Fire
Your Lawn Guys!
How did lawns originate in the US?
During the mid 20th century, Americans
who visited the United Kingdom were taken by large carpets of green
grass that covered properties around castles, large mansions, and other
affluent areas. These lawns survived with no added irrigation due
to the mild, rainy climate. It was also during this time that golf
courses throughout the Unite States were admired by spectators for their
healthy, green appearance and feel. Soon, commercial enterprises
were working with different species of grass seed to develop a
residential lawn that could be grown and cared for by the average
homeowner. The trend took off, with millions of Americans planting
sod in their front yards, back yards, and sometimes both. Healthy
green lawns were a symbol of pride and wealth throughout suburban
America. These lawns created a billion-dollar industry, from lawn
mowers to pesticides to sprinkler systems.
Florida Should Take a Tip from California
"Time for businesses, cities to lose
lawns"
by Cindy McNatt, Orange County
Register Columnist
Hours of rolling
through one city after the next meant that I could steer this expert
group [of California Friendly Garden Contest judges] into a conversation
about one of my pet peeves: Acres and acres of greenbelt grass in
commercial settings that serve no purpose other than to enrich the
landscape companies that maintain them.
We've been asked as homeowners to cut back on water use, lose the lawn,
get greener; reduce green waste and go organic. The California
Friendly Garden Contest acknowledges some of these efforts.
I'm not
sticking up for front lawns here, but think about this: Many homeowners
use their lawns for family fun and entertainment. For possibly
half the population of people who keep a lawn, it serves a function- at
least in the back yard, where games are played and canines romp.
Compare
the family lawn to the acres of grass planted around commercial
buildings, public medians, and retail stores. No children playing
kickball, no dogs rolling in the sun, no one catching a nap or
picnicking under a shady tree.
Nick Mrvos
of the Irvine Ranch Water District tells homeowner groups, "If the only
feet that make contact with grass are the guys that mow it, it might be
time to consider alternatives."
It doesn't
matter how large or small the commercial landscape is, you will no doubt
find a strip of grass that needs to be mowed each week. Some
swaths we saw were so large they might equal 25 or more typical
homeowner lawns. Others were so small they didn't even make sense.
I doubt
there is a way to measure how many acres of "silly strips" are planted
in grass, but if you spend any time in HOA neighborhoods, or the
commercial areas of your town, or even drive through the local takeout
restaurant and notice the stupid strip of grass in the planter, you
wonder how it adds up in resources.
Greenbelts are
not "green" anymore.
Tom Larson,
adviser to the Metropolitan Water District, said these parkways were
designed on the East Coast in the 1800's for storing excess snow.
Don't you think it's time to move on?
Commercial
building owners could save thousands a year in maintenance fees if they
lost their lawns. Ditto for homeowners associations; shrubs and
ground covers could be maintained once a month instead of weekly.
Cities that need to cut expenses could lose the grass in purposeless
places.
Ron Vanderhoff
said, "These greenbelts are from a bygone era. Water, chemicals,
runoff, excess fertilizer, green waste, herbicides, air pollution,
fossil fuels used all add up to a big mistake in today's era of using
less resources and protecting the resources that we do have."
Alternatives to Lawns
One alternative to grass
is to create a custom pathway using flagstone or similar rock. If
you think about it, people usually walk down the same path over and over
again anyway when crossing your lawn. Why not just make a rock
pathway with planters on either side? These planters can be
planted with palms, bushes, or bromeliads and mulched to create a
beautiful custom look. The picture to the right shows the side
yard of a home we landscaped in Fort Myers, Florida. The row of
palms on the right are Clustering Fishtail Palms (Caryota mitis).
The plant on the left in the foreground is a Birds of Paradise (Streletzia
nicolai) with a row of palms and
Alamands behind it. Very nice!
A second alternative
involves using bromeliads, air plants, and vines as groundcover where
there would otherwise be grass. We typically begin with a pathway
made of 3" deep egg rock, washed shell, or gravel. Once the
pathway is laid out (with a border made of larger rock or brick), dozens
of varieties of low-water, low-maintenance bromeliads, air plants, and
vines are planted around it. These can be accented with palms,
boulders, statues, ponds, water fountains, or any other garden accents-
all of which are low maintenance or no maintenance. The picture to
the left shows the pathway's rock border at the bottom and the trunk of
a Flame Thrower Palm (Chambeyronia macrocarpa)
in the top center which is surrounded by about a dozen species of
bromeliads, one vine, and a Cordyline 'Red Sister' to the right.
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