When we build a new home we encourage clients to make decisions that limit that houses wasteful use of resources. In turn theses decisions save them thousands of dollars a year on utility bills and maintenance fees.
One area you can save a lot of money on monthly utility bills is your outdoor landscaping. Grass has a big price tag when you consider the life of owning it. From installation to all the long term associated costs. Most people never add up the total monthly or yearly cost of owning a lawn. They just think it is normal to water, mow, fertilize, trim, rake, and repeat every week. I am here to tell you, you don't have to be a slave to your grass.
We love a beautiful soft grass lawn as much as the next person. And we are not saying don't plant any grass, just limit the amount of grass you plant. For us, there are plenty of other things we would rather spend our money and time doing than maintaining our lawn. For others, the most relaxing thing they do all week is work in the yard and cut that grass. More power to you, that is why we live in America. It's your money, so spend it how you like!
Below is a great article we recently came across in our local newspaper. It has an interested point of view when talking about our grass lawns. It is humorous and at the same time makes some obvious common sense arguments.
Enjoy.
Dan Jovick
Laughing at our lawns
January 02, 2011
By Carol Oneal
Several months ago, I attended a landscaping class where the conversation turned to the American obsession with lawns. With his tongue at least partly tongue-in-cheek, the instructor told a story that went something like this one, in which he asked us to imagine a conversation the Creator might have had with St. Francis on the subject of lawns. Perhaps it's food for thought:
Creator: Hey, Frank, you know a lot about gardening. What in the world is going on down there in America? What happened to the dandelions, clover, dock, plantain and other herbs I started eons ago? I created a no-maintenance garden plan by mixing plants that grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The blossoms attract butterflies, honeybees and flocks of songbirds. And the herbs contain all kinds of nutritional and medicinal goodness. I expected to see a vast garden of color by now. But all I see are these green rectangles.
St. Francis: It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your herbs "weeds" and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.
Creator: Grass? But it's so boring! It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds or bees. It's temperamental about temperatures. Do the Suburbanites really want all that grass?
St. Francis: Apparently so. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They fertilize it every spring and poison any other plant that moves in. Sometimes, they grow big fields of it just so they can play on it.
Creator: The spring rains and warm weather probably make the grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.
St. Francis: Well, apparently not, because as soon as it grows a little, they cut it — often twice a week.
Creator: They cut it? Do they bale it like hay?
St. Francis: Um, not exactly. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.
Creator: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?
St. Francis: Just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.
Creator: Now, let me get this straight. They fertilize the grass to help make it grow, then they cut it off and pay to throw it away?
St. Francis: You got it.
Creator: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That slows the grass and probably saves them a lot of work.
St. Francis: You'd think so, but think again. When the grass stops growing, they drag out hoses, then pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.
Creator: What nonsense! At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in summer. In the autumn, they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes over winter. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It's a natural circle of life.
St. Francis: You had better sit down, garden master. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into piles, put them in bags, and pay to have them hauled away.
Creator: No! What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in winter and keep the soil moist and loose?
St. Francis: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.
Creator: And where do they get this mulch?
St. Francis: They cut down trees and grind them up to make mulch.
Creator: Enough! I don't want to think about this any more. Sister Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?
St. Catherine: "Dumb and Dumber." It's a movie about "…
Creator: Never mind. I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.
Carol Oneal is a past president of the OSU Jackson County Master Gardeners Association. E-mail her at diggit1225@gmail.com.
Here is a link to the article at the Mail Tribune -
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