Ann Arbor, MI (4/22/98)- Eliminating the national "lawn fetish" in favor of environmentally
friendly native plant landscaping could create a quieter world with cleaner
air and water, say some researchers.
"America's lawn-care fetish -- a bourgeois obsession that's right up
there with trying to keep up with the Joneses -- is becoming passe. The
wave of the future is the naturalistic, ecology route -- using native shrubs
and plantings that are both attractive and environmentally sound," says
Connecticut College Professor of Botany William A. Niering, a conservationist
with the college's Center for Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies.
Niering is the founder of SALT, "Smaller American Lawns Today", a national
movement to reverse the "lawn mania" in America by "restoring home and
industrial grounds to more harmonious, productive, ecologically-sound,
naturalistic landscapes."
Niering is among a growing number of advocates for a landscape designs
involving smaller lawns planted with more native species plants (instead
of the maintenance-demanding grass), meadows, orchards, vegetable gardens,
perennials or annuals, trees, and shrubs. This approach will result in
substantial reductions in noise, air and water
pollution, while keeping America beautiful, he says.
What does he have against lawns? He cites figures showing that 67 million
pounds of pesticides and about 3 million tons of fertilizer are used annually
on lawns in the United States. He also estimates that one hour of power
mowing emits the same amount of air pollution as a car that has been driven
350 miles, not to mention the noise pollution. Electric or manual mowers
are cleaner alternatives.
"Gas mowers are an environmental airshed insult that no neighbor should
have to tolerate," says Niering. His own garden includes a meadow, shrubs,
plantings and ground cover, with a small patch of actual grass that "takes
about 10 minutes to mow."
GO WILD
A common complaint about lanscape designs based on native plantings
is that they can be a bit messy compared with the classic suburban look.
But you can "go wild" without driving the neighbors crazy, says Joan Iverson
Nassauer, professor at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources
and Environment.
"Ecological quality tends to look messy," says Joan Iverson Nassauer,
professor of landscape architecture at the University of Michigan School
of Natural Resources and Environment. "What is good for biodiversity and
environmental health may not look good, and what looks good may not be
good."
Instead of feuding with neighbors still indulging a health lawn fetish,
or critcizing them as eco-terrorists, Nassauer urges advocates of natural
landscaping to adopt a different approach.
The editor of "Placing Nature: Culture and Landscape Ecology," published
earlier this year by Island Press, Nassauer has conducted studies with
more than 300 Midwestern suburbanites to identify exactly what it is about
a home landscape in established cities and suburbs, as well as new subdivisions,
that makes people realize it is being naturalized, rather than neglected.
Nassauer offers the following six strategies for gardeners who want
to stop weeding and mowing and return to nature without enraging more horticulturally
conventional, chemically-dependent neighbors:
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1. Mow a frame around natural areas, as a sign that you're taking care
of them are, not just letting them go to weed. Whenever possible, make
sure this frame borders sidewalks and public areas. "It shows you are taking
care of your native garden," Nassauer says.
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Introduce some plants and shrubs with large, bright flowers, in addition
to less showy native species. "People are more likely to find the whole
area more attractive if they can see flowers," says Nassauer.
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Place bird feeders, baths and houses throughout the native garden. "Everyone
loves songbirds," she says, "even though they may not appreciate the habitat
needed to sustain healthy wild bird populations."
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Use bold, clearly visible landscape patterns whenever possible, since patterns
are easily identifiable signals of human care for the area.
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Maintain fences, and consider placing lawn furniture and ornaments near
the natural area.
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If you have foundation plantings around your home, keep them trimmed so
they don't obscure doors, paths or windows.
All six strategies are based on common cultural preferences for neatness
and order that facilitate the
acceptance of more wild, native landscapes. Using the guidelines in
your native garden design will not only benefit the environment, but keep
you on good terms with the enighbors as well, she says.
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