No. Since the article seemed to be mainly aimed at America, which is vastly different, and since the UK has vastly differing climates, it's ridiculous to make the sweeping generalisations that were made in it. Most folk who have a lawn just want a bit of green space for kids to play on, for lying on, entertaining etc - not a bowling green or a golf course. I've never watered any of mine anyway. The sky does that.
As soon as I saw the words Tik Tok, my heart sank anyway.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Lawns are fine, they don't have to be watered even here in a less-wet area of the UK. If it turns brown in a dry summer it'll be back when it rains. And you don't have to use chemicals if you prefer not to (there are organic lawn feeds available). Most people on here who have lawn will also have plenty of other planting anyway.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
My lawns are probably two of the most biologically diverse areas in my garden ... full of worms and ants providing food for blackbirds and green woodpeckers and many other birds and small mammals and lots of moss (and thatch) which is gathered by the birds for their nests, and lots of small flowers feeding bees of all sorts, etc, etc,etc ...
If the article addressed golf courses they might have a point ...............
“I am not lost, for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.” Winnie the Pooh
What a load of what @punkdoc said. Are you rolling me this woman has never played on a lawn as a child, never made daisy chains, never watched bees buzzing around the clover ? To make such a sweeping statement as "l hate lawns" means this must be the case.
I think these days more and more people are coming to realise that if they are lucky enough to have their own outdoor space, they don't "have" to have a lawn, and if they want somewhere for their children to play it doesn't have to resemble the finest golf course or even football pitch.
"Depending on the local climate, they can require abundant chemical fertilisers and pesticides, as well as considerable watering – to the tune of 1.5bn cubic metres (329bn gallons) of municipal water each summer day – in order to maintain that verdant shade and weed-free surface"
Guess what? mine doesn't get any of that. I live in the driest part of the UK and often have a large patch of yellow weedy straw in my back garden in July and August - but I still don't water it. Grass recovers really quickly once we have a good, prolonged downpour (could do with one right now actually).
I like the way a neatly trimmed and edged lawn sets off the borders and the bees and other pollinators seem to enjoy the dandelions, clover and orchids that grow in it. The local rabbit population also quite enjoy it from time to time🤬. Hands up to the pollution caused by mowing - especially as I use a petrol mower.
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
Push-mower here. Sure there will have been some pollution from its manufacture and delivery but no more than any other household item. I do sometimes use cordless clipper for the edges which needs charging, and a mains electric scarifier once or twice a year, neither of which is essential so guilty of that one, but I don't think it's any worse than using an electric vacuum cleaner in the house and no-one really objects to that.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
My lawn has more wildflowers and moss than grass. I've never watered a lawn in my life. It never gets fed because the more you feed it, the more it will grow and the more you have to mow it. It goes brown in the summer but there's plenty of interesting weeds that don't mind being baked. I'm sick of people telling me that what I should plant and trying to make me feel guilty about what I don't plant. It's my garden too! The wildlife has the lion's share anyway. Pretty much all of my plants are wildlife friendly. So what if I plant a few things that pollinators don't fancy? I'm not poisoning them!
An obsessively tended, bowling green quality lawn certainly requires a great deal of time, care, fertiliser, weed control and water and is ecologically unsound but that's not what the majority of people have.
Most contain some moss, clover, daisies, plantain, self heal and more and as long as they are not scalped every time they're mown they provide a rich habitat for all sorts of micro-organisms and food for birds and insects. They provide a place to play, sit, lie and provide a great setting for ornamental borders.
We neither water, weed nor feed our grassed areas and leave a large section uncut all summer so the wildflowers can grow and provide pollen, nectar and shelter for insects which then feed the visiting swallows, house-martins and swifts. In summer, the only green bits in the mown areas are often the clover, daisies and plantain but the grass recovers when the rains return.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast. "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
Albe
Posts: 123
Posts
Since the article seemed to be mainly aimed at America, which is vastly different, and since the UK has vastly differing climates, it's ridiculous to make the sweeping generalisations that were made in it.
Most folk who have a lawn just want a bit of green space for kids to play on, for lying on, entertaining etc - not a bowling green or a golf course. I've never watered any of mine anyway. The sky does that.
As soon as I saw the words Tik Tok, my heart sank anyway.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
for the fag ends of the aristocracy.
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
My lawns are probably two of the most biologically diverse areas in my garden ... full of worms and ants providing food for blackbirds and green woodpeckers and many other birds and small mammals and lots of moss (and thatch) which is gathered by the birds for their nests, and lots of small flowers feeding bees of all sorts, etc, etc,etc ...
If the article addressed golf courses they might have a point ...............
To make such a sweeping statement as "l hate lawns" means this must be the case.
I think these days more and more people are coming to realise that if they are lucky enough to have their own outdoor space, they don't "have" to have a lawn, and if they want somewhere for their children to play it doesn't have to resemble the finest golf course or even football pitch.
"Depending on the local climate, they can require abundant chemical fertilisers and pesticides, as well as considerable watering – to the tune of 1.5bn cubic metres (329bn gallons) of municipal water each summer day – in order to maintain that verdant shade and weed-free surface"
Guess what? mine doesn't get any of that. I live in the driest part of the UK and often have a large patch of yellow weedy straw in my back garden in July and August - but I still don't water it. Grass recovers really quickly once we have a good, prolonged downpour (could do with one right now actually).
I like the way a neatly trimmed and edged lawn sets off the borders and the bees and other pollinators seem to enjoy the dandelions, clover and orchids that grow in it. The local rabbit population also quite enjoy it from time to time🤬. Hands up to the pollution caused by mowing - especially as I use a petrol mower.
It goes brown in the summer but there's plenty of interesting weeds that don't mind being baked.
I'm sick of people telling me that what I should plant and trying to make me feel guilty about what I don't plant. It's my garden too! The wildlife has the lion's share anyway. Pretty much all of my plants are wildlife friendly. So what if I plant a few things that pollinators don't fancy? I'm not poisoning them!
for the fag ends of the aristocracy.
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Most contain some moss, clover, daisies, plantain, self heal and more and as long as they are not scalped every time they're mown they provide a rich habitat for all sorts of micro-organisms and food for birds and insects. They provide a place to play, sit, lie and provide a great setting for ornamental borders.
We neither water, weed nor feed our grassed areas and leave a large section uncut all summer so the wildflowers can grow and provide pollen, nectar and shelter for insects which then feed the visiting swallows, house-martins and swifts. In summer, the only green bits in the mown areas are often the clover, daisies and plantain but the grass recovers when the rains return.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw