tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/lawns-17248/articlesLawns – The Conversation2023-09-06T15:47:34Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2061562023-09-06T15:47:34Z2023-09-06T15:47:34ZA slacker’s guide to climate-friendly gardening<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546454/original/file-20230905-25-qc53py.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=60%2C10%2C6720%2C4456&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">You can help wildlife in your garden thrive if you just stop doing several simple things.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-man-resting-comfortable-hammock-green-1533550202">New Africa/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A pristine garden can come with an environmental cost. The chemicals we use to kill weeds and bugs rely on fossil fuels, and can disrupt local wildlife. </p>
<p>But gardening doesn’t have to be a guilt-inducing chore. In fact, it can be a liberating act of eco-conscious laziness.</p>
<p>You won’t single-handedly solve all the world’s woes with your plot of land. But there are several simple things that, if you just stop doing them, will help the environment and wildlife. </p>
<p>So stop being so tidy. And say goodbye to herbicides and pesticides. </p>
<p>Becoming a lazier gardener can have many positive effects. It can contribute to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-46024-y">lowering your garden’s carbon footprint</a> and help to reduce the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02626667.2015.1128084">risk of flooding</a>.</p>
<p>But that’s not all. In a world where <a href="https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/biologies/item/CRBIOL_2020__343_3_267_0/">insects are in decline</a> due to global warming and changes in how land is used and managed, your less manicured garden can also <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13593-015-0342-x/">become a haven</a> for these essential creatures.</p>
<p>These same insects serve as vital sustenance for hungry <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969723005314?via%3Dihub">birds</a>. A single <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/blue-tit/">blue tit</a> chick can alone eat <a href="https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/2017/06/know-blue-tit-chick-needs-around-100-caterpillars-every-day/#:%7E:text=forth%20with%20food.-,Did%20you%20know%20a%20blue%20tit%20chick%20needs%20around%20100,to%20keep%20their%20chicks%20happy">around 100 caterpillars</a> each day.</p>
<h2>Keep carbon in the ground</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-46024-y">Exposing soil</a> through digging causes the carbon that is stored in it to be released. It can also degrade the soil’s structure and make it less fertile. </p>
<p>If you’re mindful of the environmental cost of carbon escaping from your soils (in addition to all of the toil involved in digging, planting and weeding) then it may be worth planting perennial fruit and vegetables that live for many years, rather than plants that last one season and then die off. </p>
<p>There will always be some soil disturbance as you manage your beds – particularly when you first plant your crops. But the use of perennial crops can help to reduce this, with the added benefit of requiring less of your time.</p>
<p>Planting soft fruit bushes and strawberries means that, with a bit of effort, you can harvest fruit every year. And if you have plenty of room, you could also consider planting asparagus and using strawberries as a <a href="https://joybileefarm.com/how-to-grow-strawberries-asparagus/">companion crop</a> planted in between to help suppress weeds and keep your soil covered.</p>
<p>Fennel plants come back every year, too, and produce lovely flowers and edible seeds as long as you don’t harvest their bulbous stems. Globe artichoke plants are another option to liven up your summer meals. But remember to leave a few to bloom as this will provide pollen for bees and butterflies later in the year.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-and-hoverflies-are-key-to-growing-more-fruit-and-veg-in-cities-new-research-207665">Bees and hoverflies are key to growing more fruit and veg in cities -- new research</a>
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<p>That said, annual plants do have their benefits, too. These plants add organic matter to the soil as they die off each year and should reseed to come again. But, if you have to constantly dig over the bed and replant from scratch, then this will have an environmental, energy and financial cost.</p>
<p>Keep it covered, stay lazy.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A close-up shot of a fennel plant." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546458/original/file-20230905-24-27kq7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546458/original/file-20230905-24-27kq7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546458/original/file-20230905-24-27kq7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546458/original/file-20230905-24-27kq7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546458/original/file-20230905-24-27kq7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546458/original/file-20230905-24-27kq7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546458/original/file-20230905-24-27kq7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fennel plants will come back every year as long as you don’t harvest their stems.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/growing-fennel-garden-218475082">Maria Bobrova/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Become a wildlife haven</h2>
<p>Another excellent way to keep soil covered and add variety to your little patch is by planting a meadow – or rather an unruly lawn with the addition of a few wildflower species. </p>
<p>Many people have dipped their toe into the lazy gardener’s life through <a href="https://www.plantlife.org.uk/campaigns/nomowmay/">“no mow May”</a> – a national campaign to encourage people not to mow their lawns until the end of May. But you could opt to extend this practice until much later in the summer for even greater benefits.</p>
<p>Allowing your grass to grow longer, and interspersing it with pollen-rich flowers, can benefit many insects – especially bees. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866722002576?via%3Dihub">Research</a> finds that reducing mowing in urban and suburban environments has a positive effect on the amount and diversity of insects.</p>
<p>Your untamed lawn won’t only benefit insects. It will also encourage more birds, such as <a href="https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/gbw/gardens-wildlife/garden-birds/a-z-garden-birds/goldfinch">goldfinches</a>, to use your garden to feed on the seeds of common wildflower species such as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/dandelion">dandelions</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A goldfinch feeding on dandelion seeds." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546460/original/file-20230905-31-v5vjj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546460/original/file-20230905-31-v5vjj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546460/original/file-20230905-31-v5vjj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546460/original/file-20230905-31-v5vjj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546460/original/file-20230905-31-v5vjj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546460/original/file-20230905-31-v5vjj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546460/original/file-20230905-31-v5vjj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A goldfinch feeding on dandelion seeds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/european-goldfinch-feeding-on-dandelion-seeds-2164981297">Vladimir Woitscheck/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Store more water</h2>
<p>A well-left lawn encourages a more diverse root structure. Different plants have different types of roots. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/grass">Grasses</a>, for example, have thin roots that form a dense mat, plants like dandelions and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/Plantago">plantago</a> have tap roots (like a skinny carrot), and legumes like <a href="https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/clover/623792#:%7E:text=Encyclop%C3%A6dia%20Britannica%2C%20Inc.-,Encyclop%C3%A6dia%20Britannica%2C%20Inc.,green%20or%20the%20dry%20stage.">clover</a> have wide roots that form channels in the soil. </p>
<p>A more complex root structure encourages water infiltration, helping our gardens manage large deluges of rain. This can prevent runoff from our properties, potentially <a href="https://www.research.lancs.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/using-a-plant-functional-trait-approach-to-increase-buffer-zone-efficiency-and-reduce-diffuse-agricultural-pollution(20889c7f-f662-4abb-acb0-c9966f00dd00).html;%20https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11104-014-2373-5">reducing localised flooding</a>.</p>
<p>Our unruly, rain-soaked refuges not only hold water when there is too much. But they also preserve it when there isn’t enough. </p>
<p>During droughts and heatwaves – which are becoming a <a href="https://www.proquest.com/docview/2549136060?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true">more common feature</a> of Europe’s summer season – longer lawns will capture more dew and direct it down towards the roots. This not only keeps water where it’s needed but also maintains the soil’s coolness, benefiting animals like <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/worm">worms</a> that live beneath the surface. Cutting grass during droughts and heatwaves can <a href="https://www.rhs.org.uk/lawns/drought-care">exacerbate stress for the plants</a>, adding to their misery during such conditions.</p>
<p>So an excellent way to avoid a brown, parched patch is to be slack. Mow it towards the end of summer and bask in your climate-friendly gardening success. And remember, the concept of laid-back gardening isn’t just for summer; it’s equally important during autumn and winter too.</p>
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<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aimee Brett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Your less manicured garden has the potential to combat tackle climate change and help wildlife survive.Aimee Brett, Lecturer in Ecology & Conservation, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2066162023-06-16T02:47:04Z2023-06-16T02:47:04ZWhy does grass grow more slowly in winter?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529716/original/file-20230602-27-104el8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C21%2C4859%2C3195&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A reader of The Conversation recently wrote in to ask:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Why does grass grow slower in winter?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is a great question and at first the answer might seem obvious. There is less sunlight and it is colder in the winter months. This affects grass and plant growth in general. </p>
<p>However, there is more to it than meets the eye. Different grasses respond to and cope with winter in different ways.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529715/original/file-20230602-29-weta8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529715/original/file-20230602-29-weta8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529715/original/file-20230602-29-weta8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529715/original/file-20230602-29-weta8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529715/original/file-20230602-29-weta8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529715/original/file-20230602-29-weta8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529715/original/file-20230602-29-weta8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529715/original/file-20230602-29-weta8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It can be hard to keep up with lawn growth in summer. Winter, however, is a different story.</span>
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</figure>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ive-created-a-monstera-how-to-care-for-the-swiss-cheese-plant-in-your-life-202851">I’ve created a monstera! How to care for the ‘Swiss cheese plant’ in your life</a>
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<h2>Grass: a recent arrival</h2>
<p>Grasses are relatively recent arrivals in plant evolution, first appearing in fossil records about <a href="https://academic.oup.com/plphys/article/125/3/1198/6109905">65 million years ago</a> and becoming widespread in parts of Asia by about <a href="https://academic.oup.com/plphys/article/125/3/1198/6109905">30 million years ago</a>.</p>
<p>Geologically, and in plant evolutionary time scales, this is quite recent. It means much of grass evolution has occurred under modern geological, environmental and climatic conditions. So, more than most plants, grasses have adapted to a modern, if pre-human, world. This affects their climatic responses.</p>
<p>Some of our best-known grasses evolved from ancestors that first appeared on Earth hundreds of millions of years ago.</p>
<p>Their physiology developed to cope with an Earth that had a very different atmosphere from that of today.</p>
<p>These plants have a type of photosynthesis called <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/pastures-and-rangelands/native-pastures/what-are-c3-and-c4-native-grass">C3 metabolism</a>.</p>
<h2>What is C3 metabolism?</h2>
<p>C3 metabolism is about how the plant does the job of turning light, water and air into food (photosynthesis).</p>
<p>About <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095545945;jsessionid=F1D6CE7E04A3DF20C48A6949F4A2F683#:%7E:text=C3%20plants%20make%20up%20over,let%20in%20more%20carbon%20dioxide">95%</a> of all plants you can think of – trees, shrubs, annuals, fruits, vegetables and many traditional (often called cool season) grasses – have C3 metabolism.</p>
<p>Plants with this form of photosynthesis tend to grow well in a wide range of environmental conditions, even if the temperature is cooler and there are higher than usual levels of carbon dioxide in the air.</p>
<p>They tend to remain green all year round if water is available, and may continue to grow well through late autumn. Many are frost-tolerant, but they may become dormant in hot dry weather. </p>
<p>C3 grasses, such as ryegrass, do slow their growth for the winter months as sunlight becomes less intense. Their metabolic processes (in this case, photosynthesis) slow down when the temperature <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/pastures-and-rangelands/native-pastures/what-are-c3-and-c4-native-grass">drops</a>. </p>
<p>Biological reactions are chemical reactions, after all. The rate of a reaction is temperature-dependent – speeding up when it’s warmer and slowing down or even stopping when it gets colder. </p>
<p>But they tend to do better in winter than their cousins, the C4 grasses. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529717/original/file-20230602-21-o6v4bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529717/original/file-20230602-21-o6v4bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529717/original/file-20230602-21-o6v4bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529717/original/file-20230602-21-o6v4bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529717/original/file-20230602-21-o6v4bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529717/original/file-20230602-21-o6v4bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529717/original/file-20230602-21-o6v4bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529717/original/file-20230602-21-o6v4bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Some grasses struggle in the cold more than others.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>I’ve heard many lawn grasses are C4 grasses. What does that mean?</h2>
<p>As the level of CO₂ in the atmosphere declined and geological events led to the development of tropical regions around the equator, a different group of plants evolved. These plants used a form of photosynthesis called C4 metabolism.</p>
<p><a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.13033">C4</a> plants grow very well under lower CO₂ levels in the atmosphere, use water more efficiently, and can cope with poor soils better than C3 grasses. </p>
<p>But they struggle in the cold. They grow best in warmer, wetter conditions.</p>
<p>While only about <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095545945;jsessionid=F1D6CE7E04A3DF20C48A6949F4A2F683#:%7E:text=C3%20plants%20make%20up%20over,let%20in%20more%20carbon%20dioxide">5%</a> of all plants have C4 photosynthesis, some of them are important grass species, such as:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>bermuda grass</p></li>
<li><p>buffalo grass</p></li>
<li><p>paspalum</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/interns-2004/themeda-triandra.html">kangaroo grass</a></p></li>
<li><p>couch grass, and </p></li>
<li><p>zoysia grass.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>So if your lawn is sown with one of these grasses, you will definitely see a slowdown in winter, when they become <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC167095/">dormant</a>. </p>
<p>Their leaves tend to turn from bright green to a dull pale green or even yellow. Their growth slows quickly and dramatically in early autumn as the light levels fall, temperatures cool and chlorophyll production starts to decline.</p>
<p>The upside, of course, is they usually grow very well when the weather warms up again.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/trees-can-be-weeds-too-heres-why-thats-a-problem-182599">Trees can be weeds too – here's why that's a problem</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206616/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gregory Moore does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Different grasses respond to and cope with winter in different ways.Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2057202023-05-18T14:37:02Z2023-05-18T14:37:02ZDecolonize your garden: This long weekend, dig into the complicated roots of gardening — Listen<p>The May long weekend is the unofficial start of summer. And for those of you with home gardens or access to community space, this is the weekend to dust off your gardening tools and visit the garden centre for the growing season ahead.</p>
<p>As we approach the start of gardening season, it’s good time to ask some questions about its origins.</p>
<p>Whether you plan to get marigolds, plant a vegetable garden or create a pollinator patch — all gardens have complicated roots. </p>
<p>In fact, the practice of gardening is <a href="https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/the-coloniality-of-planting">deeply tied to colonialism</a> — from the <a href="https://www.noemamag.com/the-long-shadow-of-colonial-science">formation of botany as a science</a>, to the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-022-01865-1">spread of seeds, species and knowledge.</a> </p>
