Lawn reform? Probably not at my house.
I am the gardener around here, but I am not the only one who draws the kind attention of neighbors and strangers who pass by the house.
Everybody loves my husband's grass.
We are heading into the roughest months of summer, and Gary's grass, like everyone else's, is going to take a beating. But it will pop back when the cool weeks of fall arrive and the rains return, and it will look again as it does in spring: a lush blue-green.
Like the quintessential American male homeowner that he is, Gary takes pride in his grass. When he gets the morning paper, he stands for a while on the porch and looks it over with barely disguised pride.
There are weeds and crabgrass out there, for sure. But he knows where every one of them is and he can often be found digging them out by hand.
The Lawn Reform movement is gaining increasing traction among gardeners. It has a website, a Facebook page, the backing of some of the best known voices in garden blogging, and it is getting national media attention.
But it doesn't stand much of a chance around here.
I understand the movement's principles. Grass can be a drain on the environment. It produces no food for wildlife, it takes gas-propelled maintenance every week, it soaks up huge quantities of water and it is the reason so many chemicals wash into the Chesapeake Bay.
And I am trying to move Gary toward organic lawn products and I often urge him to let the grass grow another week so it can reseed itself, by itself. And we've pretty much stopped watering the lawn, having learned that the dormancy of the summer months is OK for the grass.
Each year, I quietly steal another few square feet from Gary's grass for another flower bed. Not sure he has noticed.
But I won't make him give up his grass completely. I think he likes the attention he gets from strangers.
Comments
Thanks for the mention, Susan. But-but, lawn reform includes switching to organic, natural lawn care, adding some clover and tolerating some dandelions. Then maybe his next step could be adding some compost, getting the soil and roots better at holding moisture, then reducing the irrigation over time. Brown in summer is the new green!
Here's our Lawn Care We Like: http://www.lawnreform.org/lawncare.html
Thanks, Susan!!!!
Posted by: Susan Harris | June 23, 2010 3:54 PM
Great video! Gary might enjoy an electric mower--fun and no fumes. He's clearly a dedicated plantsman; could he find a passion for camellias or viburnums in addition to grasses?
Posted by: Daffodil Planter | June 24, 2010 12:25 PM
My grass does produce food for wildlife!
There are usually birds in it eating bugs and other birds eating tender grass sprouts and weeds.
Posted by: Lazy Gardens | June 24, 2010 6:40 PM
Great article. Maybe Gary will come around someday. Take the whole garden over with flowerbeds and he might get the hint. :-) In the meantime we have videos full of tips for the lawn. http://www.youtube.com/bluelgcrew#p/u/21/iCXlCxVR-Gk
Posted by: SHC-Tammie | June 25, 2010 2:30 PM