The ‘ no mow ’ yard and foodscaping – The future of yard keeping
There has been much interest lately in moving away from manicured , watered yards to more natural environmentally friendly alternatives . Manicured turf grass lawns cover up to 50 million acres of land in America . But a new , no-mow movement is challenging this conformity — and helping the environment . Every year across the country , lawns consume nearly 3 trillion gallons of water a year , 200 million gallons of gas ( for all that mowing ), and 70 million pounds of pesticides .
You may also know that turf grass , however welcoming it looks for our bare feet , provides virtually no habitat for polli- nators and other animals and plants that make up a healthy , diverse ecosystem . In fact , it is being realized that these lawns can do substantial harm to the environ- ment . Research being conducted is pointing to mowed grasses as a culprit in air pollution .
Cut grasses ( aka lawns ) emit car- bon into the atmosphere ; larger quantities of carbon than that found in naturally kept fields . Simply put , lawns produce more carbon gas than they can absorb due to the practices required to keep them looking sharp . Once the energy expended by mowing , fertilizer use and watering are considered , lawns produce more greenhouse gases than they soak up .
Hay
There is also research suggesting that the release of green leaf volatiles ( GLVs ) are having an effect on our planet . When the plants are injured , whether through animals grazing on them or you cut them , any damage sustained , they release volatile chemicals into the air . That smell of “ fresh cut grass ” is the plants releasing a sort of chemical distress signal . The rush of chemicals does a few things : some of the compounds stimulate the formation of new cells at the wound site so it closes faster . Others act as antibiotics that prevent bacterial infection and inhibit fungal growth . Among the GLVs released by damaged grass are a group of eight related oxygenated hydrocarbons , including aldehydes and alcohols , that cause the “ green odor ” and these are linked to air pollution . So , in short , these tight , manicured lawns can do as much harm as they do good for the environment .
Turf grass and the idea of having a tightly manicured and level area came from Europe as a status symbol . It was a rich man ’ s luxury to have a groomed , open area ( think of golf ) to entertain guests on . Most of our common turf grasses are nonnative species as well . Kentucky bluegrass , for example , is originally from Europe , not the state , as its name would suggest while Centipede grass is derived from China and Southeast Asia . Bermuda grass is a tropical native of India and areas of Africa . Bahia grass is from Argentina . Having a lawn is not an American practice but one that we adopted and as the suburban areas grew and people wanted to conform , the birth of the American landscape turned into a manicured grass patch with a splash of marigolds for color .
There is a growing number of homeowners who are making the change from the high maintenance yard to a more ecofriendly , natural landscape . These no-mow yards generally fall into four categories : 1 ) naturalized or un-mowed turf grass that is left to grow wild ; 2 ) low-growing turf grasses that require little grooming ( most are a blend of fescues ); 3 ) native or naturalized landscapes where turf is replaced with native plants as well as noninvasive , climate-friendly ones that can thrive
60 • MERIDIAN LIFE