinators love them.
I think lawncare businesses could evolve into having services that would allow yards to be more natural and have less negative impact.
I understand that people want some lawn for various outdoor activities but an adjustment in what you have in your yard could help you and your family in the long run.
It’s time for communities to look once more at its ordinances that specify cut grass yards. Look at water supplies and how they are affected. Think about the carbon emissions from lawnmowers and other gas-powdered tools. Consider the effect on pollinators who are vital for food production.
Some habits should be amended and lawns are one of them.
G. Michael Dobbs has worked for Reminder Publishing for 22 years of his nearly 50-year-career in the Western Mass. media scene, and previously served as the executive editor. He has spent his time with the publisher covering local politics, interesting people and events. The opinions expressed within the article are that of the author’s and do not represent the opinions and beliefs of the paper.
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