Tuesday, May 13, 2008

What's so great about grass?

The lawn-obsessed are fretting over Ontario's Bill 64 - The Cosmetic Pesticide Ban Act, 2008. Meanwhile, I think these neighbours have created something much more attractive than a putting green in their front yard.

15 comments:

JB said...

and what they've done requires more care than a slab of grass, so they are more actively involved in the beautification of the area. I think you could add "turn your front lawn into a rock garden" to your 'cool' list.

XUP said...

Ever time I walk by this house after blocks of green, greener and greenest front lawns, it's like a beautiful breath of fresh air. This photo doesn't begin to do it justice. I need a better camera... or some skill.

Kimberly said...

I'm very anti-grass and I seriously don't get those who are grass obsessed. So you think it's OK to dump tons of chemicals all over the area where your kids/family/pets play, as well as waste countless gallons of water so you can look out see a perfect field of green? I have tons of flower gardens, but our lawn is a mess. We mow it of course, but it's a hodgepodge of grass and weeds and honestly? I could not care less. I have bigger fish to fry.

That rock garden is really lovely.

Anonymous said...

I grew up in a part of the US where grass grows naturally and without the need to water it (enough moisture in the summer, etc.). Then, I moved to a part of the country where people try to replicate that. Um, technically, we're in the desert. I'm not sure if they've noticed that grass isn't supposed to grow in the desert. In our defense, the grass was here before us, and it's cheaper to maintain than it would be to convert it all to a rock garden. (I'm sure that could be debated, but I'm not in the mood.) ;) Luckily, we haven't had to turn the sprinklers on yet, and we only run them sparingly...but still.

We love xeriscaping. Hopefully our next house will have less grass and more common sense. :)

Jazz said...

I've always wondered who decided that grass was the good thing and everything else was weeds.

When I was a kid, there never were any pesticides - or fertilizer for that matter - on the grass and it stayed lush and green all summer, even as other people's lawns got brown. Of course ours was 50% "weeds" and never watered so what the lawn had to put down deep roots in order to survive. And survive it did.

Anonymous said...

I let moss take over the front lawn when I had a house.

It stayed green all year, killed all the weeds (and grass), and was as soft and smooth as a putting green. And I never had to mow or fret about chemicals etc.

If I could patent moss I'd make a million dollars.

alison said...

I prefer a lawn to a rock garden, simply because it wouldn't be much fun for my girls to roll around on the rocks, play on the rocks (hammering in the croquet hoops would be quite the challenge, as would pitching the tent. And don't get me started on the lawn darts.)

That being said, my entire lawn care regime consists of mowing. I don't water, I don't fertilize, I don't use pesticides. And I have a pretty decent dandelion plantation in the back yard (near the house). They're kind of cheerful, those yellow flowers. I do have a weedhound, and I use it to pull these awful prickly thistle-like plants out of the grass.

XUP said...

Kimberly - right on

CP - I've seen some awesome desert landscaping that involved indigenous foliage...no grass. Next house? Are you moving?

Jazz - Ya, who decides these things and why do we always just follow along?

Dave - No reason why you can't patent some variety of moss. It's Amurika, afterall.

Alison - I knew someone would bring up the how-can-my-kids-roll-around-in-a-rock-garden argument. As you say, of course, kids can't roll around in a putting green lawn full of pesticides either. I hope you're using an environmentally friendly mower on that wild lawn of yours - ha ha

Jo said...

Yes!!! Goodness!!! I have a friend who is a slave to his lawn. It takes four hours, twice a week, to mow it. Can you even imagine? And then there are all those chemicals to keep out the crabgrass and the dandelions, which are perfectly natural!

A bit of lawn looks nice, but flowers and gardens and landscaping look much nicer.

Bob said...

Who gets to decide what's a flower and what's a weed? Why is a dandelion considered a weed, but, say, the buttercup and devil's paintbrush are considered wild flowers?

Snobbery.

Becky said...

If you're trying to get rid of it and it won't go, it's a weed.

If you want it to stay and it dies, it's a flower.

My grass grows great in the flower beds, and is being over taken by dandelions and something that looks like Swedish ivy in the part of the yard called "lawn".

Anonymous said...

No, we're not moving! Yet. ;) We always talk about "our next house" because we're almost done with all the remodeling projects on this one. We joke that when that happens, it will be time to move. :)

XUP said...

Josie - It's great that people spend hours outdoors working their land whether it's grass or flowers or vegetables, as long as they don't poison the whole neighbourhood while they're at it.

Bob - there ought to be an association for the discrimination of...

Becky - your yard sounds wild and wonderful & weclome, thanks for visiting

CP- Good! Settling down is the beginning of the end.

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