<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/92c92d2a-9628-4da6-9b3f-8bf5ec67d7cf?dark=true"></iframe>
<p><em><a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/decolonize-your-garden-this-long-weekend-visit-the-complicated-roots-of-gardening-listen">In this episode of Don’t Call Me Resilient</a>, we explore the complicated roots of the garden, including who gets to garden. We also discuss practical tips about what to plant with an eye to Indigenous knowledge. We speak with researcher Jacqueline L. Scott and also chat with community activist, Carolynne Crawley, who leads workshops that integrate Indigenous teachings into practice.</em></p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Watercolor illustration of Tulipa sylvestris in I Cinque libri di piante.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pietro Antonio Michiel, Venice ca. 1550–1576, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Coveted tulips</h2>
<p>Some of the most recognizable plants today, such as <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/there-never-was-real-tulip-fever-180964915/">tulips</a>, are the result of early colonial conquests. Originally found growing wild in the valleys where current China and Tibet meet Afghanistan and Russia, tulips were first cultivated in Istanbul as early as 1055. </p>
<p>Later, after they were hybridized and commodified by the Dutch, they became highly coveted status symbols because of their gorgeous, but fleeting, blooms. </p>
<p>Exploratory botanical voyages by colonial European powers were integral to the expansion of empire. These trips fueled the big business of collecting global plant samples and also led to the emergence of botany as a scientific discipline. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">227 figures of plant anatomical segments with descriptive text. Botany. Plant anatomy. Plant morphology. Plants. Roots (Botany). Roots (Botany) – Morphology. Roots (Botany) – Anatomy. Rootstocks. Tubers. Leaves. Leaves – Morphology. Flowers – Morphology. Flowers. Fruit – Morphology. Bulbs (Plant anatomy). Plants – Variation. Botany – France. Stems (Botany).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Botanical gardens served as labs</h2>
<p>Botanical gardens played a key role, serving as the laboratories where plant specimens were organized, ordered and named. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsisyn.2021.100196">“Scientific objectivity”</a> asserted a Eurocentric point of view, disrupting and displacing Indigenous Knowledge and ecological practices. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1913 illustrated depiction of African American people picking cotton.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CottonpickHoustonWhere17.png">Jerome H. Farbar: 'Houston: Where Seventeen Railroads Meet the Sea.' Page 31/40, 'Cotton Pickers'</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The movement and transfer of plants around the world went hand in hand with the transportation of people to provide a labour force, through slavery and indentured servitude. </p>
<p>The plantation system cleared out local ecosystems and replaced traditional farming methods with growing cash crops — like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/sugar-slave-trade-slavery.html">sugar-cane</a>, <a href="https://thecorrespondent.com/222/the-history-of-tea-is-darker-than-a-builders-brew">tea</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/8/16/20806069/slavery-economy-capitalism-violence-cotton-edward-baptist">cotton.</a> These were products meant for European curiosities, markets and profit and not for the local populations.</p>
<h2>Plant and racial hierarchies</h2>
<p>This colonial system of <a href="https://open.oregonstate.education/cultivatedplants/chapter/colonialagriculture/">organizing agriculture</a> laid the groundwork for <a href="https://www.sapiens.org/biology/race-scientific-taxonomy/">categorizing people</a> in a similar way, establishing a social hierarchy which dehumanized non-Europeans, helping justify slavery and Indigenous genocide, and eventually leading to racial categories.</p>
<p>This history has shaped our current relationships to the land, and our gardens. It also informs beliefs about land ownership and access; who has a right to enjoy the land, versus who is expected to be working on it. Who has the literal and figurative space and freedom to garden?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">On the left is a lawn (Stephen Cobb/Unsplash) and on the right is a native plant garden in Streeterville, Chicago (Shutterstock).</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Shifting attitudes</h2>
<p>But the soil is shifting. There is a growing shift away from <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-is-it-time-to-decolonize-your-lawn/">the colonial status symbol of the lawn</a> and <a href="https://chatelaine.com/living/quiet-quitting-garden/">manicured gardens</a>, in favour of <a href="https://broadview.org/lorraine-johnson-interview/">pollinator-friendly</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/13/realestate/why-some-of-your-annuals-should-be-native-plants.html">native plants</a>. </p>
<p>There is also a growing understanding that <a href="https://broadview.org/grandfather-teachings-gardening/">centuries-old Indigenous land-based knowledge</a> and practices — like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/21/wildfire-prescribed-burns-california-native-americans">controlled burns</a> — can help manage wildfires, and foster a more resilient landscape.</p>
<p>With concerns about our climate crisis growing, one of the possible avenues for <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-urban-gardens-can-boost-biodiversity-and-make-cities-more-sustainable-162810">creating more sustainable cities may very well lie in our gardens</a>.</p>
<p>Could we have an impact simply by thinking a little differently about the seeds we sow and the “weeds” we pull?</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1248&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1248&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1248&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Monarch butterfly on purple coneflowers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jeffrey Hamilton/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Listen and Follow</h2>
<p>You can listen to or follow <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9qZFg0Ql9DOA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com">wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts</a>. </p>
<p><a href="mailto:DCMR@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join The Conversation on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheConversationCanada">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@theconversation">TikTok</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
<h2>Resources</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/01/29/news/tiffany-traverse-rare-indigenous-seed-project">Tiffany Traverse on seeds and their endless power to give, heal and grow</a> - <em>Canada’s National Observer</em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/the-coloniality-of-planting">The coloniality of planting: legacies of racism and slavery in the practice of botany</a> - <em>The Architectural Review</em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.noemamag.com/the-long-shadow-of-colonial-science/">The Long Shadow Of Colonial Science</a> - <em>Noema Magazine</em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-is-it-time-to-decolonize-your-lawn/">Is it time to decolonize your lawn?</a> - <em>Globe and Mail</em></p>
<p><a href="https://turtleprotectors.com">Turtle Protectors</a> in Toronto’s High Park</p>
<p><a href="https://gardeningoutloud.substack.com/p/guest-episode-1-spring-joy-with-ateqah">Spring joy with Ateqah Khaki</a> - <em>Gardening Out Loud</em></p>
<h2>From the archives - in The Conversation</h2>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-colonial-past-of-botanical-gardens-can-be-put-to-good-use-104786">How the colonial past of botanical gardens can be put to good use</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/director-of-science-at-kew-its-time-to-decolonise-botanical-collections-141070">Director of science at Kew: it's time to decolonise botanical collections</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-shortage-of-native-seeds-is-slowing-land-restoration-across-the-us-which-is-crucial-for-tackling-climate-change-and-extinctions-199049">A shortage of native seeds is slowing land restoration across the US, which is crucial for tackling climate change and extinctions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An aerial view of small green seedlings in pots.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Markus Spiske PG/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205720/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
As we approach the start of gardening season, it’s a good time to ask some questions about what to plant and who gets to plant.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientAteqah Khaki, Associate Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2045042023-04-27T15:02:39Z2023-04-27T15:02:39ZDandelions are a lifeline for bees on the brink – we should learn to love them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523208/original/file-20230427-961-e42c9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4500%2C2997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dandelion-grass-yellow-flower-green-close-1950501952">Elvira Tursynbayeva/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.rhs.org.uk/weeds/dandelion">Dandelions</a>, love them or hate them, are <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/news/make-yours-dandelion-spring">blooming in abundance</a> all over the UK this spring. As an ecologist who studies the insects which visit these flowers, so redolent of sunshine, I have never been able to understand why anyone might hate them. </p>
<p>Why do some people despair when they see a dandelion poking through the grass in their garden, or through the concrete on their drive? Most see dandelions as “weeds”: they don’t want them around their house and will reach for the lawnmower, or worse still, a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1618866719309628">can of weed killer</a>, when one dares to rear its yellow head. </p>
<p>Perhaps I’m strange for rejoicing at the sight of a street, lawn or field blooming with dandelion heads. But as these flowers make fantastic food for a wide range of endangered bees, I’d like to convince you to love these flowers as I do, and to care for them as you would any other wildflower in a meadow.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A roadside verge filled with flowering dandelions." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522971/original/file-20230426-20-ch94a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522971/original/file-20230426-20-ch94a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522971/original/file-20230426-20-ch94a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522971/original/file-20230426-20-ch94a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522971/original/file-20230426-20-ch94a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522971/original/file-20230426-20-ch94a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522971/original/file-20230426-20-ch94a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The dandelion (<em>Taraxacum officiale</em>) can grow almost anywhere.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Philip Donkersley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Flowers in the city</h2>
<p>The last 50 years have seen urban areas and farms expand across the UK. What few places were set aside to provide for wildlife have been eroded. We have pushed nature to the brink, but nature adapts, changes and overcomes these obstacles. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Many people think of plants as nice-looking greens. Essential for clean air, yes, but simple organisms. A step change in research is shaking up the way scientists think about plants: they are far more complex and more like us than you might imagine. This blossoming field of science is too delightful to do it justice in one or two stories.</em> </p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/plant-curious-137238?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=PlantCurious2023&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of a series, Plant Curious</a>, exploring scientific studies that challenge the way you view plantlife.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Studies of bee feeding patterns in cities, where much of their original food sources have been covered with concrete and tarmac, show a shift in their <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00442-017-3968-3">wild, diverse diet</a> to one dominated by <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10841-014-9694-9/">dandelions, clover</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.9490">brambles</a>.</p>
<p>Dandelions are an abundant source of nectar and pollen for bees flying around an environment in which the diversity of food options continues to shrink. These plants grow in very little soil, flower from <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169534707001541">early spring to just before winter</a> and offer sustenance for bees all year round.</p>
<p>What makes dandelions so successful in feeding a wide variety of pollinators is the shape of their flowers.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522982/original/file-20230426-20-20upgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A small bee nestled in the middle of a dandelion flower." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522982/original/file-20230426-20-20upgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522982/original/file-20230426-20-20upgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522982/original/file-20230426-20-20upgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522982/original/file-20230426-20-20upgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522982/original/file-20230426-20-20upgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522982/original/file-20230426-20-20upgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522982/original/file-20230426-20-20upgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The common carder bee (<em>Bombus pascorum</em>).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Philip Donkersley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The evolution of bees is a dance between the changing shapes of flowers and the corresponding length of bee tongues. Complicated flowers, like <a href="https://www.kew.org/plants/vanilla">vanilla</a>, evolved to make sure only a certain bee species could pollinate them, whereas others have evolved simple, open flowers that anyone can get pollen and nectar from.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522981/original/file-20230426-186-sob7tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A bumblebee perched on a dandelion flower." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522981/original/file-20230426-186-sob7tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522981/original/file-20230426-186-sob7tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522981/original/file-20230426-186-sob7tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522981/original/file-20230426-186-sob7tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522981/original/file-20230426-186-sob7tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522981/original/file-20230426-186-sob7tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522981/original/file-20230426-186-sob7tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A buff tailed bumblebee (<em>Bombus terrestris</em>).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Philip Donkersley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dandelions fall into this second camp. Take a look at a patch of dandelion flowers and you’ll be amazed at the diversity of visitors. Over just 10 minutes in my garden I spotted at least 10 different bee and fly species: the ever abundant <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/bees-and-wasps/buff-tailed-bumblebee">buff-tailed bumblebee</a>, as well as the common <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/bees-and-wasps/common-carder-bee">carder bee</a> and a <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/bees-and-wasps/honey-bee">honeybee</a> from one of my own hives working hard to collect pollen for the colony.</p>
<p>Among the many threats to pollinators (pesticides, the destruction of nest habitat, invasive species), <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2306-7381/7/3/119">lack of food</a> is one of the most important. Highly abundant dandelions can go a long way to bridging this gap – at least in terms of <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/5/304">nectar</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A close-up image of a honeybee bestriding a dandelion flower." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522984/original/file-20230426-20-sag6mc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522984/original/file-20230426-20-sag6mc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522984/original/file-20230426-20-sag6mc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522984/original/file-20230426-20-sag6mc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522984/original/file-20230426-20-sag6mc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=738&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522984/original/file-20230426-20-sag6mc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=738&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522984/original/file-20230426-20-sag6mc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=738&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A honeybee (<em>Apis mellifera</em>) feeding on a dandelion, its leg baskets full of pollen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Philip Donkersley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some scientists have argued that dandelion pollen is not the best for bees. Research suggests that it may contain high levels of the essential amino acid <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcell.2021.728576/full">proline</a> (which bees can only get from food and cannot make themselves), but lack several others, like <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jee/article-abstract/80/1/14/757976">isoleucine and valine</a>. A diet lacking in these elements can <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002220111200167X">hamper</a> a bee’s ability to grow, resist disease and raise its young. </p>
<p>But in a world where bees are stressed by a lack of any food at all, I would argue that any source that can proliferate under the toughest conditions like dandelions is a worthwhile thing to preserve.</p>
<h2>Dandelion dawn</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.plantlife.org.uk/campaigns/nomowmay/">No Mow May</a> approaches: a campaign sponsored by the charity <a href="https://www.plantlife.org.uk/campaigns/nomowmay/">Plantlife</a> to let weeds grow in gardens. Sadly, at the end of May, all that lovely wildflower habitat could be cut down and sprayed with herbicides.</p>
