It’s a lot of work to grow grass here in coastal Virginia where agricultural zones 7 and 8 meet. Much personal time is required to water, mow, fertilize, reseed and apply chemicals to control insect pests and unwanted broadleaf weeds.
All this activity creates huge environmental concerns — lawns of non-native grasses use fossil fuels to power mowers. The chemicals applied to control pests and promote plant growth eventually drain into streams, rivers and lakes, affecting Virginia’s drinking water. Excess fertilizers encourage algae growth in lakes; fish absorb pesticides that find their way to us in our food.
Turfgrasses must be regularly mowed to maintain an even green grassland, like a golf course or lawn bowling space. But the moist and mild climate in Europe that supported these activities did not exist in colonial America. The seeds colonists brought with them were European and today’s turfgrass mixtures come from Europe and Asia.
Throughout the growing season, the water used on lawn grasses can be as much as 35,000 gallons, the amount needed for an average backyard swimming pool. And the irrigation system and the sprinklers must be maintained as well. Homeowners can see water bills higher in summer from the necessary watering — turfgrasses require 1-1½ inches of water once or twice a week.
The aisles of the big box stores display a lot of “turf builder” products that contain chemicals such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, iron and sulfur — all necessary to maintain healthy growth of most plants. Lime is often recommended to raise the pH of coastal soils because acidic soils encourage some weed species. But these “weeds” are usually native wildflowers and grasses that grow best in slightly acidic soils. They could be the source of a green lawn that requires only occasional mowing and little maintenance. These broadleafed plants and native grasses support bees that pollinate our flowers, butterflies that reproduce as larvae, a major food of baby birds, and predators such as ladybugs and praying mantises that devour insect pests. A mix of wildflowers, sedges and grasses supports birds, bees, butterflies and worms that result in rich organic soils as they decompose.
Many wildflowers tolerate periodic mowing, not too low, and will flower low to the ground. In spring bluets, blue-eyed grass and Carolina petunia contrast with yellow dandelions and buttercups. Both native and non-native wildflowers produce nectar that provides energy to flying and crawling creatures. Blue violets are host plants for fritillary butterflies that lay their eggs on the leaves for the caterpillars to chew as they grow. Field pansies, lyre-leaf sage, hyssop skullcap, buttonweed and wood-sorrel will quickly spread, holding soil with a network of roots.
Nutsedges are undesirable in turfgrasses — garden centers have more than one brand of chemicals to kill this plant. All sedges are difficult to eradicate because they reproduce with underground tubers and rhizomes. But many native sedges can be used as attractive ground covers along with low-growing native grasses like poverty oatgrass. Mosses and lichens will also appear, growing from their tiny spores in the ground and on the air.
So alternatives exist: lawns of natural plants mean freedom from watering, fertilizing, reseeding and pesticide use. A mix of flowers, grasses and sedges can be periodically mowed to present a well-groomed lawn. “Freedom lawns” require little maintenance, feed birds and insects and form healthy ecosystems. What’s not to like?
Helen Hamilton is a retired biology teacher, worked as plant technician for the National Park Service, served on the boards of Virginia Native Plant Society and the Williamsburg Botanical Garden, and authored several field guides to local plants. She lives in York County.
