Natural Lawns: A Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Alternative to Grass
- Media Manager
- May 22, 2022
- 1 min read
Utopia
Written By: Paul Parzyszek
Published: May 23rd, 2022
Tired of pouring so much time, effort, money, and fertilizer into maintaining your perfect lawn? Natural lawns might be the sustainable and low maintenance solution.
With the threat of climate change and looming droughts, natural lawns have become more popular as alternatives to grass lawns. While grass lawns are often monocultures watered and mowed to perfection, natural lawns are more varied. They might feature typical grass lawns allowed to grow wild, controlled ground covers, or native plants and shrubs to provide a habitat for insects.
Although lawns may seem as American as apple pie, their origins lie in Europe. Wealthy landowners often had grass lawns as a sign of status: they were labor intensive, allowed for leisure activity, and were far easier to monitor for intruders. This ideal was imported into American town parks in 1800s, which were often modeled after posh British estates. Residential turf lawns then became ubiquitous in the 1950s when homeownership soared, families began moving into suburbs, lawn mowers became accessible, and a tidy lawn became a symbol of success.
