Move Over Letterman. GreenTown’s Top 10.
08 Apr 2014 |
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Top Ten Reasons to Replace Your Lawn with Native Plants
We can start with the benefits that replacing lawns with at least some native plants has to all of us and bracket that with it being a fantastic way to blunt the drought. Less water. Less maintenance. The benefits are numerous and here’s more specifics:
Native gardens can make you a neighborhood superstar!
1. Healthier Creeks. Fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides are top polluters in our creeks, killing aquatic life and spreading disease. Lawns should be at least 50 feet away from waterways but even at that distance, these pollutants will still find their way into our creeks.
2. Less Storm Water Runoff. Deep roots of native plants and trees surrounded by mulch retain more water onsite than turf, and substantially more than synthetic turf.
3. More Free Time. Lawns can take as much time to manage as vegetable gardens, and what do you harvest? Grass clippings, blech! Native plants don’t require fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides and benefit only from annual or semiannual pruning. Not sure about how to maintain your landscaping? Hire a Certified Green Gardener.
4. Save Water. Lawns require more water than our climate can provide. Irrigation of lawns accounts for the largest single use of residential potable water, water that may have been transported hundreds of miles to your home. Reducing our draw of water from the Delta and the Sierras helps maintain their ecosystems.
5. Save Money. All the mowing, fertilizer, herbicides and irrigation of lawns cost a lot of money. Native plants need substantially less effort and money to maintain.
6. Cash for Grass. Santa Clara Valley Water District will pay you up to $2000 to replace your lawn. Contact SCVWD or your water company for details.
7. Good Bugs, Not Bad Bugs. Mosquitoes in our dry summer? There must be a lawn nearby. Frequent watering creates tiny pools just right for mosquitoes to breed. Native plants attract good bugs and birds, ones that eat mosquitoes and other pests.
8. Biodiversity. Other than hardscape, there isn’t a more inhospitable surface to biodiversity than the monoculture of lawns. With your excess time and money freed up from lawn care, buy yourself binoculars. You’ll be amazed with the variety of birds, insects and wildlife that native plants attract. Native wildlife evolved with native plants and they depend on them for survival.
9. Less Greenhouse Gases. Manufacture and transportation of fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and mowers has a substantial carbon footprint. Transportation, pumping and treatment of water requires energy. When you save water, you also save energy!
10. Smart Choice. Landscaping with plants that are native to our climate is a smart choice. If you want soft areas for kiddies to roll in, native grasses come in all three flavors: seeds, plugs and sod.
Questions? Contact Kit Gordon .
