Poaceae, the grass family is perhaps the most successful family of plants on earth. Under natural processes, grasslands cover 20-40% of the land surface. In addition, they have managed to make themselves indispensable to the continued growth of the most successful primate species, humans. Six of the top 7 agricultural plants are grasses, including corn, wheat, rice, and barley.We harvested 672 million hectares of grass food crops accounting for 5% of the world's landmass. In comparison, we currently use 11% of the world's land for food production. This is perhaps the most extreme and successful example of mutual coevolution. The plant offers nutrition in exchange for protection and spread.
The grass family is diverse, with species being able to survive from the arctic tundra to the steamy tropics. Grasses tolerate burning, repeated trampling, flooding, grazing, you name it. They are troopers. Just ask the crabgrass in the sidewalk cracks, yet without our help, they would be mostly confined to areas not hospitable to other, typically larger and woodier plants like trees. Mind you the Great Plains, the Siberian Steppes, and the Serengeti account for a pretty large area of the world's land surface. However, in areas with more rainfall or less fires, trees can grow and shade out the grasses. One can say our crops are using us to terraform earth for their needs. Our ability to feed the world comes at the expense of millions of acres of trees and other ecosystems. We have even altered the grasslands themselves. There are only fragments of unplowed prairies, threatening many wildflowers and animals such as Leopold's Silphiums.
Then come the urban areas. There's still grass everywhere in the form of lawns. 80% of yards have a lawn. A lush green lawn evokes the affluence of the European manors that first started the practice of a purely ornamental lawn. Previously short cut grass was maintained by livestock grazing. This crop, with a 40 billion dollar industry around it, is purely decorative and a epic waste. We literally pour rivers into keeping grass green in desert regions. We pollute the air with 2 cycle lawnmowers and the water with pesticides. We poison the entire ecosystem by maintaining the monoculture in the name of the American Way. Grass is boring and wasteful. I find a lawn laced with wildflowers even if it was just violets and dandelions to be much more attractive. My yard is never fertilized or sprayed and every year, more grass is converted into garden space. It's lower maintenence and can serve purposes like vegetable production or runoff collection. It's sort of like how the Creating an Urban Eden class built the bio-swales along Tower Road instead of installing a strip of grass that would have to be replanted yearly.
Maintaining a good-looking monoculture is a never ending drain on resources and time. That's why golf courses are so expensive. It's actually very unhealthy. To keep a lawn green, it has to be in constant growth, which is susceptible to diseases and pests. In addition, the monoculture is like an all you can eat buffet for the pests. The perpetual dead spots near the sidewalk are a combination of trampling and harsh temperature swings. Believe it or not, it's not the winter salt that kills grass but the freeze thaw cycles. On a sunny cold day, the concrete can be 30-40 degrees warmer than the air temperature, melting the soil, but as soon as the sun goes down, the temperature plummets and the grass freezes. Dr. Frank Rossi, who is Cornell's turfgrass specialist conducted research that showed this.
In short, the American Lawn has to die. It's simply not sustainable and there are better things to do with the limited space in urban areas. Even an unmowed wildflower meadow would be able to harbor beneficial insects and wildlife. Or one could make use of the land and grow food. The goal is to improve the urban ecosystem, not continue poisoning the land.