<p>Manicured lawns are essentially green deserts: ostensibly full of plants but with nothing to nourish bees or other wildlife.</p>
<p>Not everyone wants a lawn full of wildflowers. So I would recommend, rather than setting aside the whole garden for nature a month, trying to set aside a patch forever. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A row of poppies and other wildflowers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523210/original/file-20230427-16-tdsmla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523210/original/file-20230427-16-tdsmla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523210/original/file-20230427-16-tdsmla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523210/original/file-20230427-16-tdsmla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523210/original/file-20230427-16-tdsmla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523210/original/file-20230427-16-tdsmla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523210/original/file-20230427-16-tdsmla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Even a strip of wildflowers will benefit bugs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-wildflowers-on-lovely-sunny-day-1441015007">Liz Miller/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dandelions are amazing plants that can survive anywhere, as long as we allow them. They are a lifeline for pollinators on the brink and need protecting as part of our environment in car parks, roads and lawns. The next time you see a dandelion, try to see it as a bee would.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204504/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Donkersley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Before you reach for the weed killer, spare a thought for struggling pollinators.Philip Donkersley, Senior Research Associate in Entomology, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2025862023-04-11T12:06:47Z2023-04-11T12:06:47ZWhy more and more Americans are painting their lawns<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519945/original/file-20230407-24-ap7wd8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=417%2C17%2C2573%2C1764&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Americans – especially those living in areas affected by drought – are turning to paint to give their grass that perfect green sheen.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/green-canary-president-shawn-sahbari-sprays-green-water-news-photo/452491090?adppopup=true">Justin Sullivan/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>To paint or not to paint?</p>
<p>That is the question that many homeowners are facing as their dreams for perfect turf are battered – whether it’s from inflation pushing pricier lawn care options out of reach, or <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/05/09/california-drought-lawns-climate-change/">droughts leading to water shortages</a>.</p>
<p>Increasingly, many are turning in the spreader for the paint can, opting, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/lawns-paint-green-landscaping-neighbors-6f54f61">a report in The Wall Street Journal</a>, for shades of green with names like “Fairway” and “Perennial Rye.” </p>
<p>Where does this yen for turning the outside of the house into a trim green carpet come from? </p>
<p>Some years ago, I decided to investigate and the result was my book “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/American_Green.html?id=vtbGHAAACAAJ">American Green: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn</a>.” </p>
<p>What I found was that lawns extend far back in American history. Former presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had lawns, but these were not perfect greenswards. It turns out that the ideal of perfect turf – a weed-free, supergreen monoculture – is a recent phenomenon. </p>
<h2>The not-so-perfect lawns of Levittown</h2>
<p>Its beginnings can largely be traced to the post–World War II era when suburban developments such as the iconic <a href="https://untappedcities.com/2020/07/31/the-controversial-history-of-levittown-americas-first-suburb/">Levittown, New York</a>, had its start. </p>
<p>Levittown was the brainchild of the Levitt family, which viewed landscaping – a word that only entered the English language in the 1930s – as a form of “<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/American_Green_The_Obsessive_Quest_for_t/C3wEEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=american+green+steinberg&printsec=frontcover">neighborhood stabilization</a>,” or a way of bolstering property values. The Levitts, who built 17,000 homes between 1947 and 1951, thus insisted that homeowners mow the yard once a week between April and November and included the stricture in covenants accompanying their deeds.</p>
<p>But the Levitts took the obsession with the lawn only so far. “I don’t believe in being a slave to the lawn,” <a href="https://longreads.com/2019/07/18/american-green/">wrote Abraham Levitt</a>. Clover was, to him, “just as nice” as grass. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and white photo of woman standing outside her suburban home with a perfectly manicured lawn." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519948/original/file-20230407-951-px6n81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519948/original/file-20230407-951-px6n81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519948/original/file-20230407-951-px6n81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519948/original/file-20230407-951-px6n81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519948/original/file-20230407-951-px6n81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519948/original/file-20230407-951-px6n81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519948/original/file-20230407-951-px6n81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The developers of Levittown required homeowners to mow their yards once a week between April and November.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/1950s-woman-standing-at-front-door-of-frame-house-in-news-photo/1175266594?adppopup=true">ClassicStock/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Engineering perfection</h2>
<p>All of which is to say that the quest for the perfect lawn did not come naturally. It had to be engineered, and one of the greatest influencers in this regard was the Scotts Co. of Marysville, Ohio, which took agricultural chemicals and created concoctions that homeowners could spread over their yards. </p>
<p>Formulators like Scotts had one great advantage: <a href="https://pesticidetruths.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Reference-Turf-Ornamentals-1998-03-00-The-Origins-of-Turfgrass-Species-Beard-GCM.pdf">Turfgrass is not native to North America</a>, and growing it on the continent is, for the most part, an uphill ecological battle. Homeowners thus needed a lot of help in the quest for perfection.</p>
<p>But first Scotts had to help lodge the idea of perfect turf in the American imagination. Scotts was able to tap into <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/As_Seen_on_TV/kvADAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=marling+as+seen+on+tv&printsec=frontcover">postwar trends in brightly colored consumer products</a>. From yellow slacks to blue Jell-O, colored products became status symbols and a sign that the consumer had rejected the drab black-and-white world of urban life for the modern suburb and its kaleidoscopic colors – which included, of course, the vibrant green lawn.</p>
<p>Architectural trends also helped the perfect turf aesthetic take root. A <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_American_House_Today/NNKqzgEACAAJ?hl=en">blurring of indoor and outdoor space</a> occurred in the postwar era as patios and eventually sliding glass doors invited homeowners to treat the yard as an extension of their family room. What better way to achieve a comfy outdoor living space than to carpet the yard in a nice greensward. </p>
<p>In 1948, the perfect lawn took a giant step forward when the Scotts Co. began selling its “Weed and Feed” lawn care product, which allowed homeowners to eliminate weeds and fertilize simultaneously. </p>
<p>The development was probably one of the worst things ever to happen, ecologically speaking, to the American yard. Now homeowners were spreading the toxic herbicide 2,4-D – which has since been <a href="https://www.beyondpesticides.org/assets/media/documents/pesticides/factsheets/2-4-D.pdf">linked to cancer, reproductive harm and neurological impairment</a> – on their lawns as a matter of course, whether they were having an issue with weeds or not.</p>
<p>Selective herbicides like 2,4-D killed broadleaf “weeds” like clover and left the grass intact. Clover and bluegrass, a desirable turf species, <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/American_Green_The_Obsessive_Quest_for_t/C3wEEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=clover%20and%20bluegrass%20evolved%20together">evolved together</a>, with the former capturing nitrogen from the air and adding it to the soil as fertilizer. Killing it off sent homeowners back to the store for more artificial fertilizer to make up for the deficit. </p>
<p>That was bad news for homeowners, but a good business model for those companies selling lawn care products who, on the one hand, handicapped homeowners by killing off the clover and, on the other hand, sold them more chemical inputs to recreate what could have occurred naturally. </p>
<p>The “perfect” lawn had come of age.</p>
<h2>The meaning of grass painting</h2>
<p>By the early 1960s, homeowners were already looking for ways of achieving perfect turf on the cheap. </p>
<p>A 1964 article in Newsweek pointed out that green grass paint was being sold in 35 states. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/American_Green_The_Obsessive_Quest_for_t/C3wEEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=american+green+steinberg&printsec=frontcover">The magazine opined</a> that because a homeowner “needs a Bachelor of Chemistry to comprehend the bewildering variety of weed and bug destroyers now fogging the market,” paint was becoming an attractive alternative. </p>
<p>So the interest in grass painting is not entirely new.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bird's eye view of suburban houses with green lawns." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520042/original/file-20230410-26-l74rcc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520042/original/file-20230410-26-l74rcc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520042/original/file-20230410-26-l74rcc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520042/original/file-20230410-26-l74rcc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520042/original/file-20230410-26-l74rcc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520042/original/file-20230410-26-l74rcc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520042/original/file-20230410-26-l74rcc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Suburban tract houses in Centerville, Md.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/ticky-tack-royalty-free-image/627412695?phrase=bird's%20eye%20view%20suburbia&adppopup=true">Edwin Remsberg/The Image Bank via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What is new, however, is that the recent interest in painting the lawn is taking place in a context in which a more pluralistic vision of the yard has taken root. </p>
<p>People fed up with corporate-dominated lawn care are turning back the clock and <a href="https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/clover-lawns-37181185">cultivating their yards with clover</a>, a plant that is resistant to drought and provides nutrients to the lawn, to boot. And so the clover lawn has been making a comeback, with videos on TikTok tagged #cloverlawn <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/cloverlawn">boasting 78 million views</a>.</p>
<p>Together, the return of grass painting with the resurgent interest in clover lawns suggests that the ideal of the resource-intensive perfect lawn is an ecological conceit that the country may no longer be able to afford.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202586/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ted Steinberg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The ideal of perfect turf – a weed-free, supergreen monoculture – is a relatively recent phenomenon.Ted Steinberg, Professor of History, Case Western Reserve UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2017532023-03-16T01:00:40Z2023-03-16T01:00:40ZWe’re building harder, hotter cities: it’s vital we protect and grow urban green spaces – new report<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515355/original/file-20230315-6608-dl3ib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C3%2C2578%2C1271&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Housing intensification in Hamilton.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pce.parliament.nz/">PCE</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recent extreme weather events have provided a foretaste of how supercharged storms might threaten our future. So the release today of a <a href="https://pce.parliament.nz/publications/are-we-building-harder-hotter-cities-the-vital-importance-of-urban-green-spaces/">new report</a> from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) is very good timing.</p>
<p>Titled “Are we building harder, hotter cities? The vital importance of urban green spaces”, the report examines the climate vulnerability of urban Aotearoa New Zealand, and the prospects for building resilience. </p>
<p>To combat the multiple threats to cities of a hotter and wetter future due to climate change, the report suggests two potential pathways. We can take an engineering approach, with more air conditioning and stormwater infrastructure. Or we can make our urban areas greener.</p>
<p>The first option, according to the report, lacks the “biodiversity, recreational and cultural co-benefits that make green space such an important element of a healthy, liveable city”. In other words, green spaces aren’t just pleasant places for a family picnic. They are a vital part of an ecosystem, and a key to making cities liveable as the climate changes. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/floods-cyclones-thunderstorms-is-climate-change-to-blame-for-new-zealands-summer-of-extreme-weather-201161">Floods, cyclones, thunderstorms: is climate change to blame for New Zealand's summer of extreme weather?</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>Housing pressure</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, precious urban green space has dwindled over the past six decades. It’s been replaced by paved roads, car parks and larger buildings on smaller sites. Essentially, existing urban green space is in competition with the demand for more housing. </p>
<p>As the authors state, talk of preserving or expanding green space inevitably leads to a central question:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Whether, in the midst of burgeoning demand for housing, the provision and protection of urban green space is really something that warrants attention. After all, every square metre of potentially developable land that is set aside as parks, yards, gardens or lawns cannot be used for housing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In the wake of the recent <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300798699/auckland-floods-by-the-numbers-what-to-know-about-the-response-one-week-on">Auckland floods</a>, one of the first council policy actions in the city was a <a href="https://www.newsroom.co.nz/sustainable-future/new-housing-law-hit-by-flood-backwash">call to delay</a> the <a href="https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/plans-projects-policies-reports-bylaws/our-plans-strategies/unitary-plan/auckland-unitary-plan-modifications/Pages/details.aspx?UnitaryPlanId=140#">housing intensification</a> plan. Housing, planning and environmental agencies are clearly in a difficult position, on the front line of climate adaptation.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515352/original/file-20230315-20-amros9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515352/original/file-20230315-20-amros9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=156&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515352/original/file-20230315-20-amros9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=156&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515352/original/file-20230315-20-amros9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=156&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515352/original/file-20230315-20-amros9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515352/original/file-20230315-20-amros9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515352/original/file-20230315-20-amros9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Higher-density housing can reduce green space: the estimated increase in runoff from a townhouse compared with a conventional dwelling.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pce.parliament.nz/">PCE</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<h2>Loss of lawns</h2>
<p>The three cities analysed in the report – Auckland, Hamilton and Greater Wellington – are greener than some might think. Hamilton’s green space is about 45% of its urban area; Greater Wellington’s is 65%; and Auckland’s was 55% (though Auckland data are over a decade old, so this is likely lower).</p>
<p>But one caveat in the report is that “residential yards and gardens account for slightly more than half of available green space in all three cities”. Since most backyard gardens are mostly grass, they have less to offer environmentally – “limited cooling, no shade provision, low diversity and little support for native species”. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nz-cities-urgently-need-to-become-spongier-but-system-change-will-be-expensive-200061">NZ cities urgently need to become 'spongier' – but system change will be expensive</a>
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</p>
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<p>Fewer lawns also appeared to be the biggest driver of urban green space loss. In Auckland and Hamilton, it’s estimated lawns have declined by at least 10-15% as a proportion of the urban area between 1980 and 2016. This is attributed to infill development placing more and larger houses on single sites. </p>
<p>Perhaps the biggest issue is that disappearing private, urban green spaces such as lawns are not being replaced with public green space by councils. The report highlights that “a number of councils – including in Hamilton, Tauranga and Hutt City – have provided no more than a few square metres of new parkland for each additional resident since 2016”. </p>
