In Defense of Nature

 

Lawn Mowing: An Injustice to Nature

If people would leave grass on slopes instead of cutting it (and any wildflowers growing there), they would allow the vegetation to prevent erosion and preserve water within the soil.

ALL TEXT AND PHOTOS © Marlene A. Condon

 

Spring has sprung

The mowing’s begun.

 

Swards of green

No blooms to be seen.

 

No food to find

By bees and their kind

 

Because humans are blind.

 

I’ve always loved springtime with its obvious awakening of so many life forms. But over the past few years, I’ve come to dread it.

 

Whereas I used to mostly hear the songs of birds and, in season, insects and frogs, I now hear the incessant sound of lawn mowers from 8 AM to almost 8 PM from Monday to Friday, and sometimes even on the weekend. People seem to be obsessed with short grass that is cut close to soil level, which isn’t good for its own health nor the health of our pollinators.

 

When grass is cut, all the blooming wildflowers growing with it are also cut, leaving our bees, butterflies, flies, and other pollinators with no nourishment to sustain them. Is it any wonder, then, that these insects are in trouble and disappearing? Sadly, humans tend to live in their own bubble and are blind to the numerous life forms around them that require these flowering plants in order to survive. And it’s vital for humans that they do survive.

 

If you grow your own fruits and veggies, you’re indebted to pollinators for helping your plants to be productive. If you purchase this kind of food from farm vendors and/or grocery stores, or if you eat a meal at a restaurant, you can be grateful to pollinators for providing the produce you bring home or eat on the spot.

 

Most folks have lawns, but they don’t understand the connection between the wildflowers that show up there and how helpful they are to wildlife. Many people might even get rid of these plants altogether by way of pesticides, another action highly detrimental to our insects and other kind of critters.

 

These situations are commonplace in suburbia, where everyone follows the lead of others, as in the expression: Monkey see, monkey do. It would be nice if someone within the community could explain to others the importance of keeping wildflowers instead of viewing them as “weeds” (I very much dislike this word) to be gotten rid of. It just takes one person to open the eyes of at least some of the neighbors.

 

Strangely, mowing is commonplace in the rural area where I live, and there’s not even much lawn to be seen on many properties! What can be seen not far from my property, however, is a huge vineyard and several horse farms, places where I wouldn’t expect people to need to mow grass or pesticide it much. Horse farms have pastures to feed horses, and vineyards maintain row upon row of grape vines. But they are totally in sync with suburbia! Nowadays farms are every bit as manicured as any yard in developed areas.

 

Years ago, however, farms were wonderful places to find wildlife. As a young girl and even as a teenager, I spent many a day at local farms located within the small town where I grew up. I did the same in college, having attended a university also located within a small town in a rural area. Farms back then had places that were not maintained, creating habitat for all kinds of animals.

 

With a booming human population, I’m not sure where people expect wildlife to live and thrive. But in the case of pollinators, we can certainly make room for them on our properties. We just need to stop mowing so darned often (taller grass results in healthier grass anyway) so wildflowers can survive long enough to feed insects. Better yet would be to get rid of most of the lawn to grow only flowers, or to allow a section of the yard to “grow wild”. If people recognized the value of wildflowers and wildlife, I feel certain most of them would do things differently.

 

NATURE ADVICE: 

You can help to change people’s attitudes regarding lawn care by writing letters to the editor in newspapers and other publications, and by writing to government officials at every level. Explain the value of “weeds” and request that these plants not be pesticided in lawns (private or public) and that mowing occur less often (preferably no more than once every two weeks). Folks need a leader to remind them that we share the Earth with other creatures and to inform them how to support those other life forms. You can be that leader.