There’s nothing more American than a grassy, green lawn. The pursuit of a grand expanse of pointless, purely-aesthetic monocrop captures the goal of the American dream better than Fitzgerald ever could. Second only to the quantity of Amazon packages that litter one’s front porch, the robustness and size of the American lawn establish a clear order to the neighborhood hierarchy. Having been brought to the New World on European ships, grass species have dominated and displaced native plants all across the country. There’s nothing more American than a grassy, green lawn.
For the last 40 or so years, America’s been waging war on the wrong type of grass. Lawn maintenance in the United States consumes 800 million gallons of gasoline, 3 million tons of nitrogen-based fertilizer [1], and 3 trillion gallons of water [2]. Moreover, non-native grass species displace indigenous plants, reduce biodiversity, and fail to capture as much carbon as native ecosystems. With upwards of 8 million tons of CO2 being released annually [3], if “American Lawn Mowing” were a country, it would place 114 on the global list of carbon dioxide producers (right above Nepal) [4].
America’s relationship with grass lawns is problematic. This is especially true in areas where water is a scarce resource. In arid environments like the American Southwest, grass cannot survive without irrigation systems that pump water from already-depleted aquifers. With droughts continuing to worsen year after year, environmental problems in these regions are only exacerbated by lawn care.
And it’s no fault of the American lawnowner that their lawn requires so much attention; the grass species populating American Suburbia are native to the moist, mild climate of Northern Europe [5] – and certainly not Phoenix, Arizona. Even the most quintessentially American grass species – Kentucky Bluegrass – grew naturally in moist and mild Poland before it was imported to the United States and given its inaccurate Appalachian name [8]. In order for grasses to survive in these foreign environments, Americans spend an incredible amount of time and resources to recreate what grows unaided in, say, Scotland.
Bull-dozing your backyard and converting it into a parking lot, however, is not the solution to this environmental problem. Despite the negative environmental impact of a grass lawn, there is something to be said for the importance of green spaces – especially in dense, urban neighborhoods. Areas where people can stop and appreciate nature are incredibly important for happiness and mental health. A recent study conducted in Philadelphia found that by turning vacant lots into green spaces, issues of poor mental health among community members significantly decreased [6]. Lawns are often the only space where much of the population is given an opportunity to admire nature and appreciate why it must be protected. However, turf lawns simply do too much harm to the environment – especially compared to their alternatives.
Luckily, for the environmentally-conscious homeowner or really just anyone sick and tired of mowing the lawn, there are better ways to achieve a valuable green space. For arid environments with water scarcity, consider low-growing groundcovers that require little irrigation, or even transform your yard into a dryscape with little to no plant life at all. For environments where weed control takes just as much time as maintaining the grass itself, consider planting a pollinator garden with plants native to the area. Vegetable gardens are also a good option for those wishing to minimize their carbon footprint with locally-grown foods.
The American grass lawn, as a facet of the American image, is often taken as the default for outdoor property. However, with an ever-warming planet and other related environmental threats, we as global inhabitants must reconsider many aspects of our life that we often take for granted – landscaping included. Fortunately, altruism does not have to be the only driving force behind a shift from grass lawns; the time-wasting, money-draining nuisance of maintaining a lawn is enough for many to view a green lawn as nothing more than the green paper that it has consumed. The alternatives to grass lawns not only promote biodiversity, reduce water consumption, and create much less pollution, but they could also give the American suburbanite more time for equally American practices like gossipping about the neighbors or online grocery shopping. There’s nothing more American than a grassy, green lawn.
References:
Jiahn Son, “Lawn Maintenance and climate change - psci”. Princeton University. May 12, 2020. https://psci.princeton.edu/tips/2020/5/11/law-maintenance-and-climate-change
Mary Talbot, More sustainable (and beautiful) alternatives to a grass lawn. NRDC. September 30, 2016. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/more-sustainable-and-beautiful-alternatives-grass-lawn
Hitchler, Lenore. “Grass Lawns Are an Ecological Catastrophe.” ONE Only Natural Energy, October 3, 2018. https://www.onlynaturalenergy.com/grass-lawns-are-an-ecological-catastrophe/.
“CO2 Emissions by Country.” Worldometer. Accessed January 14, 2022. https://www.worldometers.info/co2-emissions/co2-emissions-by-country/.
“Lawn History.” Planet Natural, May 5, 2018. https://www.planetnatural.com/organic-lawn-care-101/history/.
South, Eugenia C. “Effect of Greening Vacant Land on Mental Health among Urban Residents.” JAMA Network Open. JAMA Network, July 20, 2018. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2688343.
“Looking for Lawns.” NASA. NASA. Accessed January 14, 2022. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/Lawn/lawn2.php.
Duble, Richard L. “Kentucky Bluegrass.” Texas A&M. Accessed January 14, 2022. https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/turf/publications/Bluegrass.html.