<p>Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch have done better in setting aside areas larger then ten hectares. But in Christchurch, the report says, this is only because the 2011 earthquake rendered large areas uninhabitable. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515358/original/file-20230315-14-baa7d7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515358/original/file-20230315-14-baa7d7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515358/original/file-20230315-14-baa7d7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515358/original/file-20230315-14-baa7d7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515358/original/file-20230315-14-baa7d7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515358/original/file-20230315-14-baa7d7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515358/original/file-20230315-14-baa7d7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Auckland’s Albert Park: urban trees are important but protecting them has become complex and costly.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Threats to trees</h2>
<p>Big problems with tree protection are also behind the loss of green space. This is attributed to changes to rules in the Resource Management Act in <a href="https://environment.govt.nz/publications/resource-management-amendment-act-2009-fact-sheet-1-overview/">2009</a> and <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2013/0063/latest/DLM4921611.html">2013</a>. These removed blanket tree protection, with onerous and costly processes now making it harder for councils to protect trees. </p>
<p>Effectively, trees deserving protections have to be identified in a district plan, requiring “councils to undertake a plan change process every time a protection is considered worthy”. In Auckland, it’s estimated that “adding a tree to the <a href="https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/building-and-consents/working-on-around-trees/Pages/what-is-notable-tree.aspx">Notable Tree Schedule</a> costs $1,484 and takes between 34 and 42 months”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/landslides-and-law-cyclone-gabrielle-raises-serious-questions-about-where-weve-been-allowed-to-build-200250">Landslides and law: Cyclone Gabrielle raises serious questions about where we've been allowed to build</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The numbers show how bad tree protection has become: “Between 2016 and 2021, Auckland Council failed to process any of the 587 nominations it received for tree protections.” </p>
<p>Auckland’s unitary plan only contains 6,000 to 7,000 scheduled (protected) trees, while in “Hamilton, Tauranga, Upper Hutt, Lower Hutt, Porirua and Wellington City, fewer than 500 trees had been scheduled”.</p>
<p>Overall, the report notes, there is “no requirement to plan for or provide public green space in New Zealand cities”. A lack of guidance “tends to mean that parks and reserves are treated as a discretionary ‘nice to have’ when hard decisions about provision levels and funding are made”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/slippery-slopes-why-the-auckland-storm-caused-so-many-landslides-and-what-can-be-done-about-it-198984">Slippery slopes: why the Auckland storm caused so many landslides – and what can be done about it</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>Keeping a green score</h2>
<p>The report offers several recommendations for reversing the trend of lost green space. Primarily, councils should adopt “more explicit provisions on green spaces based on consultation with their communities”. They should also measure green space and use standardised monitoring systems. </p>
<p>Part of this involves improving green spaces where they already exist. The government’s Medium Density Residential Standards (<a href="https://environment.govt.nz/publications/medium-density-residential-standards-a-guide-for-territorial-authorities/">MDRS</a>) require 20% of a site to be green space. But this is often done in a piecemeal fashion, with less useful strips of grass scattered around a site. </p>
<p>The report suggests using a “green score” accreditation scheme to measure the potential of private green space to host trees and shrubs, and to measure biodiversity.</p>
<p>A few quick implementation ideas are also offered, including lining road corridors (which “account for 15-20% of the surface of our cities”) with more native plants and trees. Parks could also improve by “simply adding patches of larger shrubs and trees”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/build-back-better-sounds-great-in-theory-but-does-the-government-really-know-what-it-means-in-practice-200514">'Build back better' sounds great in theory, but does the government really know what it means in practice?</a>
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<h2>Using the evidence</h2>
<p>Ultimately, it will come down to how councils can pay for more and better green space. One suggestion is that developers who “go below a certain level of private green space […] pay for the loss” with a development contribution – a fee paid to the council to help defray the cost of infrastructure (in this case more green space).</p>
<p>Councils might impose citywide or more targeted green space rates levies, though the report doesn’t estimate the cost of adding or improving green spaces in any of the studied cities. </p>
<p>In a way, this report tells us many things we intuitively know. New and denser housing developments are sprouting up, we are losing private green space, we have weak tree protections and we should expand and improve our urban green space. </p>
<p>But the commissioner has done a good job backing this up with research. Given recent events, and looking towards a future of climate extremes, we can use this evidence to demand the changes needed to make our cities more resilient and liveable.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201753/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Welch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New Zealand’s urban green space has dwindled over the past six decades. The Commissioner for the Environment has issued a warning and a challenge – get greener before climate change gets meaner.Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1844232022-08-16T12:29:28Z2022-08-16T12:29:28ZFrom watering via ice cubes to spritzing with hydrogen peroxide – 4 misguided plant health trends on social media<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470313/original/file-20220622-25-3avjqj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C11%2C7377%2C4885&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The internet has become a new player in plant care advice.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/two-female-friends-watching-online-gardening-royalty-free-image/1295397619">Kanawa_Studio/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The internet is full of advice on just about everything, including plant care.</p>
<p>As the <a href="https://plant.lab.uconn.edu/">director of a plant diagnostic laboratory</a> and expert on plant medicine, I help people manage their plants’ health. Here are four trends I’ve seen online recently that have stood out as being especially misleading or potentially damaging to plants. </p>
<h2>Watering orchids and other plants with ice cubes</h2>
<p>Multiple sites claim ice cubes can be used to give orchids a “just right” amount of water. The fact is tropical plants hate cold temperatures. Leaving <a href="http://www.ladybug.uconn.edu/FactSheets/house-plants---growing-.php">ice near an orchid’s roots may damage them</a>.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_AA2Kt72DQg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Orchids on ice?</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nearly all houseplants, including orchids, will prefer lukewarm or room temperature water, about 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius). Use fact sheets from educational institutions and reputable organizations to determine the correct amount of water and watering schedule for the types of plants you’re growing, and then set a reminder on your phone. </p>
<p>Use a potting medium that drains well and quickly. For orchids, <a href="https://www.aos.org/orchids/orchid-care/what-is-the-best-potting-media.aspx">a mix of bark chips and sphagnum moss is much better</a> than 100% soil or coco coir. </p>
<h2>‘No Mow May’</h2>
<p>Many campaigns have sprung up recently promoting “<a href="https://beecityusa.org/no-mow-may/">No Mow May</a>.” The idea is to delay regular mowing for the month of May to provide more feeding sites for pollinators, which are trying to shore up calories after their winter hibernation.</p>
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<p>Unfortunately, this practice usually does not benefit pollinators and could damage your lawn’s health. Here’s why:</p>
<p>Mowing more than 30% of a grass leaf at once is never a good idea. Grasses depend on their blades to photosynthesize and meet their energy needs. When more than 30% is lost at once, the plants may not have enough remaining leaf surface area to photosynthesize properly.</p>
<p>Overgrown lawns have overgrown root systems, which require more energy. Failure to provide it leads to <a href="https://hgic.clemson.edu/mowing-height-matters/">increased susceptibility to disease</a>, poor water management and potential collapse. Such damage is pretty much unavoidable after a monthlong “no mow” period. </p>
<p>Few lawns actually contain enough flowers to be beneficial to pollinators, anyway. For many people, the “perfect lawn” is an unwavering green carpet. But that uniformity is useless to bees and other pollinators that require <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pollinator-protection/what-you-can-do-protect-honey-bees-and-other-pollinators">pollen and nectar that other plants can provide</a>. </p>
<p>It’s great to <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pollinator-protection/what-you-can-do-protect-honey-bees-and-other-pollinators">prioritize pollinator health</a>, but the “no mow” trend is best implemented in prairie, field and wetland environments, where there is a lot of plant diversity and flowering plants. </p>
<p>If you’re looking to support pollinator health in your own yard, <a href="https://www.nwf.org/NativePlantFinder">plant native wildflowers</a> that pollinators will actually want to visit. Most require less water and management compared to grass lawns. Replace your entire lawn or even a small strip. Any amount of lawn replaced is beneficial – and will save you water and money. </p>
<p>Make sure not to mow the wildflowers until they’ve finished flowering. A wildflower patch usually only needs to be cut once or twice a year. Mowing after the last frost in early spring will spread the previous year’s seeds and <a href="https://extension.psu.edu/planting-pollinator-friendly-gardens">provide a home for insects to spend the winter</a>. </p>
<h2>Using hydrogen peroxide to ‘cure’ plant diseases</h2>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"917613551988097024"}"></div></p>
<p>Hydrogen peroxide <a href="https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Hydrogen-peroxide">does sterilize surfaces and can reduce bacteria and some fungi</a>. But the rapid reaction that gives hydrogen peroxide its sterilizing properties occurs almost immediately after coming in contact with other compounds. This does not permit hydrogen peroxide to move throughout a plant.</p>
<p>So most pathogens – the organisms that cause disease – will not be affected if they are in a plant’s tissues rather than on its exterior. Applying hydrogen peroxide excessively or improperly may even <a href="https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Hydrogen-peroxide">make plant health issues worse</a> by drying surfaces and killing beneficial microbes. </p>
<p>While there is certainly a time and place for sterilizing surfaces in plant care – like with your pruners and propagation tools – the best defense against plant diseases is proper care. </p>
<p>Water your plants only when necessary and provide proper light and nutrition. Research what your plant likes best from educational institutions or other reputable sources. Routine pruning to increase airflow, proper plant spacing, avoiding single-crop planting and crop rotation are just some examples of chemical-free techniques to <a href="https://ipm.cahnr.uconn.edu/">reduce plant stress and decrease disease susceptibility</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470069/original/file-20220621-15-io6uku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman holds up her cell phone to photograph the roots of a plant." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470069/original/file-20220621-15-io6uku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470069/original/file-20220621-15-io6uku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470069/original/file-20220621-15-io6uku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470069/original/file-20220621-15-io6uku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470069/original/file-20220621-15-io6uku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470069/original/file-20220621-15-io6uku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470069/original/file-20220621-15-io6uku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Virtual diagnosis?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/woman-holding-and-taking-photo-of-potato-crop-royalty-free-image/1322163523">Sanja Radin/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Diagnosing diseases using phone apps</h2>
<p>Many apps exist that use photographs submitted by the user to identify plant diseases and offer solutions. </p>
<p>The truth is, to diagnose most plant diseases, a scientist needs to culture plant tissue to correctly identify pathogens. Only after an accurate diagnosis <a href="https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/journal/pdis">can they recommend management solutions</a>. I have a pretty strong opinion here, since disease identification is what I do every day. Plant symptoms that accompany one disease may be practically identical to those of another. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472617/original/file-20220705-4524-eyxbyp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Photos of four different plants with curled leaves labeled herbicide exposure, virus, insect feeding and fungal infection." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472617/original/file-20220705-4524-eyxbyp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472617/original/file-20220705-4524-eyxbyp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472617/original/file-20220705-4524-eyxbyp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472617/original/file-20220705-4524-eyxbyp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472617/original/file-20220705-4524-eyxbyp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472617/original/file-20220705-4524-eyxbyp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472617/original/file-20220705-4524-eyxbyp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The same symptom can be caused by very different problems.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bugwood.org</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, herbicide exposure, viruses, insect feeding and fungal infections can all cause twisted and deformed leaves. To properly diagnose an issue, the plant’s own history, location, site history, time of year and other factors need to be considered before I can take a guess as to what may be contributing to symptoms. </p>
<p>Don’t rely on an app to guess at what disease your plant may have – and don’t act on bogus recommendations. Instead, reach out to your local university diagnostic lab or extension office for support. </p>
<p>Not sure where to go? Start with the <a href="https://www.npdn.org/lab_directory">National Plant Diagnostic Network’s lab directory</a>. Many, including mine, offer free consultations and recommendations. If you end up submitting a sample to a diagnostic lab, most are affordable – my lab’s fee is US$20 – and will be worthwhile, especially when you consider the cost of replacing the plant with something that could eventually have the same issue.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184423/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nick Goltz (UConn Plant Diagnostic Laboratory) receives funding from the USDA-NIFA and the state of Connecticut. </span></em></p>Plant care advice abounds on TikTok, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube – but not all of it is good. A plant expert debunks four common recommendations.Nick Goltz, Assistant Extension Educator and Director, UConn Plant Diagnostic Laboratory, University of ConnecticutLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1836922022-05-31T14:31:13Z2022-05-31T14:31:13ZHow to make your lawn wildlife friendly all year round – tips from an ecologist<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466022/original/file-20220530-20-s2bxse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4998%2C3401&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-common-blue-butterfly-polyommatus-icarus-1984636076">Sandra Standbridge/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Alongside the worrying current fad <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/04/growth-in-artificial-lawns-poses-threat-to-british-wildlife-conservationists-warn">for plastic grass</a>, a growing number of people are choosing to let their <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/02/25/emerging-pattern-rewilding-gardens-set-boost-butterfly-numbers/">lawns grow wild</a> in order to encourage a more diverse range of plants and insects to live in them. </p>
<p>You may not be convinced of the beauty of a wild and unruly garden, but there is a sweet spot to be found between a rewilded jungle and a sterile green desert which not only looks good but provides a <a href="https://theconversation.com/four-steps-to-make-your-lawn-a-wildlife-haven-from-green-desert-to-miniature-rainforest-117482">haven for wildlife</a>. This is especially important in the UK, where 97% of semi-natural grassland has been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0006320787901212">destroyed over the last 80 years</a>. </p>
<p>I’m an ecologist specialised in the study of this kind of habitat, and I want to help you get the most out of it. One simple compromise you can make is to put off when you first get the lawn mower out each year. A campaign by conservation charity <a href="https://www.plantlife.org.uk/wales">Plantlife</a> called <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/nomowmay">#NoMowMay</a> asks people with lawns to hold off the first cut until June, which allows grasses and herbs time to flower and set seed.</p>
<p>But if you want to maintain a wildlife-friendly lawn throughout the year, without letting your garden become completely overgrown, here’s some advice for what else you can do.</p>
<p>To find a happy medium, some mowing may be necessary. This halts the ecological processes which would otherwise transform a grass lawn into a woodland over time. By varying the height at which you mow different areas of your lawn and how often you do it (simulating the effect of different herbivores grazing in the wild), you can create a mix of conditions which benefit a variety of species. </p>
<p>Areas cut short will favour daisies, which flower in profusion and offer a nectar buffet to bees and butterflies. Unkempt areas left uncut for a year suit a wider variety of flowers, tempting a diverse cast of bugs and other creatures into your garden.</p>
