I couldn't help but cheer when I read an Op-Ed piece on the New York Times website by a suburban lawn-owner who has thrown in the towel on the fight against weeds. Robert Wright, who styles himself "The Dandelion King," has decided to campaign in favor of weeds, because if everyone's doing it, then it suddenly becomes a non-problem.
What I like most about Wright's article is that he manages to side step the finger-wagging, chiding tone that usually accompanies any kind of ecologically minded discussion of lawn care. Although he is open about the risks involved in the chemicals being dumped on lawns to make them "pretty," he takes a more laconic attitude towards pesticides: that they're just too much trouble and expense.
I always hated lawns, until I had one myself. When I lived in urban apartments, I thought of lawns as a colossal waste of space. An urban desert, a vast nothing which serves no purpose. And the chemicals! The sheer volume of chemicals required to "properly" keep a lawn is truly shocking. I suspect even most spouses don't realize how much chemical warfare is being waged out in the yard by the spouse who's in charge of the lawn care.
(And even if you think you know what's going on out there, a caution: I know someone who believes that her husband is practicing proper organic lawn care. The truth is, he just waits until she leaves the house to dump the weed 'n feed out there. He also decants Round-Up into a plain squirt bottle labeled "vinegar" and uses it to spot treat weed outbreaks. Not to make you paranoid or anything.)
Then I moved out to The Country ™. Weeds grow insane out here, and I have learned to appreciate a clear swath which can be cared for simply by virtue of running a riding lawnmower over it once a week. (Gas powered, and yes I know that's awful. But it's five acres of lawn. It takes me an hour even with the riding lawnmower. A push mower is pretty much out of the question.)
Whenever I'm tempted to dose the yard (which is at least 50% dandelions by volume), all I have to do is look over to the left, where the well pump is camouflaged by a nicely placed rhododendron. It's safe to assume that anything I dump on the lawn will get washed into the well water, which I drink directly. There's no treatment plant at my house, just a Brita Stage 3 Filter. Which does a good job, don't get me wrong, but not THAT good!
And now that I have chickens, I see my lawn in a new light. It's pasture for grazing animals. My chickens live in a mobile pen which I move to a new patch of lawn every day. Eating the grass puts omega 3 fatty acids in their eggs, and makes the yolks a vivid orange. And there is no way I'm going to dump poison on their grazing grounds!
I think Robert Wright should make up some "Organic Lawn" signs and start offering them for sale. Simply place the sign on the edge of your lawn, and magically you've captured the moral high ground!
What I like most about Wright's article is that he manages to side step the finger-wagging, chiding tone that usually accompanies any kind of ecologically minded discussion of lawn care. Although he is open about the risks involved in the chemicals being dumped on lawns to make them "pretty," he takes a more laconic attitude towards pesticides: that they're just too much trouble and expense.
I always hated lawns, until I had one myself. When I lived in urban apartments, I thought of lawns as a colossal waste of space. An urban desert, a vast nothing which serves no purpose. And the chemicals! The sheer volume of chemicals required to "properly" keep a lawn is truly shocking. I suspect even most spouses don't realize how much chemical warfare is being waged out in the yard by the spouse who's in charge of the lawn care.
(And even if you think you know what's going on out there, a caution: I know someone who believes that her husband is practicing proper organic lawn care. The truth is, he just waits until she leaves the house to dump the weed 'n feed out there. He also decants Round-Up into a plain squirt bottle labeled "vinegar" and uses it to spot treat weed outbreaks. Not to make you paranoid or anything.)
Then I moved out to The Country ™. Weeds grow insane out here, and I have learned to appreciate a clear swath which can be cared for simply by virtue of running a riding lawnmower over it once a week. (Gas powered, and yes I know that's awful. But it's five acres of lawn. It takes me an hour even with the riding lawnmower. A push mower is pretty much out of the question.)
Whenever I'm tempted to dose the yard (which is at least 50% dandelions by volume), all I have to do is look over to the left, where the well pump is camouflaged by a nicely placed rhododendron. It's safe to assume that anything I dump on the lawn will get washed into the well water, which I drink directly. There's no treatment plant at my house, just a Brita Stage 3 Filter. Which does a good job, don't get me wrong, but not THAT good!
And now that I have chickens, I see my lawn in a new light. It's pasture for grazing animals. My chickens live in a mobile pen which I move to a new patch of lawn every day. Eating the grass puts omega 3 fatty acids in their eggs, and makes the yolks a vivid orange. And there is no way I'm going to dump poison on their grazing grounds!
I think Robert Wright should make up some "Organic Lawn" signs and start offering them for sale. Simply place the sign on the edge of your lawn, and magically you've captured the moral high ground!
Creative Commons-licensed photo courtesy of Flickr user Mike Deal aka ZoneDancer