In 2003, Virginia Welch contributed an article to EarthCare titled “Lush Green Desert” which included the following dialogue between God and St. Francis:

What is going on down there on Earth? What happened to all the dandelions, violets, daisies, buttercups and thistles I started eons ago? I had a perfect no-maintenance garden plan with plants that grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and still flourish, and their long lasting blossoms attract butterflies, bees, and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see vast gardens by now, but all I see are green rectangles.

It’s the tribes that settled here. The Suburbanites. They called your flowers ‘weeds’ and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.

Grass? Why? It’s not colorful, it doesn’t provide food or cover for wildlife, and except for grubs and certain insects, it is hardly more than a green desert. Do the suburbanites really want all that grass?

Apparently so. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing it and poisoning any other plant that comes up in the lawn.

Spring rains and warm weather make the grass grow fast. That ought to make the Suburbanites happy.

Apparently not. As soon as it grows, they cut it.

Cut it? Do they bale it like hay?

No, most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

No. Just the opposite. They pay to have it hauled away.

The suburbanites must be relieved when summer comes and we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

No, when the grass stops growing they drag out the hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to have it taken away.

Much has changed in the decades since the publication of this article. The evolution of the American lawn seems to have come full circle; it is no longer “politically correct” to have one.

Historically, lawns were not common until the invention of the lawn mower in the 1830’s. Initially meant to maintain golf courses, the first primitive machine replaced the scythe. In colonial times, only the wealthiest land owners maintained lawns for entertaining. Everyone else’s turf was used for agriculture, and the public spaces, the Town Greens, hallmarks of New England villages, were used for grazing livestock. A lawn, therefore, was considered a status symbol, thus eventually the perfectly manicured, weed-less lawn was popularized and became a suburban standard, a velvety emerald carpet in competition with others to the point where neighbors would become annoyed with those whose lawns contained the weeds which, of course, would seed themselves into their own, and rules would be written for residential communities.

Maintaining perfectly groomed grass lawns necessitates a lot of labor to remain trim in the rainy spring, the use of chemicals to prevent the spread of ever-encroaching weeds, and the consumption of much water during dry summers. Gas powered lawn mowers disperse toxins into the air. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, operating a lawn mower for one hour emits an amount of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxide equivalent to driving a car 45 miles. More troubling, we use 30% of our nation’s water for grass to remain green. Arid regions use 75% of their water supply on lawns. More troubling, herbicides, fertilizers and pesticides find their way into the water table; Americans use approximately 90 million pounds of these chemicals every year. Even more troubling, insecticides endanger pollinators, causing nectar to contain chemicals which weaken, and in some instances, kill bees, the toxins eventually poisoning waterways and harming marine life.

The solution? Pollinator lawns. These are not to be confused with wildflower meadows, which require much thoughtful planning, preparation, and planting for success. A pollinator lawn is simply a mixture of grasses and flowers, mown less frequently to ensure pollination. A pollinator lawn will neither deplete natural resources nor poison the air and will benefit wildlife and the quality of human lives. Suitable for all our purposes, such as picnics and sports, the only difference is what we’re accustomed to aesthetically – replacing a manicured, monochromatic lawn with a shaggier, more colorful version. We wouldn’t deny anyone in the desert a small patch of perfect turf to soothe their feet, yet a whole acre of it, where our lawns were initially mown meadows, looks spoiled.

If the lawn is new, conduct a soil test to determine levels of acidity and alkalinity and amend as necessary. Aerate the soil and apply seeds as directed. The seed mixtures gardeners select depend on the site and the climate. The County Extension Center can identify the correct varieties to use for our region. Of course, if you already have an established lawn, there’s no need to start over – you’re probably half way there. Just allow the native plants to remain there, refrain from chemicals, and mow your lawn less often. Pollinators include: red and white clover, creeping thyme, Corsican mint, chickweed, chamomile, self-heal, violets, lamium, ajuga, Kentucky bluegrass, and fescue.

And, of course, the dandelion. Two years ago in “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Dandelion”, I encouraged gardeners to view things through a new lens, including the dandelion in the context of welcoming pollinators in their lawns. Since then, I’ve discovered that this “devil” is due a post-script to further convince people of the value of this misaligned plant.

Dandelions’ wide-spreading roots loosen and aerate soil and reduce erosion, their deep taproots pulling beneficial nutrients from the soil to distribute to other plants. Dandelions’ historic roots are deep, too. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans used dandelions, which the Chinese have used in traditional medicine for more than a thousand years. From the French word “dent de lion” for its coarsely-toothed leaves, the dandelion is the only flower to represent the sun, with its yellow flower, the moon, with its white seed head, and stars, with its parachute-like scatterings. Birds, butterflies, and insects consume the nectar and the seeds of dandelions, and humans profit from the plant as well. All sections of the dandelion are useful – roots, flowers, leaves – for food, in dye, for drinks such as root beer, wine, and tea where it acts as a diuretic, and medicine to treat infections. With one of the longest flowering seasons, dandelion seeds, which are plentiful and do not require pollination to form, can travel as far as five miles, so trying to eliminate them from the lawn is an exercise in futility. Prior to the 1800s, people actually eradicated grass from their lawns to allow plenty of space for dandelions and other beneficial “weeds”. It’s time to heed their advice.
Dayna McDermott