A New Leaf for Sustainability in Lawn Care

A green, freshly cut lawn has been an important American tradition for decades. It’s a symbol of status and a place for the homeowner to enjoy their land. We’re here to ask: has the concept of the uniform grass lawn become outdated? Are there ways to make your yard more sustainable? The answer is yes.

A cabin with a smoking chimney sits in the woods with a green lawn of clover.

What Makes a Lawn Sustainable?

A lot goes into creating an eco-friendly lawn from scratch. This guide will touch on a handful of the major changes you can make to bring sustainability to your home. Some changes are bigger than others, but they each make a noticeable difference from both environmental and aesthetic standpoints!

Why Switch to a Sustainable Lawn?

Switching to sustainable lawn alternatives like moss, clover, or wildflower meadows offers significant environmental benefits. These options conserve water due to their lower irrigation needs and eliminate the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, promoting a healthier ecosystem. They enhance biodiversity by providing habitats for pollinators and other beneficial wildlife, and improve soil health through natural processes like nitrogen fixation and erosion prevention. Additionally, sustainable lawns reduce carbon emissions by requiring less mowing and maintenance, contributing to a healthier planet while creating a beautiful and resilient landscape.

Grass Alternatives

The average American lawn is grass. Many have walkways through the grass to get to the front door, driveway, or even a garden or swimming pool. What most Americans overlook, however, is that grass does not need to be our main ground cover. There are plenty of more friendly options available:

A closeup of a moss lawn with cars and houses in the background, suggesting suburbia.

Moss Lawns

Moss lawns are a fairly popular grass alternative. Here are the benefits:

No need for fertilizer or pesticides.
Once established, they require minimal maintenance and little water.
The high density of moss repels traditional garden pests.
Moss lawns can be prettier than grass! They provide a rich, deep green of multiple shades.

The cons:

Moss lawns are expensive to establish. Individual sheets of moss add up quickly, especially for larger properties.
Moss lawns are picky. They require an area with decent shade and cannot handle high foot traffic.
Moss can take over a year to fully spread and provide the thick appearance that you want.

A patch of clovers and wildflowers in the sun.

Clover Lawns

Clover lawns are another grass alternative rising in popularity. Here are some pros:

Clover pumps nitrogen into the soil of your lawn, acting as natural fertilizer for itself and other plants. This is a huge boost to the overall health of your yard.
Clover is slow-growing and therefore requires less mowing.
The dense root structure of clover combats weeds.

Cons:

Clover can attract bees when it blooms.
Clover grows unevenly depending on distribution of seed. This means that some places may look scarce while other look ‘lumpy’ or too full.
Clover can easily spread and overtake your garden if you don’t take the proper precautions such as physical barriers or regular maintenance.

Wildflowers and Native Plants

Grass, clover, and moss are all low-growing ground cover plants. This is what most people think of when they imagine their lawn. However, many lawns have areas of overgrowth: meadows of wildflowers and native plants that are allowed to grow tall.

A wildflower meadow on your lawn allows your yard to act as a place for bees to pollinate and insects to thrive. Depending on how tall you allow this area to grow, it could be walkable or decorative. Another option is to allow it to grow freely and cut pathways to create walkability.

A tall meadow of wildflowers and grasses with a path down the middle.

The look certainly isn’t for everyone, especially if your goal is to optimize the walking space on your lawn. It does have another important benefit though: tall grass with a mixture of native plants does a good job of trapping runoff and preventing harmful pollutants from entering the watershed.

The Right Lawn for You

Converting an entire lawn to any of these options is a radical and potentially expensive change. However, it is very easy to start with small trial portions to improve the sustainability of your property.

References

Gregory. (2021, February 16). Wildflower Lawns: A Beautiful, Low-Maintenance, and Sustainable Alternative to Traditional Grass Lawns. Gardening Tips and Tools; Gardening Tips and Tools. https://www.gardeningtipsandtools.com/flower-gardening/wildflower-lawns-a-natural-and-sustainable-alternative/#:~:text=Wildflower%20lawns%20are%20a%20beautiful

More Sustainable (and Beautiful) Alternatives to a Grass Lawn. (2016, September 30). https://www.nrdc.org/stories/more-sustainable-and-beautiful-alternatives-grass-lawn#:~:text=Manicured%20turf%20grass%20lawns%20cover%20up%20to%2050

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