Hit the Dirt; On Lawns

Hi there this is Claire Ackroyd and you are listening to the dirt. I think it's time for the annual five minute lecture on loans. This winter I attended a seminar given by a landscape a very knowledgeable very established person great big reputation from New Jersey and the topic of his lecture was I think gardening for water conservation or something. And I went expecting to hear some very sort of high tech stuff about saving water and the bottom line of the whole pole which was incidentally a very interesting talk not to me to sort of belittle what the gentleman had to say. The bottom line of his whole seminar was reducing the lawn area. Made me think that it's true. Lawns are the most environmentally. No no no no I'm acceptable landscaping feature. In Maine rather less so than further south because we are not compelled in

Maine. Most summers the water lawns heavily in order to keep them green. But even without water if you add up all these sort of things against lawns you come up with a fairly long list to start with. You have to mow the things once a week and that there are some horrible figures about the pollution resulting from running to cycle engine. If you run a lawnmower for two hours you generate the same amount of pollution as driving a Honda across the country generates or something don't quote me on that. I'm sure that's the wrong number. Somebody out there is heard this one and knows what the right figure is. But the engines that powered lawn mowers have very little pollution control standards attached to them and they all fall. They run fast hot and dirty and the amount of air pollution generated by the Saturday morning on roads is significant. So put that one on the list. Then add the problem of fertilizing. The fertilizer industry the damage that you're doing to the groundwater

fertilizing your lawn if you're doing it carefully is probably not great there's problems in suburban areas where people over fertilize lawns and over water them and nitrates get washed out into the groundwater system because too much is put on and it's watered through too fast. And if you apply nitrogen carefully and don't do it when the grass is growing fast and the weather is too wet most of the nitrogen is taken up by the lawn and you don't have to be creating a problem there. However you are supporting a fairly hard to justify industry if you want to get really technical about it. The pollution resulting from the big fertilizer factories has always been I don't really know how they're doing on pollution controls now but that's always been a significant source of pollution and all for water all for something that we don't really have to have anyway. It's nice to have some lawn and the sort of flat green surface to show off the rest of your garden is really a very essential thing and to walk around play on and look over a lawn is

still one of the nicest features but acres and acres of grass that are just there because is really not a sensible way to treat open ground. And. My plea is to see more on mowed grass. If you just leave. Pick the piece of lawn that you really want to have mowed in the corners the shady corners the corners where you don't that you don't need for baseball or hanging out the laundry or running the dog or whatever it is you do on your lawn. Let them grow. If you mow grass once a year instead of once a week you can prevent it turning back into all those forms. Rethink it quite effectively. But you're not investing in it all the time effort and potentially environmentally damaging procedures that a well maintained lawn requires and just letting it grow once you start letting it grow and the wildflowers come in then you start seeing a raft of

naturalized affability but you can't plant in grass that you mow regularly Lupin's black eyed Susans all the lone weed wildflowers and why not some shrubs or naturalize in their native. Frog material and fill up some of the corners of your yard with stuff that will generate bird food shelter cover seasonal variation change and not require the care let alone dogs. So that's my my thought on lawns for the year. I will become good some will talk a bit more about caring for lawns in the summer. The bit that you have decided to keep is a green open space. And this was hit the dirt and I'll be back on the air again in a week.