My NDN expends irrational quantities of fossil fuels maintaining his very large pristine lawn that he cuts every 2 days (once a week in Winter) with 3 different petrol driven machines. I expend almost none on my small patch of mossy, weedy grass that I mow now and then with a push mower.
There are lawns and lawns
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I dug up my front lawn entirely a few weeks ago, because I was running out of space to plant flowers. But the back lawn is a lovely tangle of longer grass, daisies and dandelions. The dog and offspring need somewhere to frolic, after all, and I have often found frogs, hedgehogs and birds rummaging around in there.
One of the neighbours has a perfectly flat, sterile green lawn she keeps daisy-free. Not my thing but at least it's not plastic.
Quite. I think the 'lawns are sterile deserts', 'lawns are bad for biodiversity' stuff can make people think they're no better than a plastic tufty carpet, so might as well get one of those.
'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
I have a sort of love / hate relationship with lawns. I don't have an issue with grass being used as sports fields, or for recreation but for mere decoration..no, I don't understand why anybody would want one just admire it. Alot, mainly non gardeners I would suggest, want a lawn that looks like Centre Court and subsequently listen intently to greenkeepers, buy a miriad of lawn chemicals, an unnecessary overly powerful mower (this is mainly a man thing..along with stripey lawns), spend countless hours cutting it way too short and then are almost always disappointed it's doesn't look like the last hole at Wentworth because it's completely the wrong type of grass with poor drainage or ,in many cases, compacted to hell. I would never include one in my own garden. They're just too much effort and call me old fashioned but I think long uncut lawns look scruffy. But..if somebody really wants lawn, as much I don't understand why, then fine. Neither do I have an issue with anybody watering it. Watering lawns could be considered as wasteful as watering hanging baskets ..but hey, it's their garden and they're paying for the water..who am I to tell them what to do.
This is my lawn in SW France, mown grass, in March.
I bought the house in January last year, no flower borders, so it's a garden in progress, I've made some beds, planted flowers, daffodils, 2 trees and a big shrub bed so far. If I didn't have a lawn what should I do with all that area? Far too much to grow veg on or make flower beds - I couldn't cope with it. Very expensive to pave it or hard landscape it and not ecological. Keeping it as lawn, admittedly a bit rough, is the cheapest and easiest and most ecological way of dealing with it. All I do is cut it. If it goes a bit beige in summer it will green up when it rains.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
Same here @Busy-Lizzie. Loads of grass in both ex-pasture and what used to be farmyard areas so on thin, gravelly soil. Wouldn't want to pave/terrace/gravel it because I like the green and I have plans for nibbling away to create new beds to make it attractive both for us and wildlife.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Posts
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
There are lawns and lawns
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I agree - over cossetted lawns that require chemicals to keep them 'weed' free are bad. But worse are plastic lawns.
As others have said it’s not lawns that are the problem, it’s what people do with them that’s the problem.
Im in the opinion that as long as it’s vaguely green I don’t care what ‘weeds’ grow in it.
Failure is always an option.
I don't have an issue with grass being used as sports fields, or for recreation but for mere decoration..no, I don't understand why anybody would want one just admire it.
Alot, mainly non gardeners I would suggest, want a lawn that looks like Centre Court and subsequently listen intently to greenkeepers, buy a miriad of lawn chemicals, an unnecessary overly powerful mower (this is mainly a man thing..along with stripey lawns), spend countless hours cutting it way too short and then are almost always disappointed it's doesn't look like the last hole at Wentworth because it's completely the wrong type of grass with poor drainage or ,in many cases, compacted to hell.
I would never include one in my own garden. They're just too much effort and call me old fashioned but I think long uncut lawns look scruffy.
But..if somebody really wants lawn, as much I don't understand why, then fine. Neither do I have an issue with anybody watering it. Watering lawns could be considered as wasteful as watering hanging baskets ..but hey, it's their garden and they're paying for the water..who am I to tell them what to do.
I bought the house in January last year, no flower borders, so it's a garden in progress, I've made some beds, planted flowers, daffodils, 2 trees and a big shrub bed so far. If I didn't have a lawn what should I do with all that area? Far too much to grow veg on or make flower beds - I couldn't cope with it. Very expensive to pave it or hard landscape it and not ecological. Keeping it as lawn, admittedly a bit rough, is the cheapest and easiest and most ecological way of dealing with it. All I do is cut it. If it goes a bit beige in summer it will green up when it rains.