<p>In experiments on his own garden in Kent, Charles Darwin <a href="http://darwin-online.org.uk/Variorum/1869/1869-79-c-1860.html">recorded</a> that refraining from mowing turf for too long resulted in fewer species overall, because:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the more vigorous plants gradually kill the less vigorous … thus out of 20 species growing on a little plot of turf (three feet by four) nine species perished from the other species being allowed to grow up freely.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another key thing to think about is the level of nutrients the lawn receives. Even if you have never succumbed to the lawn feed products heavily promoted in most garden centres, your lawn will get a sufficient dose of fertiliser from <a href="https://unece.org/reactive-nitrogen">reactive nitrogen</a> carried on the wind. </p>
<p>The purpose of mowing in a natural grassland should be to mimic grazing by animals. And to do that, you have to remove the clippings otherwise the nutrients they carry will soak back into the soil.</p>
<p>Fungi and bacteria decompose dead plant material and return those nutrients to plants in a lawn through networks of mycorrhizal fungi in the soil. Regular mows which dump the cuttings and overload the soil with nutrients drive a stick through the spokes of this cycle by devaluing the currency of the nitrogen and phosphorus fungi deliver. Clumps of cut grass can also <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2403767?seq=1">smother small seedlings</a>.</p>
<p>At unnaturally high soil nutrient levels (common in lawns mown and topped with the clippings regularly), the vegetation is dominated by a small number of fast-growing, weedy species. As Darwin found, this prevents a rich community of wildflowers from taking shape. Soil with low nutrient levels favours not only more species, but also <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S143917912100030X">healthy soil food webs</a>.</p>
<p>At the <a href="http://www.era.rothamsted.ac.uk/Park">Rothamsted Park Grass</a> experiment in Hertfordshire, scientists have studied the effects of annual haycutting since 1860, making it the oldest field experiment in the world. When fertiliser was evenly applied to some plots, it reduced the number of plant species <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2006.01145.x">from 40 to fewer than five</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A blue rake on a wooden stick collects grass cuttings in a pile." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466020/original/file-20220530-22-njuz7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466020/original/file-20220530-22-njuz7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466020/original/file-20220530-22-njuz7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466020/original/file-20220530-22-njuz7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466020/original/file-20220530-22-njuz7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466020/original/file-20220530-22-njuz7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466020/original/file-20220530-22-njuz7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Grass cuttings inundate soils with more nutrients than a diverse community of plants needs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/blue-rake-on-wooden-stick-collecting-391503748">Ekaterina Pankina/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Autumn fruiting</h2>
<p>You also want to consider the time of year. Mow sparingly and leave grass long in summer to create diverse plant and insect communities in the warmest months. A lawn left uncut until late July, as in a traditional hay meadow, will favour the greatest variety of flowers. But cut it short in autumn to foster conditions for mushrooms fruiting as the year winds down.</p>
<p>Soil organisms and their hidden lives are badly neglected in nature conservation. Among the most overlooked are grassland macrofungi, so named because they are large enough to be visible to the naked eye. My favourites are the brightly coloured waxcaps. These <a href="http://www.aber.ac.uk/waxcap/downloads/griffith-waxcapbritishwildlife04.pdf">film stars of the fungal world</a> are restricted to undisturbed grasslands where <a href="https://sfamjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1462-2920.14327">soil nutrient concentrations are low</a>.</p>
<p>The British Isles is a global hotspot for these fungi, but they are threatened by habitat loss. 11 species found in the UK were assessed by <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/search?query=waxcap&searchType=species">international experts</a> as vulnerable – the same extinction risk faced by the panda and snow leopard.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three pink mushrooms with split edges in grass." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466017/original/file-20220530-16-4stk64.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466017/original/file-20220530-16-4stk64.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466017/original/file-20220530-16-4stk64.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466017/original/file-20220530-16-4stk64.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466017/original/file-20220530-16-4stk64.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466017/original/file-20220530-16-4stk64.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466017/original/file-20220530-16-4stk64.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pink ballerina mushrooms in an Aberystwyth garden. This species is considered globally vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gareth Griffith</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320711004241">study by my research group</a> showed that waxcaps need the turf to be short (8cm tall at most) in the autumn, but that their most prolific fruiting occurred when the grass was left uncut until mid-July. Waxcaps grow slowly and are long-lived, but with late cuts and the removal of clippings to lower soil nutrient levels, it is likely that <a href="https://www.first-nature.com/fungi/hygrocybe-conica.php">the first waxcaps</a> will return within a decade.</p>
<p>To sum up, delay mowing until midsummer, keep your lawn free of clippings and leave patches more unkempt for longer to please butterflies and bees. But give it regular trims from August onwards to encourage globally rare mushrooms. You’ll then see that grasslands are diverse and dynamic habitats just waiting to be unleashed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183692/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gareth Griffith has received funding from the charities Woodland Trust and Plantlife.</span></em></p>Plus, why you should always remove grass cuttings from your lawn.Gareth Griffith, Professor of Fungal Ecology, Aberystwyth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1645912021-07-29T13:23:31Z2021-07-29T13:23:31ZLife lessons from beekeepers – stop mowing the lawn, don’t pave the driveway and get used to bugs in your salad<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413717/original/file-20210729-15-17venf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=72%2C36%2C5934%2C3971&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beekeeper-working-collect-honey-beekeeping-concept-1054817495">santypan/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For many people, the past year has led to an increased appreciation for our <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/articles/howhaslockdownchangedourrelationshipwithnature/2021-04-26">fragile natural world</a>. This is important because, alongside COVID, we are also facing a global climate and biodiversity crisis. </p>
<p>A recent report by <a href="https://www.ipbes.net/global-assessment">IPBES</a> (the intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services) highlighted enormous pressures on land and marine ecosystems and concluded that more than a million plant and animal species are at risk of extinction. The authors call for fundamental changes to how we all live, to reverse these existential threats. </p>
<p>One recommendation from the report is that we should listen more to Indigenous people and local community knowledge, and learn from their relationship with the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877343519301447?via=ihub">natural world</a> as a way of solving environmental crises. This makes a lot of sense to me, because as my <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0743016716300304">research</a> and interviews with beekeepers has found, beekeeping changes how people see and relate to their environment. </p>
<p>Beekeepers talk of “seeing like a bee”. One beekeeper I spoke with noted that “part of the psyche of people who work with insects is that they are very observant, and passionate about their environment”. This passion leads many beekeepers to change parts of their lives to better help bees and the wider environment. </p>
<p>Here are the main lessons I’ve learned from my time spent researching and working with beekeepers.</p>
<h2>Go wild in the garden</h2>
<p>Beekeepers recognise that an untidy garden is a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214574520300201">wildlife haven</a> and advise letting a little mess into our outdoor spaces. Some beekeepers told me how they’ve stopped mowing their lawns altogether. </p>
<p>This approach <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxp26UovFyw">is encouraged by scientists</a>, along with the charity Buglife, which is developing a national network of <a href="https://www.buglife.org.uk/our-work/b-lines/">B-lines</a> – insect pathways through the UK’s towns and countryside, that are rich in wildflower forage and habitat. Beekeepers will also make sure nutritious plants are available throughout the year – including Snowdrops, Lavender and Asters – for <a href="http://www.wlgf.org/plants_pollinators.html">their bees</a> and <a href="http://www.sussex.ac.uk/lifesci/goulsonlab/resources/flowers">other pollinators</a> such as bumblebees, hoverflies and wasps. Ivy is also an important late-season forage source, so don’t pull it down.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Wildflower meadow in back garden." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413718/original/file-20210729-21-e86b82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413718/original/file-20210729-21-e86b82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413718/original/file-20210729-21-e86b82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413718/original/file-20210729-21-e86b82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413718/original/file-20210729-21-e86b82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413718/original/file-20210729-21-e86b82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413718/original/file-20210729-21-e86b82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Go wild in your garden, the bees love it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/urban-gardening-wildflower-meadow-own-garden-1655371492">Miriam Doerr Martin Frommherz/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But be aware of “greenwashing”. Plants may be advertised as good for bees when they have been treated with <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749117305158?via=ihub">hazardous pesticides</a> – so make sure you check how they’ve been grown. In my experience, UK beekeepers avoid using any chemicals in their gardens, as they are all too aware of the damage they cause. In many other countries, and in the EU, domestic and municipal use of garden chemicals has been <a href="https://www.arc2020.eu/senator-joel-labbe-herbicide-ban-france/">banned</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-tracked-male-honeybees-for-two-years-to-find-out-where-they-look-for-sex-161520">We tracked male honeybees for two years to find out where they look for sex</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Whatever you do, don’t pave over your front garden or put down artificial turf. Both of these lead to less habitat for wildlife. If you must park your car on a hard surface at home, add in climbing plants and hedges to absorb CO2 and provide forage for insects.</p>
<h2>Learn about your neighbourhood</h2>
<p>Beekeepers often work in one area for years – sometimes even generations. These <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4471132/">years of experience</a> in one place show them what’s growing, and what’s living in their area, and what has changed over time. </p>
<p>Strengthening our connection to – and our knowledge about – our local area has lots of advantages. It’s good for our <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00976/full">mental health and happiness</a> and can help us know what’s happening in our local environment – whether that’s a garden, park, woodland, or beach. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Beehives in field with beekeeper." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413719/original/file-20210729-21-dt165a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413719/original/file-20210729-21-dt165a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413719/original/file-20210729-21-dt165a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413719/original/file-20210729-21-dt165a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413719/original/file-20210729-21-dt165a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413719/original/file-20210729-21-dt165a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413719/original/file-20210729-21-dt165a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Get to know your local area and what grows nearby.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beekeeper-working-collect-honey-beekeeping-concept-713668447">santypan/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Phenology – knowing the seasonal cycles of plants and animals – provides valuable information for scientists studying the <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rstb.2010.0130">effects of climate change</a>. You don’t need to keep bees to learn these things. Anyone can start <a href="https://naturescalendar.woodlandtrust.org.uk/">collecting</a>, and <a href="https://www.usanpn.org/nn/become-observer">contributing</a> information about local areas by recording sightings of flora and fauna you may see on your daily outings. </p>
<h2>Pay attention</h2>
<p>Beekeeping is often a starting point for deeper learning about the environment. Some beekeepers, for example, go on to learn about botany, which helps them know what to plant to provide food and habitat for their bees.</p>
<p>Unlike beekeepers, many of us aren’t really aware of <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/fee.1531">the differences</a> between honeybees and other species of bees. Many bee species are solitary, and have smaller foraging ranges. Understanding the needs of different species can help make sure the environment is healthy for all pollinators – not just honeybees. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Little child points a finger at a bumblebee on a flower." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413721/original/file-20210729-17-11ukxui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413721/original/file-20210729-17-11ukxui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413721/original/file-20210729-17-11ukxui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413721/original/file-20210729-17-11ukxui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413721/original/file-20210729-17-11ukxui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413721/original/file-20210729-17-11ukxui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413721/original/file-20210729-17-11ukxui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Notice what grows around you and how insects interact with different plants.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/little-child-points-finger-bumblebee-on-1113365522">Trofimov Denis/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In some parts of the UK, particularly urban areas, there are now <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ppp3.10143">too many honeybees</a>, and not enough forage for them, or the wider pollinator community. Some beekeepers are now decreasing the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/24/this-only-saves-honeybees-the-trouble-with-britains-beekeeping-boom-aoe">number of colonies they keep</a>, to support all pollinators, by decreasing pressure on environmental resources.</p>
<h2>Think global, act local</h2>
<p>If we want to live in a world that is good for pollinators, as well as the rest of us, big changes are needed in our environment, and our <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/joac.12360">food system</a>. This is why many beekeepers change their diet and their shopping, eating more locally grown vegetables that aren’t treated with pesticides. </p>
<p>Being willing to buy fruit and vegetables that may have the occasional insect living in it is better for us and <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/45/eaba1715?fbclid=IwAR18LFLsnO3UZHOWDx1yEJvA2sIiHU37-hY8Y1dXCyQeY6DXS7Kdi4XD64c">for nature</a>. To live more harmoniously with the natural world, we need to relax about larvae in the lettuce and slugs in the spinach.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164591/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Siobhan Maderson receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). She is an ESRC Post Doctoral Fellow at Aberystwyth University.</span></em></p>Beekeeping changes how people see and relate to the environment – there’s a lot we can learn.Siobhan Maderson, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow and Associate Lecturer in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1536092021-03-22T12:25:05Z2021-03-22T12:25:05ZTo help insects, make them welcome in your garden – here’s how<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390209/original/file-20210317-17-1pdecdz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C0%2C1637%2C1012&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An insect-friendly wildflower swath at California State University, Fullerton's arboretum.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/25C1wyq">TDLucas5000/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As winter phases into spring across the U.S., gardeners are laying in supplies and making plans. Meanwhile, as the weather warms, common garden insects such as bees, beetles and butterflies will emerge from underground burrows or nests within or on plants. </p>
<p>Most gardeners know how beneficial insects can be for their plots. <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/animals/flies.shtml">Flies pollinate flowers</a>. Predatory bugs, such as the <a href="http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/beneficial/podisus_maculiventris.htm">spined shoulder bug</a>, eat pest insects that otherwise would tuck into garden plants. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tzo9De0AAAAJ&hl=en">scientist whose research involves insects</a> and as a gardener, I know that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2023989118">many beneficial insect species are declining</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-an-insect-apocalypse-happening-how-would-we-know-113170">need humans’ help</a>. If you’re a gardener looking for a new challenge this year, consider revamping all or part of your yard to support beneficial insects.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/H-iIgTNdmRo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Ladybugs, lacewings, spiders, earthworms and honey bees are among the most beneficial common garden animals.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Lawns are insect food deserts</h2>
