Paghat, your article is right on! Here I quote the last paragraph:
"I call for an Urban & Suburban Meadow Movement to villainize lawn
loonies, get rid of envirophobic laws that prohibit meadows, & uphold a
greater standard that values native flora in every empty lot & along
every greenmargin, & which views a single-species flat mowed lawn as
the unsightly destructive force that it seriously & actually is."
Lawns are promoted by those who profit from their existence. A few
years ago, I had a little landscaping work done and the contractor
strongly suggested I put a lawn in a narrow strip in front of my house.
I'm sure he would have been glad to help me mow the lawn every week
for a small fee. Instead, I planted some cacti that my neighbors gave
me as cuttings and now that they have grown large and bountiful my
neighbors compliment the appearance of my house and landscaping. I
live in Northeast Los Angeles.
If you need help in creating a native plant garden, there are a few
landscape architects here and there that can help you put it together
in your area. Or just look up native plant nurseries in your area
using your favorite search engine, and use a non-structured,
plant-centric approach to place your new plants wherever you like! If
you're really brave, you may plant things in a way that no geometric
pattern could ever define!
Thanks, Paghat, for your inspiring article.
paghat wrote:
In article . com,
"raycruzer" wrote:
Some people believe that our society's fixation with lawns causes
considerable environmental problems including water depletion,
pesticide and herbicide pollution, habitat degradation, and threats to
biodiversity. The National Lawn Conversiion Program
http://www.conservationinstitute.org/lawnconversion.htm advocates
pulling out your grass and replacing it with native plants. Once it's
done, you save time in maintaining your garden (for us lazy folks),
save on chemicals, water and machines (plus gas) to keep on mowing
lawns.
For more info on lawn conversions and examples of converted lawns,
visit the Ergonica World of Weeds website weeding tips page.
What does having an expensive lawn really mean?
Here's my article on the subject, "Lawn Loonies and Envirophobia":
http://www.paghat.com/lawnloony.html
One horrible thing is that in many places, healthy meadows are illegal as
the lawn nazis have passed laws against not destroying the environment.
Municiple codes with possibility of frequently make the natural habitate
recommended by the Lawn Conversion Program fineable offenses. A healthy
environment is viewed as an eyesore & all wildlife therein as vermine.
-paghat the ratgirl
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"In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to
liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot." -Thomas Jefferson