Contrary Mary And Her Garden

Mary Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockleshells
And pretty maids all in a row.

Ignoring the true significance of the nursery rhyme, Contrary Mary had the right idea – gardens! Our current ideas of a beautiful yard and property are so far beyond the natural, it’s freakish. Grass isn’t supposed to be short. It’s meant to grow long and lanky, only to be eaten short by the native grazers. Oh wait, we killed them all when the railroads when through. Oops!

Now, I understand not wanting a goat, sheep, cow or horse around just to get your lawn short naturally. I certain don’t want one! But what can we do to lessen our impact on this monoculture we’ve adhered to for so many generations? We own an acre, have mowed about a third of it for most of my life, but have decreased that amount by at least 1/3 over the last 4 years, and I strive to reduce it by a total of 50%. Everyone who comes over exclaims the property is like an oasis, with the flower gardens scattered about. It is gorgeous!

So you too can start by reducing the amount you mow. It is estimated that the US consumes 2.2 billion gallons of fuel just to care for their lawns. How you reduce is up to you, but the best way is by adding flower and vegetable gardens. These can be separate or integrated beds, since both the flowers and the vegetables benefit from the “companion planting”. They also add incredible depth and interest to the gardens when integrated.

Time
I have found that the amount of time spent mowing or tending flowerbeds is equal, but not constantly similar. Mowing is the entire growing season while the majority of the time spent on the gardens is in the spring. The summer is almost carefree. If you plant perennials, with an occasional annual for constant color, you’ll spend even less time in the gardens than if you only plant annuals every year. This way, you spend time admiring, rather than slaving away. I like that trade!

Emissions
The average riding lawn mower spews the same emissions as 34 cars for the same amount of time being run. That’s just wrong. And while the EPA is mandating all small engines have a catalytic converter starting in 2010, it will take a decade or more for all current small engines to be replaced. Since Americans are estimated to spend over 3 billion hours running small engines to care for their lawns and property, that’s a very long time to reduce emissions by the 35% that is estimated by the adding of the converters. If you reduce your lawn space by 30%, you will have affected the same goal the EPA is striving for with no expense to you. Considering we are spewing 44 billion pounds of carbon dioxide into the air per year, reduce that by a third is significant! Imagine being able to see the real blue of the sky from this one simple act!

Air Purification
Just as different houseplants filter different impurities from your indoor air, a variety of plants outside will help filter different impurities from that air. Nature never supports monocultures. To do so sets the stage for infestations, over-population and disease manifestations (think swine flu, which only manifests when swine are concentrated in large numbers in a small setting). With nature having hundreds of different plants and thousands of different microbes per acre, it can purify air and sequester carbon at far higher rates than our lawns. And by having this diversity, the wildlife supported is also diverse, helping eliminate the need for pest control. By adding many native varieties of perennials, along with a select number of noninvasive non-native varieties, you help offset the emissions by those who choose not to reduce their lawn.

Insects
There are very few “bad” bugs. What become bad are their affects when allowed to overpopulate. This happens when there is too little diversity in the plant life, which leads to little diversity in animal life, which controls insect life. There will always be occasions when an infestation of whatever insect occurs, but these times are moderated and become less frequent when an array of plant life is allowed to flourish. Birds and bats will flourish in the new variety, reducing all of the bugs – and you get to enjoy their activities throughout the year!

Included in the insect section are the pollinators. These little guys supply at least 1/3 of our food, but are constantly being slaughtered by pesticides and diseases created by our monoculture (planting only corn, only grass, only wheat, etc.). Honeybees have seen devastating losses over the last 3 years, for as of yet unpublished reasons. Pesticide use never decreases, giving the native pollinators no chance to contribute support.

By adding flowering plants, both native and non-native, perennials and annuals, you give the native pollinators a chance to recover and thrive, reducing the risk of an entire collapse of 1/3 of our food chain.

Oil Dependence
Farmers don’t measure their fuel consumption in miles per gallon. They measure in gallons per hour. So does your lawn mower – an average of .73 gallons per hour to be exact. Be reducing your use by 1/3, you will save the US about 730 million gallons of fuel per year, which mostly comes from outside the US borders.

Another Option
If you just can’t live without every square inch of lawn you have now, please consider raising the mower deck up to 3” or longer. This will save in a number of ways:
When the growth of the grass slows, you mow far less frequently
The longer grass needs far less water, allowing you to eliminate irrigation
The longer grass needs far less fertilizer – which comes from foreign natural gas
The longer grass supports a more diverse set of insects, which protects you from infestations.
It diminishes the chances for fungal infections, needing fewer chemicals to maintain that gorgeous green carpet you so desire.

Sources
University of Vermont Extension
Organic Gardening Magazine
EPA.gov