The beauty of natural lawns

The Chesapeake Bay is not doing well. According to the Chesapeake Bay Trust:

One third of the Chesapeake Bay is currently in what biologists call a "dead zone." A dead zone occurs when too many nutrients, mostly from over-fertilized areas, flow into the Bay after rainstorms, causing algae to grow excessively. When the algae die, they suck oxygen out of the water and cause major trouble for Bay critters. Crabs and fish have to move if they are to survive, while already vulnerable oysters stand little chance of surviving.

There are two main solutions to this dilemma: use less fertilizer and send less nutrient-filled water to the bay. Many of us can help in both these areas in our very homes.

Turf grass (ie, what most of our lawns are made of) is Maryland's single largest "crop" and huge contributor to the Bay's dead-zone. Environment Maryland put out a report this past March outlining the problems and potential solutions to cutting down on this particular pollution source.

The home-grown solution is easy: love a natural lawn! There is nothing natural about the tufted lawns we have now. Most of our lawns are sprayed and fed and plucked and mown to yield a uniform smoothness that nature fights against. Why we have succumbed to this cultural fancy is a story all its own. This odd aesthetics would not in and of itself be a problem except that it is causing great problems to our local eco-system, to the animals that no longer can live there, to the people whose diet includes the seafood produced there and the watermen whose livelihood depends on that seafood.

A matter of fashion should not have such devastating effects. We can do three things to help:

• Use little or no fertilizer. Once established, grass is amazingly resilient. That is why it is so hard to pluck up or dig up. Its root system is tough and it endures through droughts and cold and tough times.
• Use little or no pesticides. A "weed" is not a botanical category but a human one. It is something that is undesirable, considered valueless and annoying. As "dirt" is matter out of place, so a "weed" is a plant out of place. But that is a matter of opinion and aesthetics. I love dandelions. I love the way they look. But they can also be used medicinally both internally and externally to fight bacterial infections, joint pain, skin disorders, gastro-intestinal ailments. Why we spray them to death is beyond me. So it is with other "weeds." Torn pants used to be turned into rags. Today they are sold at a premium. Tastes and fancies can change. This one about our lawns would be for the better!
  
• Plant something other than grass. A new industry is growing up to help us create alternatives to turf lawns. Check out ideas on the web.
  
• Turn your lawn into a rain-garden. Besides needing little to no fertilizer or pesticides, rain gardens hold onto the rain that falls on your home and lawn. Slowing down the journey of water from home to rivers to Bay allows the earth more time to absorb the nutrients so they never reach the Bay. The earth is a natural filter, if we give it enough water and time. Rain gardens bring beauty to your home and restoration to the Bay's waters. And the less lawn you have, the less you need to mow, the more money you save and the more CO2 you avoid putting into the air.
  

BJEN can help Baltimore synagogues, neighborhoods and schools explore grant programs to fund rain-gardens and other Bay-friendly landscaping. Contact me if you are interested.