Green Junction - Should We Have Green, Luscious Lawns?
The history behind grass lawns dates back a few centuries when noble people displayed cut grass/plants space as a sign of wealth. In the mid 1800’s, an American landscape architect successfully associated cultivated lawns with civilized communities. Post WWII developers included lawns in their mass-produced homes or subdivisions. Fast forward to the current time where certain areas – by rules of homeowners' associations (HOAs) – require pesticide-treated lawns for a highly manicured appearance. However, green carpet-like lawns are harmful to the environment.
Researchers in 2005 used satellite data to estimate the amount of land used as lawns in the United State (Milesi, et.al., NASA website). The definition of lawns included residential and commercial lawns, and golf courses. Grass lawns “could be considered the single largest irrigated crop in America in terms of surface area.” To maintain grass-only lawns, broad-spectrum pesticides are used along with an immense amount of water. One analysis suggested that the amount of water used to maintain an average size green lawn is equivalent to 800 showers!
Reducing a lawn to only grass plants is an example of man-made monoculture, the growing of a single crop, which eliminates the biodiversity of natural grasslands. The pesticides can harm or kill wildlife and important soil microbes and are connected to the decline in nature’s pollinators. Pollination is necessary for the growth of about 85% of flowering plants. According to scientific studies, there has been a reduction of approximately 40% of all pollinator species globally over the past few decades. In a 2024 Nature Sustainability article, the authors state that “the negative effects of pesticides are widespread.”
Recently, I walked with my granddaughter in her neighborhood. She made a comment about the beautiful green grass in one of the yards. I explained to her that “perfect” lawns are the ones that rely on the application of chemical poisons. To protect nature and health, chemical applications must be managed, not unrestricted in use. David Mizejewski, a naturalist with the National Wildlife Federation, explains “Lawns are a significant environmental problem. We put in these lawns, and we basically turned these important habitats into dead zones.”