this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2023
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No Lawns
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My town has been doing the same and there's even a program where they will come rip out your lawn and replace it with some kind of wood chip stuff. The town's main water supply is a lake just downhill from our little mountain so they take it pretty seriously. I hate lawn care so I've considered it, but haven't actually taken action on it yet. But I just might. I hate hate hate mowing.
ELI5, why is lawn care/mowing bad? I know monoculture grass is iffy, but why are wood chips better than grass?
Grass takes a lot of water and maintenance to look good. A lot of places are increasingly short on water.
I let my grass get water from the sky, if it gets enough, cool. If not, nature intended it.
I do still mow though because if I don’t my city issues a fine. I’d be fine with my grass being up to my ankle, any further than that and it unfortunately becomes a hazard because we have a snake issue.
Wood chips might help hold water better/better promote natives to grow there, also probably to help the soil gain back some nutrients
Thanks for the great answers, punks!
Grass needs lots of water (resource that's scarce in places), mowing (gas lawnmowers are big polluters), many companies use fertilizers and herbicides (fertilizers run off into the water system and herbicides are very harmful). But mostly grass is a monoculture and doesn't support our native bees, butterflies, or birds which we rely on to pollinate our food crops. Grass is useful in areas with heavy foot traffic, but we grow way more of it than we really need.
I think in that particular towns case, they don't want people using any kind of sprays on the lawn. Native is always the best option when given a choice.
Not really sure, something about nitrogen runoff maybe? I don't really recall, but I have the memory of a goldfish so I could be way off.
I had a place in my backyard where grass wouldn't grow because it ponded too much. Have since covered with mulch to prevent any more erosion and planted blueberries and creeping phlox. Much prettier now!