<p>Some gardeners <a href="https://plants.usda.gov/checklist.html">choose native plants</a> to attract and support helpful insects. Often, however, those native plants are surrounded by vast expanses of lawn.</p>
<p>The vast majority of insect species find blades of grass as unappetizing as we do. Yet, lawns sprawl out across many public and private spaces. <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/Lawn">NASA estimated in 2005</a> that lawns covered at least 50,000 square miles (128,000 square kilometers) of the U.S. – about the size of the entire state of Mississippi. </p>
<p>A well-manicured lawn is a sure sign that humanity has imposed its will on nature. Lawns provide an accessible and familiar landscape, but they come at a cost for our six-legged neighbors. Grasses grown as turf provide very few places for insects to safely tuck themselves away, because homeowners and groundskeepers cut them short – before they send up flowering spikes – and apply fertilizers and pesticides to keep them green. </p>
<p>Entomologists have a recomendation: Dig up some fraction of your lawn and convert it into a meadow by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2002547117">replacing grass with native wildflowers</a>. Wildflowers provide pollen and nectar that feed and attract a variety of insects like ants, native bees and butterflies. Just as you may have a favorite local restaurant, insects that live around you have a taste for the flowers that are native to their areas. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1148408008923328513"}"></div></p>
<p>This bold choice will not just benefit insects. Healthier insects support local birds, and meadows require fewer chemical inputs and less mowing than lawns. The amount of attention lawns demand from us, even if we outsource the work to a landscaping company, is a sign of their precarity. </p>
<p>A meadow is a wilder, more resilient option. Resilient ecosystems are better able to respond to and recover from disturbances. </p>
<p>Entomologist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3EsB164AAAAJ&hl=en">Ryan Gott</a>, integrated pest management and quality control specialist at Maitri Genetics in Pittsburgh, describes lawns and meadows as two opposite ends of a resiliency spectrum. “As far as basic ecological functions go, a lawn does not have many. A lawn mainly extracts nutrition and water, usually receiving outside inputs of fertilizer and irrigation to stay alive, and returns very little to the system,” he told me. </p>
<p>Native flowers, by definition, will grow well in your climate, although some areas will have more choices than others and growing seasons vary. Native plants also provide a palette of colors and variety that lawns sorely lack. By planting them as a meadow, with many different flowers emerging throughout the growing season, you can provide for a diverse assortment of local insects. And mowing and fertilizing less will leave you more time to appreciate wildlife of all sizes.</p>
<p>There are many different types of meadows, and every wildflower species has different preferences for soil type and conditions. Meadows thrive in full sunlight, which is also where lawns typically do well. </p>
<h2>Making insects feel at home</h2>
<p>Not every yard can support a meadow, but there are other ways to be a better, more considerate neighbor to insects. If you have a shady yard, consider modeling your garden after natural landscapes like woodlands that are shady and support insects. </p>
<p>What’s important in landscaping with insects in mind, or “entoscaping,” is <a href="https://www.amentsoc.org/insects/insects-and-man/gardening-for-insects.html">considering insects early and often</a> when you visit the garden store. With a few pots or window boxes, even a balcony can be converted into a cozy insect oasis. </p>
<p>If you’re gardenless, you can still support insect health. Try replacing white outdoor lights, which <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/light-pollution-contributes-insect-apocalypse-180973642/">interfere with many insects’ feeding and breeding patterns</a>. White lights also lure insects into swarms, where they are vulnerable to predators. <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-figured-out-the-type-of-light-bulb-to-use-if-you-want-to-avoid-insects">Yellow bulbs or warm-hued LEDs</a> don’t have these effects. </p>
<p>[<em>Get facts about coronavirus and the latest research.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=coronavirus-facts">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.</a>]</p>
<p>Another easy project is using scrap wood and packing materials to create simple “hotels” for <a href="https://modernfarmer.com/2017/02/build-native-bee-hotel/">bees</a> or <a href="https://www.hgtv.com/design/make-and-celebrate/handmade/craft-a-ladybug-hotel">ladybugs</a>, making sure to carefully sanitize them between seasons. Easiest of all, <a href="https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=26345">provide water for insects to drink</a> – they’re adorable to watch as they sip. Replace standing water at least weekly to prevent mosquitoes from developing.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390417/original/file-20210318-23-16piil9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Butterflies on a pebbled pathway." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390417/original/file-20210318-23-16piil9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390417/original/file-20210318-23-16piil9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390417/original/file-20210318-23-16piil9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390417/original/file-20210318-23-16piil9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390417/original/file-20210318-23-16piil9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390417/original/file-20210318-23-16piil9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390417/original/file-20210318-23-16piil9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Giant swallowtail (left) and Palamedes swallowtail (right) drinking water from a puddle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/PGuLZ">K. Draper/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A refuge in every yard</h2>
<p>Many resources across the U.S. offer advice on converting your lawn or making your yard more insect-friendly. </p>
<p>The Xerces Society for Insect Conservation publishes a <a href="https://xerces.org/publications/guidelines/establishing-pollinator-meadows-from-seed">guide to establishing meadows</a> to sustain insects. Local university extension offices <a href="https://extension.unh.edu/resource/planting-pollinators-establishing-wildflower-meadow-seed-fact-sheet">post tips on growing meadows</a> with specific instructions and resources for their areas. Gardening stores often have experience and carry selections of local plants.</p>
<p>You may find established communities of enthusiasts for local plants and seeds, or your journey could be the start of such a group. Part of the fun of gardening is learning what plants need to be healthy, and a new endeavor like entoscaping will provide fresh challenges.</p>
<p>In my view, humans all too often see ourselves as separate from nature, which leads us to relegate biodiversity to designated parks. In fact, however, we are an important part of the natural world, and <a href="https://www.si.edu/spotlight/buginfo/benefits">we need insects</a> just as much as they need us. As ecologist <a href="https://www.udel.edu/canr/departments/entomology-and-wildlife-ecology/faculty-staff/doug-tallamy/">Douglas Tallamy</a> argues in his book, “<a href="https://www.workman.com/products/natures-best-hope">Nature’s Best Hope</a>,” the best way to protect biodiversity is for people to plant native plants and promote conservation in every yard.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153609/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Lovett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Looking for a new gardening challenge? Turning your yard into an insect-friendly oasis could mean less work and more nature to enjoy.Brian Lovett, Postdoctoral Researcher in Mycology, West Virginia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1174822019-07-04T09:18:53Z2019-07-04T09:18:53ZFour steps to make your lawn a wildlife haven – from green desert to miniature rainforest<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282668/original/file-20190704-51292-17wdxpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C7348%2C4912&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/monarch-butterfly-feeding-on-pink-flowers-362487542?src=Q045pBY34AlUWlzj6Ol6VQ-1-3&studio=1">Sean Xu/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you could ask British insects about the habitats they prefer, they’d probably tell you that you can’t improve on grassland that’s rich with wildflowers. For farmers, though, grassland is said to be “improved” if it has been treated with fertiliser and sown with fast growing grasses. </p>
<p>“Unimproved” grasslands are those that have not had their <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989415300184">productivity improved</a> for agriculture. They’re <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989415300184">semi-natural habitats</a>, because if mowing or grazing stopped, they’d quickly turn to scrub and then woodland. These unimproved grasslands are extremely rich in the number of species they can support, sometimes having well over <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/habitats/grassland/lowland-calcareous-grassland">40 species</a> of flowering plant in a single square metre. </p>
<p>But since World War II, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0006320787901212">97% of unimproved grassland habitats</a> have vanished from the UK. This has contributed to the loss of pollinating insects – and the distribution of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-08974-9">one third of species has shrunk since 1980</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281846/original/file-20190628-94724-f37lad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281846/original/file-20190628-94724-f37lad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281846/original/file-20190628-94724-f37lad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281846/original/file-20190628-94724-f37lad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281846/original/file-20190628-94724-f37lad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281846/original/file-20190628-94724-f37lad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281846/original/file-20190628-94724-f37lad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281846/original/file-20190628-94724-f37lad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Left - Grassland in Transylvania, where agricultural ‘improvement’ has been limited. Right - Potwell Dykes, Nottinghamshire – how much of the UK’s lost grassland would have looked.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Adam Bates</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/insects-species-that-prefer-crops-prosper-while-majority-decline-114206">Insects: species that prefer crops prosper while majority decline</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If you’re lucky enough to have a garden, your lawn can be thought of as a small patch of artificial grassland, which will usually have only a few species of turf grass. Most suburbs and villages still have around a <a href="http://uknea.unep-wcmc.org/Resources/tabid/82/Default.aspx">quarter to a third</a> of their area covered by grass. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, lawns are largely featureless and offer little refuge for small creatures like bugs and other invertebrates. Regular mowing also prevents plants from flowering and producing seeds, which is why carefully maintained lawns are mostly barren. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279107/original/file-20190612-32321-1hx1lag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279107/original/file-20190612-32321-1hx1lag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279107/original/file-20190612-32321-1hx1lag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279107/original/file-20190612-32321-1hx1lag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279107/original/file-20190612-32321-1hx1lag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279107/original/file-20190612-32321-1hx1lag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279107/original/file-20190612-32321-1hx1lag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279107/original/file-20190612-32321-1hx1lag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A traditionally managed lawn. There are few plant species and little structure for bugs to exploit. Spiders, for instance, have nothing to anchor their webs to.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Adam Bates</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But lawns can be made into important wildlife habitat by changing how they’re managed. This is an idea that’s gaining traction – campaigns such as “<a href="https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/children-families/say-no-to-the-mow">Say No to the Mow</a>” have made an “unkempt” garden more socially acceptable. For anyone wanting to create a wildlife lawn in their garden, there are four important steps to follow.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278972/original/file-20190611-32317-41mx0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278972/original/file-20190611-32317-41mx0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=131&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278972/original/file-20190611-32317-41mx0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278972/original/file-20190611-32317-41mx0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=131&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278972/original/file-20190611-32317-41mx0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=164&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278972/original/file-20190611-32317-41mx0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=164&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278972/original/file-20190611-32317-41mx0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=164&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Adam Bates</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>1. Cut higher</h2>
<p>The first step is simple. By raising the height that the mower blade cuts the grass to its highest setting – usually about 4 cm off the ground – you can provide more variety in the lawn’s structure and more refuge for other plant and invertebrate species. </p>
<h2>2. Include mowing gaps</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282324/original/file-20190702-126345-1kkz0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282324/original/file-20190702-126345-1kkz0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282324/original/file-20190702-126345-1kkz0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282324/original/file-20190702-126345-1kkz0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282324/original/file-20190702-126345-1kkz0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282324/original/file-20190702-126345-1kkz0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282324/original/file-20190702-126345-1kkz0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282324/original/file-20190702-126345-1kkz0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fox-and-cubs (<em>Hieracium aurantiacum</em>) help feed leafcutter bees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilosella_aurantiaca#/media/File:Hieracium_aurantiacum_LC0106.jpg">Jörg Hempel/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By mowing less often you can allow plants time to flower and provide a food source for bees and other pollinators. Leaving gaps between mowing in spring gives time for species like the <a href="https://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/plant/primula-veris">cowslip</a> to flower – a plant which has declined markedly in the UK but which butterflies like the <a href="https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/duke-of-burgundy">Duke of Burgundy depend on</a> for laying their eggs. </p>
<p>Summer gaps can allow species like <a href="https://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/plant/hypochaeris-radicata">cat’s ear</a> and <a href="https://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/plant/pilosella-aurantiaca">fox-and-cubs</a> time to flower, providing an important source of food for species of <a href="http://www.bwars.com/bee/megachilidae/megachile-centuncularis">leafcutter bee</a>. Deciding how long to wait between mowing isn’t an exact science, but can be judged by seeing whether or not the plants in your lawn have had a chance to flower. </p>
<h2>3. No fertilisers or herbicides</h2>
<p>“Weed and feeds” are used on lawns in a one-bottle mix of herbicide – used to kill non-grass species that we’d usually consider weeds – and fertiliser, to add nutrients to the soil. Herbicides reduce biodiversity by killing other species, but it may surprise you to learn that fertilisers are no friend to biodiversity either.</p>
<p>When gardening or farming, usually the more fertility in the soil the better, because this promotes greater productivity. In other words, more grass, greener grass, more flowers and larger flowers. The selective actions of the gardener or farmer to promote the target species, whether prized rose or crop, means that only the target species benefits. </p>
<p>Without this selectivity, more fertility in your lawn only favours the one or two turf species that are best able to take up nutrients and outcompete other species. So, more fertility means fewer plant species, despite the more luxuriant green colour.</p>
<h2>4. Remove the clippings</h2>
<p>Removing the grass clippings after you’ve mowed the lawn also reduces the fertility in your lawn, preventing it from becoming dominated by one or two competitive turf species. Removing and composting grass clippings will gradually remove nutrients from the soil, lowering the fertility with each cut. </p>
<p>Beyond these four steps for improving the value of your lawn to wildlife, there are other things that can be done by the more committed gardener. Leaving small areas of the lawn <a href="https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/children-families/say-no-to-the-mow">deliberately uncut</a> – such as strips at the sides or patches in the corners – can help small wildflower meadows to form. Cutting these at the end of summer will prevent them overgrowing into rank grassland with few species. </p>
