F*ck lawns : Constructive Rants 01

F CK LAWNS

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Suburban Lawns are extraordinarily wasteful, expensive to maintain and use, and terribly corrosive to the environment.

So why are we obsessed with them?

The word “Lawn� ( root : old French Launde ) originally means Barren land or Clearing.

The use of this open space originated in pasture land for Livestock and the earliest lawns were indistinguishable from grazing lands. They gradually became popular with the aristocracy in northern Europe, where the damp, wet climate made lawns possible to grow and manage relatively easily.

Before the invention of the Lawn mowing machines in the mid 1800s, lawns were managed semi-naturally by either grazing animals like rabbits, horses and sheep, or by aristocrats in extremely expensive & labour intensive methods.

In the early 18th century, landscape gardening for the aristocracy entered a golden age, under the direction of William Kent and Lancelot "Capability" Brown.

They refined the English landscape garden style with the design of natural, or "romantic", estate settings for wealthy Englishmen. Brown, remembered as "England's greatest gardener", designed over 170 parks, many of which still endure.

The Customs Post by Henri Rousseau c1890

The Colonial fascination for the lawn, both functionally for grazing and pasture, as well as in images of home-making continues to dominate the image of Suburbia today.

A closely cropped lawn as an extension of the home is often specified without any intent, and it’s effects widely misunderstood. The presence of the lawn is now indistinguishable from the well-to-do household in the way that is a default Architectural staple, beyond reconsideration or reinterpretation.

The Lodha World Towers, Mumbai.

The Lodha Fiorenza : Masterplan

The Lawn is now purely symbolic, decreasingly functional & a reminder of our Colonial fetish. Suburban lawns are a natural drain on resources that are ever scarcer in our modern cities.

Yet we prescribe them indiscriminately.

#1 LAWNS ARE EXPENSIVE

Americans reportedly spend $40 billion on lawn care every year. The total area of American lawns is approximately 50 thousand square miles, about the size of New York State.

Are we going down the same road?

To keep it well watered takes about 200 gallons per person per day, and nearly a third of all residential water use goes toward landscaping, according to the EPA. Standing trees can even cut cooling costs for homes by upto 25%.

Considering that we are not grazing cattle in our backyards in cities, this usage is woefully unproductive, and contributes little or nothing to our homes or kitchens.

Source : http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com

#2 LAWNS ARE INVASIVE MONOCULTURES

Ecologically, insects serve as the foundation of countless food chains, and are the thread that keeps the fabric of ecosystems intact.

The typical lawn is a virtual monoculture made of non-native turf grass and contributes almost nothing to this equation, and in many cases actually causes harm.

Bermuda grass, one of the most popular grass choices in India actually comes from Africa. The growing of a lawn, and it’s successive weeding and manicuring virtually eliminates all bio-diversity from the area and eventually destroys possible habitats for many other living creatures in the typical garden patch.

#3 LAWNS ARE BORING

Suburbs that exist in heavily seasonal bioregions like Delhi benefit greatly from creating productive farming patches that are visually a lot more integrated into the surroundings along with being utilitarian.

What’s nice about looking at a flat, green expanse of singular cropped blades of grass when the potential exists to explore a lush, overgrown, healthy native-plant patch?

If the resources that go into keeping a lawn cropped could be re-utilised to keeping vegetable patches healthy, everyone benefits.

#4 LAWNS NEED CHEMICALS

Lawns are monocultures, and hence any natural weeds or incidental species growing must be prevented. Lawns are exceptionally heavy on the use of Fertiliser and Pesticide, to keep them visually lush and green.

In the United States alone, over 90 million pounds of pesticide are applied on lawns and gardens per year.i A 2004 national survey reveals that 35 million people use both toxic and non-toxic materials. Of 30 commonly used lawn pesticides 13 are possible carcinogens, 13 are linked with birth defects, 21 with reproductive effects, 15 with neurotoxicity, 26 with liver or kidney damage amongst other issues.

Source : https://www.beyondpesticides.org

#5 LAWNS ARE JUST WRONG

A landscape is more than a bunch of plants arranged to look good. A well-designed landscape can lower heating and cooling costs, reduce stormwater runoff and recharge local aquifers. It can be good for birds, bees, and neighbouring trees, doesn’t need a lot of water, builds healthy soil, and doesn't overrun woods and forests with invasive species.

Lawns in comparison, prioritise a vague Colonial visual impression and mistaken notions of grandeur to set-off Architecture, that find little or no place in contemporary mind-space. Like the generic stereotypes of the McMansion, that evoke European aspirations, and works primarily as a loose indicator of status.

#6 LAWNS ARE UNPRODUCTIVE

Plants can be more than ornamental landscaping features. Where site conditions allow it, planting vegetables and other edibles pays benefits on many levels. Food is usually fresher and better for you than what's available in the grocery store, and planting a garden is a satisfying and healthy lifestyle choice.

It is common knowledge, yet relatively uncommon practice to use productive gardening as a replacement for flat unproductive green.

#7 LAWNS ARE A BAD USE OF SPACE

Trees and shrubs can make a house more comfortable in summer and winter.

It may be easier to build on a clear-cut site, but it's hard to find something that multitasks better than trees. They can block cold winter winds and the hot summer sun, all while making the oxygen we need to breathe.

Specifying locally grown plants reduce energy and transportation costs of the imported ornamental varieties. Far from being good for the environment, according to a study in the US once the energy expended by mowing, fertiliser use and watering are taken into account, lawns actually produce more greenhouse gases than they soak up.

A cursory overview of the resources required to cultivate and maintain the Lawn leads us to question, what is really going on?

Imagine for a moment, a deeper understanding of what makes our local greens. If we had to subject the suburban garden to the same performance pressure we subject ourselves to, these greens become more performative, more integrated and more sensible to our city lives.

Natural growth then creates new symbiosis, entering our kitchens and gardens in new usable and edible forms.

By asking what the Lawn is really for, we open ourselves up to new answers.

Sources : https://www.beyondpesticides.org http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com https://www.ecologise.in https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov

FIN

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