The Un-Cool Lawn

It’s no wonder that we are addicted to lawns. It is quick and easy to landscape with, and most of all, it’s affordable. In fact, grass is the cheapest groundcover you can put down, but in the end are you really saving money? Water may still be relatively inexpensive, but add in the cost of purchasing and maintaining your weed whackers, leaf blowers, lawn mowers or that weekly bill from your lawn care company, and the pennies add up. Not to mention the gasoline to power those machines, and to fill the trucks to get those machines and people to you. Or the cost of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides to keep it looking like a lush green carpet.

This is all part of what’s called the Turf-Grass Industry. Americans spend 60 BILLION dollars on our lawns. Not just on residential lawns, but in stadiums, along highways, and around commercial properties as well. After World War II, residential homes with perfectly square lawns popped up all across America. Where front yards were once animal pens and gardens, lawns quickly became the popular icon of upper and middle class Americans.

Today, nearly 2% of America is  covered in lawn. That’s more than double the amount of paved roads in this country, which make up about 1.3%. In other words, lawns cover 40.5 million acres or roughly an area the size of Iowa.        

Just think about how much water you use on your lawn: Ten gallons? Fifteen gallons? Actually, it’s closer to 28 gallons! The same study showed that people living in arid areas use even more water – up to 32 gallons of water per square foot. It only makes sense that when you are trying to grow a plant that likes cool, moist soil, of course you would need more water.  Considering that in order to grow lawn well, it is recommended to water up to one inch per year, multiply water to acreage and the amount of water used is hard to comprehend. That’s 20 TRILLION (yes with a T) gallons of water a year.

It may be easy to point our fingers at agriculture. After all, we can see the rainbows of irrigation spray for miles and miles through the ‘breadbasket’ states. The entirety of water used on crops, however, is only slightly over what we use on lawns at 30 trillion gallons of water. We are essentially using almost as much water on something that does not provide food for us.

I’m not saying don’t have a lawn. I get it. You have kids and dogs who want to romp and play, and who doesn’t like a cool place to picnic with the grass between your toes? My question is: do we really need grass in every nook and cranny?  Does it make sense to put lawn between highways? Or along black pavement where the grass will fry no matter how much we water it? Do we really need acres and acres of lawn just to look pretty in front of our homes?

Where could you add a shrub bed? Grow a garden? Put in drought tolerant flowers like lavender or hedge roses? There are many, many options to beautify your yard without the hassle of taking care of a lawn, or the waste and pollution that goes along with having one.  

Less than 1% of our planet’s water is drinkable, and with our growing population, and the effects of global warming, maybe it’s time we stop arguing over who’s wasting and who’s polluting water, and start doing something about it ourselves.  

Erin Nelson
Terrafloragardening.com

Featured Sponsor
Thank You For Your Support!

Related Articles

The Lawn Arm Of The Law

Did you know that there’s a secret code among grass blades? Yep, it’s true. Refrain from cutting your grass, it starts sending out signals to the neighborhood. So, people get out your ruler’s, grass or weeds over a certain height can get you a fine of hundreds of dollars.

Read More »

Sunflowers Sunny Side Up

Did you know that sunflowers not only provide a vital source of food and shelter for insects and birds, but they can also clean up contaminated soil and even absorb toxic radiation? From supporting the local ecosystem to being used for phytoremediation, the sunflower is a powerhouse plant with numerous benefits for us and the environment.

Read More »

Crying Shame

Have you ever grown onions and wondered why they don’t look like the ones in the grocery store? Perhaps they were small or didn’t store well. Maybe they all went to seed and ended up with pithy or hard centers. These are all things that can be fixed with proper culture and growing techniques!

Read More »

Micro Your Greens

Microgreens are defined as bigger than seedlings but not full-grown plants. Microgreens include the first couple of leaves out of the ground and the next set of leaves produced after that. From seed to microgreen, it only takes a week to two! In this tiny form, their leaves are so superdense with vitamins and antioxidants that, with some varieties, they can surpass their adult form by up to 40 times in nutrition!

Read More »

Making the Most of Your Property

Replacing traditional lawns with gardens is not a new concept but one that is quickly growing in popularity. If you spend too much money and time mowing, watering and fertilizing the lawn, and it’s too hot to enjoy any time on it, why bother having it? Try growing food there instead! This would also give you an opportunity to grow and enjoy foods that may be expensive in stores but cost pennies to produce yourself, such as heirloom tomatoes, gourmet mushrooms, and seasonal fruits.

Read More »

Keep your Harvest Going!

After pulling your potatoes out of the ground, try planting carrots! The ground is nice and soft after removing the potatoes and perfect for carrots. First, spread a thin layer of compost onto the harvested area. You must use compost and not manure!

Read More »

Share this!

Featured Sponsor
Thank You For Your Support!

Share this!

Featured Sponsor
Thank You For Your Support!

Read more news.

Celebrate Your Community At The Annual Art Show

The SCLD Community Art Show is back, inviting artists of all ages to showcase their creativity and love for their community. Free miniature canvases will be available at Spokane County Libraries throughout February. This year’s theme, Celebrate Your Community, encourages participants to highlight what makes their hometown special.

Read More »

GreenHouse Food & Clothing Bank Change Of Hours

The GreenHouse Food and Clothing is once again adjusting its hours, this time reducing service availability and shifting to an earlier schedule. However, food bank representatives encourage those with scheduling conflicts to reach out for potential accommodations.

Read More »

Subscribe to our emails

Use the form below to sign up to receive news via email at no cost to you.

Read & Support The

Local news to keep you informed and entertained. The Deer Park Gazette is locally owned and operated. When you support the Deer Park Gazette, you support local writers and photographers.