<p>Wildlife value can also be added by spreading some locally-sourced wildflower seed on your lawn. If you’re <a href="https://bsbi.org/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/Code-of-Conduct-v5-final.pdf">gathering seeds from elsewhere</a>, make sure to ask permission and don’t take too much.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279112/original/file-20190612-32321-m0vspi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279112/original/file-20190612-32321-m0vspi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279112/original/file-20190612-32321-m0vspi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279112/original/file-20190612-32321-m0vspi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279112/original/file-20190612-32321-m0vspi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279112/original/file-20190612-32321-m0vspi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279112/original/file-20190612-32321-m0vspi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279112/original/file-20190612-32321-m0vspi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A single suburban wildflower lawn – multiple plant species that can flower and seed, and high structural diversity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Adam Bates</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Enjoying your wildflower lawn</h2>
<p>Wildflower lawns can have a variety of other surprising benefits, not least helping to slow global warming. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866716302692#fig0005">Some studies</a> have shown that lawns are actually sources of carbon dioxide due to the amount of energy needed to power the mower and manufacture “weed and feeds”. Reducing how often you mow, not applying “weed and feeds” and even using a manual lawn mower can change your lawn from a carbon source to a carbon sink. </p>
<p>Having taller vegetation in your lawn shades the ground, thereby reducing evaporation from the soil and <a href="https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080107235924/http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Environmentandgreenerliving/Greenergarden/DG_064410">reducing the need for sprinklers and hosepipes</a>. Less mowing means less work to do and more time for you to enjoy watching the bees gathering nectar and pollen from your wildflower lawn. </p>
<p>Wildflower lawns, with spikes of colourful flowers and attendant bees, at least to my eyes, are far prettier than a carpet of grass, whether it’s stripy or not. Grass – especially when not in flower – is the most aesthetically boring part of a grassland. The species that have traditionally been disregarded as “weeds” are far more interesting.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/imagine-newsletter-researchers-think-of-a-world-with-climate-action-113443?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=Imagineheader1117482">Click here to subscribe to our climate action newsletter. Climate change is inevitable. Our response to it isn’t.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117482/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Bates does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Wildflowers, bees and butterflies – your lawn is a vibrant ecosystem waiting to be unleashed.Adam Bates, Senior Lecturer in Applied Ecology, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1038192019-07-01T10:51:31Z2019-07-01T10:51:31ZControlling weeds on playing fields, parks and lawns without herbicides<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281667/original/file-20190627-76705-undabv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Grass surfaces require a lot of maintenance, especially in high-traffic areas.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jason Henderson</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Turfgrass covers more than 40 million acres of land in the continental United States, including lawns, parks, commercial landscapes, sports fields and golf courses. It is the <a href="https://www.isprs.org/proceedings/XXXVI/8-W27/milesi.pdf">single largest irrigated crop in the nation</a>. </p>
<p>Turfgrasses are grass species with qualities that make them well suited for these uses. They tolerate frequent mowing, withstand intense traffic and form dense, uniform surfaces. They create places to play sports or relax outdoors; reduce soil erosion; reduce dust and mud problems around homes, schools and businesses; and <a href="https://www.turfresearch.org/pdf/2014/Role%20of%20Turf%20in%20Environmental%20Protection%20-%20Beard%20and%20Green.pdf">create clear sight lines along highways</a>. </p>
<p>Often, however, the turfgrass industry is criticized for using significant quantities of water, fertilizer and pesticides. Pesticides have come under especially intense scrutiny as concerns increase over potential health risks.</p>
<p>In many places pesticide legislation has advanced faster than alternative pest control methods. As a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/2060635411_Jason_J_Henderson">researcher specializing in turfgrass and soil sciences</a>, I’m interested in new options and have developed a completely new method and tool for turfgrass management that kills weeds without applying chemicals. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281482/original/file-20190626-76730-lnvnqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281482/original/file-20190626-76730-lnvnqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281482/original/file-20190626-76730-lnvnqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281482/original/file-20190626-76730-lnvnqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281482/original/file-20190626-76730-lnvnqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281482/original/file-20190626-76730-lnvnqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281482/original/file-20190626-76730-lnvnqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281482/original/file-20190626-76730-lnvnqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Turfgrass treated mechanically for weeds with the Weedbine (left) and untreated (right).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jason Henderson</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Herbicides and health</h2>
<p>Americans use considerable quantities of herbicides on nonfarmlands, such as lawns, gardens, golf courses, sports fields and public parks. In 2012 such uses accounted for <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-01/documents/pesticides-industry-sales-usage-2016_0.pdf">54 million pounds of herbicide active ingredient</a> – that is, the weed-killing portion of herbicides.</p>
<p>Concerns over pesticides’ potential health impacts have been well publicized in recent years. The <a href="https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/AAP-Makes-Recommendations-to-Reduce-Children's-Exposure-to-Pesticides.aspx">American Academy of Pediatrics</a>, the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2231435/">Canadian Pediatric Society</a> and other health organizations advise limiting children’s exposure to pesticides both in utero and after birth.</p>
<p>According to these experts, children are most vulnerable to ongoing low-level doses of pesticides because they are growing and developing rapidly, and consume more food and fluids per pound of body weight than adults. They also have more frequent contact with the ground outdoors and floors indoors, and are more likely to ingest residues through frequent hand-to-mouth activity.</p>
<p>In response, Connecticut has <a href="https://www.cga.ct.gov/2007/ACT/PA/2007PA-00168-R00HB-05234-PA.htm">banned use of lawn care pesticides on school grounds</a> at public and private pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade schools. New York state has banned pesticide use on <a href="https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/41822.html">school grounds, daycare centers and athletic fields</a> through grade 12. Many U.S. municipalities have banned pesticide use in <a href="http://www.nontoxiccommunities.com/cities.html">parks, open space parcels and public rights of way</a></p>
<p>Internationally, <a href="https://www.beyondpesticides.org/assets/media/documents/infoservices/pesticidesandyou/PAYWinter2015-16web.pdf">eight of Canada’s 10 provinces have restricted use of “cosmetic” pesticides</a>. Many cities, states and nations worldwide are banning or restricting sales of <a href="https://www.baumhedlundlaw.com/toxic-tort-law/monsanto-roundup-lawsuit/where-is-glyphosate-banned/">glyphosate-based products</a> in response to ongoing concerns about this widely used herbicide’s health effects.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J7jnoU6q66Q?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Some communities are hand-weeding parks as an alternative to herbicides, but this strategy is expensive and doesn’t always work.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Alternative weed control</h2>
<p>Simply mowing correctly, at the proper blade height and frequency, prevents many weeds from establishing and competing with desirable grasses. But some species persist, including dandelion, clover and common plantain, frustrating homeowners and professional turfgrass managers – especially people who choose not to use pesticides or are legally barred from using them.</p>
<p>Controlling weeds in turfgrass is about more than aesthetics, particularly on sports fields. Weeds don’t tolerate foot traffic as well as turfgrasses, so they die first on heavily used surfaces such as athletic fields, leaving bare spots in high-traffic zones. As vegetative cover decreases, <a href="https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/cs/pdfs/54/4/1838">surfaces become harder</a>, increasing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0363546506286866">athletes’ risk of injuries</a>. In lawn areas, voids left where weeds die are vulnerable to increased surface runoff and soil erosion.</p>
<p>Current pesticide-free weed control alternatives are very limited, largely ineffective and expensive, or have undesirable side effects. For example, iron-based alternative herbicides can drastically – although temporarily – darken turfgrass, which is an issue in settings such as lawns, gardens and parks. Repeat applications are also often required.</p>
<p>In our research, we have found that aggressively overseeding – applying grass seed over an existing field at high rates – is the most effective way to significantly <a href="http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=US201500054038">reduce weeds on sports fields</a>. But this approach does little for well-established, mature weeds, and it has minimal effectiveness in low-traffic portions of the playing surface. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280591/original/file-20190620-149814-d83l6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280591/original/file-20190620-149814-d83l6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280591/original/file-20190620-149814-d83l6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280591/original/file-20190620-149814-d83l6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280591/original/file-20190620-149814-d83l6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280591/original/file-20190620-149814-d83l6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280591/original/file-20190620-149814-d83l6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280591/original/file-20190620-149814-d83l6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Weeds on turf fields are damaged faster than the grass, which leads to bare spots and soil compaction and can increase injury risks for athletes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gina Henderson</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A new approach</h2>
<p>Instead of cutting grass with rotating blades like a mower, the device I am developing, the Weedbine, pulls turfgrasses and weeds through a sieve-like metal device. Turfgrasses have slender, resilient leaf blades, but broadleaf weeds have larger, thicker leaves, which are either pulled off or badly damaged as the device passes over them. Once a weed’s leaf tissue is damaged, it has little or no ability to absorb the Sun’s energy and produce carbohydrates.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FaK_985pfNw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Weedbine works by physically damaging the leaves of broadleaf weeds, preventing the plants from photosynthesizing and growing.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Weedbine is designed to be used routinely – say, once a week, either before or at the same time that turfgrass fields are mowed. This will ensure that as soon as damaged weeds produce new leaf tissue, it will be damaged or removed again in another round of treatment. The weeds thus have to continually rely on carbohydrate reserves in their root system for regrowth, and eventually will use up these stores and die. </p>
<p>Using the Weedbine weekly immediately reduces weed cover, but more mature weeds will recover week to week. Many factors influence how long it takes to achieve control, including turfgrass quality, soil quality, weed species, and weed maturity and density.</p>
<p>Results show that selective mechanical weed control is very effective when used weekly for common turfgrass weeds such as dandelion, as well as traditionally hard-to-control weeds such as clover and ground ivy. Many homeowners and groundskeepers already mow routinely and can easily be trained to use a Weedbine. </p>
<p>As we progress toward commercialization, we are assessing ways to integrate the Weedbine with a mower to meet the needs of professional turfgrass managers and homeowners. Our goal is to provide effective, reliable weed control for people who choose not to use herbicides, are legally forbidden from using them or want to expand their current strategies for minimizing pesticide use.</p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103819/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Henderson consults for private industry and is the owner of Green Agronomics LLC, which is developing products related to research discussed in this article. He also receives funding from state, regional and national turfgrass foundations including federal granting agencies. </span></em></p>Weeds are serious problems on sports fields, parks and other sites covered with turfgrass. A new strategy uses mechanical force to kill them instead of chemical herbicides.Jason Henderson, Associate Professor of Turfgrass and Soil Sciences, University of ConnecticutLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/720442017-03-06T02:18:02Z2017-03-06T02:18:02ZWhy artificial turf may truly be bad for kids<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156241/original/image-20170209-8646-8j5v4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Soccer player on artificial turf. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/synthetic-soccer-field-467227091?src=9j3C6qf-X6FT0S9dElf_bw-1-40">From www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you want to get a soccer mom’s attention, bring up the subject of artificial turf, the preferred playing surface for children from pre-K to college – or at least preferred by school boards and parks and recreation departments.</p>
<p>From concerns about <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12394868">concussions</a> to <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/27/health/artificial-turf-cancer-study-profile/">cancer</a>, parents have become alarmed by reports in the media of increased injuries and illnesses. </p>
<p>And there is the further question of who is responsible for assuring the safety of these fields: the <a href="https://www.epa.gov">Environmental Protection Agency</a>? The <a href="https://www.cpsc.gov">Centers for Disease Control</a>? The<a href="https://www.cpsc.gov"> Consumer Product Safety Commission</a>? </p>
<p>As an environmental health professor who has examined a variety of environmental problems and as a soccer dad who watched my son play on these fields for years, I think it’s worth examining the facts and myths about artificial turf fields and what hazards may or may not be associated with playing on them. Based on studies I have reviewed and conducted, I believe there is a potential health risk, because of the chemicals in tires, which are recycled into crumbs to support the plastic blades of synthetic grass.</p>
<h2>Just what is it, anyway?</h2>
<p>Artificial turf is made up of three major parts: </p>
<ol>
<li>Backing material that will serve to hold the individual blades of artificial grass.</li>
<li>The plastic blades themselves.</li>
<li>The infill, those tiny black crumbs, that helps support the blades.</li>
</ol>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155703/original/image-20170206-18529-18ehj5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155703/original/image-20170206-18529-18ehj5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155703/original/image-20170206-18529-18ehj5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155703/original/image-20170206-18529-18ehj5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155703/original/image-20170206-18529-18ehj5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155703/original/image-20170206-18529-18ehj5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155703/original/image-20170206-18529-18ehj5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The crumbs of artificial turf.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Various pigments are used to provide the green color of the blades. These can include lead or titanium for the white lines and still other metals for school logos on the field.</p>
<p>Those little black crumbs are the problems. Tires can be toxic.</p>
<p>Modern tires <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/greener-tires/">are a mixture</a> of natural and synthetic rubber, carbon black – a material made from petroleum – and somewhere between four and 10 gallons of petroleum products. They also contain metals, including cadmium, lead, which is neurotoxic, and zinc. </p>
<p>Some of the chemicals in tires, such as dibenzopyrenes, are known <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22352997">carcinogens</a>. </p>
<p>Also, in addition to chemicals used in the manufacture of the tire, any chemical the tires were exposed to in their use can become absorbed on the carbon black in the tires. </p>
<h2>More to the problem than crumbs</h2>
<p>Even though artificial turf does not have to be mowed,<br>
it turns out that <a href="http://www.simpleturf.com/artificial-lawn-turf-maintenance-warranty/">crabgrass and other weeds</a> can start growing in it. To keep its finely manicured appearance, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/what-to-know-before-you-spray-your-lawn-with-pesticides/2014/07/07/77d719a2-f63c-11e3-a606-946fd632f9f1_story.html?utm_term=.763d7c159726">weedkillers</a> need to be applied, a relatively common practice. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, a variety of <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/weed-whacking-herbicide-p/">health concerns</a> have been linked to these products.</p>
<p>Also, artificial turf is often treated with biocides, as turf has been associated with increased risk of infections from Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mrsa/">MRSA</a> is a dangerous infection because it is resistant to many antibiotics. It can lead to pneumonia, sepsis and bloodstream infections that can prove fatal. An MRSA infection can happen after skin is scraped or cut, which can occur from sliding on artificial turf.</p>
<p>Biocides, however,<a href="https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1476-069X-9-7"> may have toxic effects of their own</a>. And, they may also contribute to increased resistance of bacteria to the efficacy of these agents. </p>
<h2>The list of drawbacks goes on…and on…</h2>
<p>Fields with artificial turf tend to get far hotter than grass fields. <a href="http://plantscience.psu.edu/research/centers/ssrc/documents/temperature.pdf">Field surface temperatures</a> can reach as high as 200 degrees Fahrenheit. At these temperatures, even with athletic shoes on, children can get burned feet. It is rare, even on a very hot day, that natural grass exceeds half that (100°F).</p>
<p>While manufacturers recommend spraying fields with water to keep the temperature down, this improvement can vanish in as little as 20 minutes.</p>
<p>Because it is laid over either concrete or compacted earth, artificial turf is a harder surface than grass. This can increase the risk of injuries, particularly concussions.</p>
<p>The unit used to describe hardness is <a href="http://plantscience.psu.edu/research/centers/turf/extension/factsheets/playing-surfaces/gmax">Gmax</a>. While different numbers have been reported for the Gmax for artificial turf, ranging from the high 60’s to over 125, it is important to keep in mind that these numbers are highly dependent on the substrate, temperature, age and maintenance of the field. The key is that the higher the number, the higher the likelihood of concussion. </p>
<h2>Can the tire chemicals get into kids?</h2>
<p>The key question on exposure is: Do these chemicals get into children playing on these fields? </p>
<p>While it is true that the tire crumbs are large, it is easy to show that they don’t necessarily remain large over the life of the field. <a href="http://www.nj.gov/dep/dsr/publications/artificial-turf-report.pdf">In a New Jersey study</a> we employed a robot we call <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4311520/">PIPER</a> (Pretoddler Inhalable Particulate Environmental Robotic) to study if there were inhalable exposures from the artificial turf. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155035/original/image-20170131-3285-t8fxn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155035/original/image-20170131-3285-t8fxn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155035/original/image-20170131-3285-t8fxn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155035/original/image-20170131-3285-t8fxn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155035/original/image-20170131-3285-t8fxn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155035/original/image-20170131-3285-t8fxn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155035/original/image-20170131-3285-t8fxn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155035/original/image-20170131-3285-t8fxn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">PIPER collecting air sample on artificial turf field.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Personal photo</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We showed the tiny particles from the turf can become suspended in air above the field and inhaled by children playing on the field. What has become apparent is that <a href="http://www2.mst.dk/udgiv/publications/2008/978-87-7052-866-5/html/images/fig6_1.jpg">microscopic carbon black particles</a> break off from the crumb rubber and are small enough to be inhalable. Additionally, the blades of grass can also break down into microscopic particles over years of exposure to sunlight and weather, forming a respirable dust. </p>
<p>How do these particles get into a child? </p>
<p>Think of the “Peanuts” comic strip character Pig Pen, the child always followed around by a visible cloud. The truth is that all children – indeed, all people – have a cloud around them of microscopic particles. This personal micro-environment of dust particles, invisible to the naked eye, is just as real as Pig Pen’s. </p>
<p>These small particles and their chemicals can be inhaled or swallowed by a child.</p>
<h2>And if so, do they cause illness?</h2>
<p>A clear answer on whether artificial turf increases the risk of injury or illness is far more challenging. </p>
<p>Let’s consider the two major concerns with regard to artificial turf: cancer and neurologic effects. </p>
<p>The question of cancer and artificial turf gained significant national attention in the U.S. with a series of news stories on NBC Nightly News regarding a cluster of cancers in <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/artificial-turf-debate/how-safe-artificial-turf-your-child-plays-n220166">young women soccer players</a>. </p>
<p>A cancer cluster is the appearance of an unusually high rate of cancer in one location in a particular time frame. The story, while dismissed by the turf industry, again resurfaced in the <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/artificial-turf-debate/mom-cancer-stricken-soccer-player-wants-answers-artificial-turf-n435146">fall of 2015</a>. </p>
<p>Information has continued to accrue on this cancer <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/cancer-clusters-fact-sheet#q1">cluster</a>. While as many as <a href="https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/general-info/cancer-clusters.html">80 percent of suspected cancer clusters are determined not to be true increases in cancer cases</a> and due only to random chance, the problem is that, without detailed and often expensive scientific investigation, whether it is real or not cannot be determined. </p>
<p>Just recently the <a href="http://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/Pubs/210-091.pdf">Washington State Department of Health issued a report</a> on its study of the reported cancer cluster in these soccer players. Their report found no evidence of a causal effect of playing on artificial turf and cancer. As they acknowledge, that does not mean there is no risk, only that this study did not find one. They also suggested there is still room for broader investigation on this question.</p>
<p>What about the potential risk of neurologic impairment from ingestion or inhalation of any lead present in the turf? The lead can be present in both the blades, as a color pigment for logos and white lines, as well as in the infill crumb rubber. For more information on lead, see <a href="https://theconversation.com/toxic-lead-can-stay-in-the-body-for-years-after-exposure-53607">my earlier article for The Conversation</a>.</p>
<h2>What’s the bottom line on safety?</h2>
<p>While the turf <a href="http://www.fieldturf.com/en/innovation/research-and-studies">industry says it’s safe</a>, we know that <a href="http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/publications/Documents/Tires%5C43296029.pdf">tires</a> contain established carcinogens. If we considered only what tires are made of, we would think they should be classified as hazardous waste, though currently EPA classifies tires as municipal waste. </p>
<p>The EPA has been conducting research into the question of <a href="https://www.epa.gov/chemical-research/tire-crumb-questions-and-answers">toxicity of crumb rubber</a>, but the jury is still out.</p>
<p>There is little question in the mind of many scientists that crumb rubber should not be a first choice material for children to play on. Parents should be able to just enjoy watching their children playing sports and not worry that they are being put unnecessarily at risk.</p>
<p><em>A correction was made to this article March 23, 2017 to accurately describe MRSA, which is Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, not Multi-drug Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, as was originally stated. In addition, MRSA is not flesh-eating bacteria. It can cause serious consequences, including sepsis and bloodstream infections.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72044/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stuart Shalat received funding from New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.</span></em></p>Artificial turf has become popular for kids’ sports as well as for professional players. The little black crumbs that help support the blades of fake grass may not be so harmless.Stuart Shalat, Professor and Director of the Division of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Georgia State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/517342016-02-03T01:35:58Z2016-02-03T01:35:58ZAdventures on the lawn: sex, death, democracy and rebellion<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105993/original/image-20151215-23198-1w94xt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C900%2C600&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">To lawn or not to lawn, that is the question</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sniecikowski/8974675852">sniecikowski</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the long, languid, lounging days of summer envelop us, thoughts often turn to the lawn for relief. The lawn has long epitomised the cool retreat from the heat of the day and rejection of the workaday grind, experienced best through bare-footed or flat-backed engagement.</p>
<p>The word itself, which is derived from the 16th Century Old French <em>laund</em> meaning “glade”, both invokes and invites us into a cool and restful state. In contemporary terms, the lawn is treated as a benign but inseparable complement to the garden.</p>
<p>But, as the sweltering sun continues to bake the ground, we can’t avoid questions of how we should think about, interact with, and treat our lawns. And, as it turns out, these questions are far from trivial.</p>
<h2>A short history</h2>
<p>Lancelot “Capability” Brown was an 18th century landscape gardener, known as the “improver”. Inspired by idyllic 16th and 17th century European landscape paintings, Brown accommodated the English nobility in transforming vast swathes of English countryside into immense sweeps of lawn, punctuated by clumps of trees and “antique” follies. The lawn provided the stage for the country house and the illusion of a boundless estate.</p>
<p>Such efforts improved the prospect of the landholder by distancing him from the meanness of everyday village life. They were further supported by social and governmental policies of exclusion.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105980/original/image-20151215-23179-c195yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105980/original/image-20151215-23179-c195yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105980/original/image-20151215-23179-c195yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105980/original/image-20151215-23179-c195yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105980/original/image-20151215-23179-c195yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105980/original/image-20151215-23179-c195yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105980/original/image-20151215-23179-c195yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many English manors, such as 17th century Dyrham Park, were adorned with great swathes of lawn.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/75487768@N04/7178283045">75487768@N04/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Through the 18th century, the lawned English public park became a stage for the democratic mingling of classes. It also served as a driver of the “improvement” of working class health and manners – a process not ironically referred to as “civilising”.</p>
<p>Across the Atlantic, New York’s Central Park was designed based on these ideals, and the unfenced and undifferentiated front lawn of the suburbs became the symbol of American democracy and egalitarianism.</p>
<h2>Lawn: nature under culture’s boot</h2>
<p>In his book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Second-Nature-A-Gardeners-Education/dp/0802140114">Second Nature</a>, Michael Pollan refers to the “egalitarian conceit” of the American lawn as a puritanical expression of the ideal of shared neighbourly spaces and social progress. But for Pollan “however democratic a lawn may be with respect to one’s neighbours, with respect to nature it is authoritarian” - the lawn is “nature under culture’s boot.”</p>
<p>The often monocultural (ie one species of grass) nature of lawns, which embodies the lush cool retreat for most of us, represents for Pollan “nature purged of sex and death”. Lawn species are never allowed to set seed. Instead, to maintain the vivid and enticing swathe of turf, they have been mowed by a variety of methods across the ages from grazing beasts and the laborious hand scythe, to animal and human mechanised machines.</p>
<p>This is not to argue for the wholesale abolition of lawn. As Emma Marris points out in her book, <a href="http://emmamarris.com/?page_id=17">Rambunctious Garden</a>, we tend to be blinded by the “pervasive and [often] unquestioned assumption that the wild is always better than the tame” - but why should this necessarily be so?</p>
<p>Instead, we raise the question of how we might approach the lawn differently. It is a call for a quiet rebellion against the orthodoxy of the lawn – the seeking out of other opportunities in the cultivation of lawns that can offer a greater sense of adventure.</p>
<h2>Treating our lawns better</h2>
<p>Lawns are typically composed of grass species that can grow as high as a metre with the potential to produce exquisite seed heads complementing many garden styles. Yet, under our boots — through mowing, irrigation, and fertilising — these seed heads and the reproductive cycles associated with them are routinely denied. Variations of all three cultivation practices can bring about positive change.</p>
<p>Lawn depends on both water and nutrients to grow. Somewhat counter-intuitively, constant close mowing also stimulates grass to grow faster, creating the need for more watering and hence greater levels of fertilising. </p>
<p>Raising the blade height on the mower slows down the rate of growth of lawn resulting in a need for less mowing, watering, and fertilising. It also allows the potential for some grass species to set seed.</p>
<p>Of course, this also leads to lawn with a slightly more unkempt or shaggy appearance. If this is a step too far down the path of adventure, lawns can be selectively and seductively mown in relation to timing, season, or function.</p>
<p>“Corduroy” mowing involves summer mowing in long strips to create lanes. The mowed lanes offer great running tracks for kids while the un-mown turf flows, flowers, seeds, and dies off to a rustling autumn hue – a wilderness of sex and death with space for adventure.</p>
<p>At the end of each autumn a couple of mows over the lawn starts the process all over again. In similar ways, these lanes can provide navigation around larger gardens by simply mowing pathways through the turf across the spring and summer seasons.</p>
<p>Similarly, we can be strategic about the way we irrigate and fertilise our lawn. Edges and boundaries can be created by the careful distribution of fertilisers and the application of water. We might choose to create and maintain a lush area with high watering, fertiliser application, and constant close mowing, whilst we encourage other adjacent areas to be freer and reflect seasonal changes more closely.</p>
<p>Augmenting and over-planting the lawn with a range of complementary species is also a great opportunity to explore lawn beyond the usual green swathe. Cornflowers, dwarf gladioli, native grasses, and a range of free flowering annuals and perennials are perfect for the challenges of exploring the possibilities in the lawn - creating a curious space between the garden, the meadow, and the lawn.</p>
<p>This is why contemporary Parisian park lawns often appear shaggy and a little unkempt - the democratic meadow par excellence.</p>
<p>The benefits of reduced lawn mowing include cost, time, and energy, while staggered mowing engages with nature’s cycles of sex and death to add a slice of adventure to any existing landscape — a simple act of rebellion. If only life was so easy in a similar manner, what joy!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/51734/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As summer rolls on once again you’re despairing at a brown lawn. Perhaps you should embrace a shabbier backyard.Jock Gilbert, Lecturer in Landscape Architecture, RMIT UniversityMichael Howard, Lecturer in Landscape Architecture, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/439872015-07-22T10:25:54Z2015-07-22T10:25:54ZFrom kitsch to Park Avenue: the cultural history of the plastic pink flamingo<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89235/original/image-20150721-24266-cl7ae4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Don Featherstone, the creator of the iconic lawn ornament, died in June.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/breatheindigital/4844566639">Ryan Hyde/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1957, a 21-year-old art school graduate named Don Featherstone created his second major design for the Massachusetts-based lawn and garden decoration manufacturer Union Products: a three-dimensional plastic pink flamingo propped up by two thin, metal legs that could be plunged into soft dirt. </p>
<p>Featherstone’s duck and flamingo ornaments sold in pairs for US$2.76, and were advertised as “Plastics for the Lawn.” They became simultaneously popular and derided in the late 1950s and remain a recognizable species of American material culture. </p>
<p>Featherstone died this past June, but over five decades after he submitted his design, the plastic pink flamingo continues to grace American lawns and homes. While many are quick to label the plastic ornament as the epitome of kitsch, the flamingo has actually taken a rather tumultuous flight through an ever-changing landscape of taste and class. </p>
<h2>A product of its time</h2>
<p>All three of the ornament’s basic elements – plastic material, pink color and the flamingo design – have a particular relevance to the late 1950s. </p>
<p>The year 1957 was the year of Elvis Presley’s Jailhouse Rock and the ‘57 Chevy, of popular plastic toys like Wham-O’s hula hoop and the Frisbee – all icons of midcentury nostalgia. The late 1950s also witnessed the solidification of a commodity-driven suburban way of life, along with a host of new anxieties over class and status.</p>
<p>In the postwar era, cheap, sturdy and versatile plastics were becoming an increasingly popular material for mass-produced commercial products, from Tupperware to <a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/88/b9/18/88b918f0bc425257774e8baf0710acaf.jpg">Model 500 rotary phones</a>. </p>
<p>Design historian Jeffrey Meikle <a href="http://www.amazon.com/American-Plastic-A-Cultural-History/dp/0813522358">discusses</a> how this era was referred to as “a new Rococo marked by extravagance, excess, and vulgarity.” Many design and cultural critics pilloried plastic for its ability to easily depart from established design principles, though consumers and manufacturers kept the craze going. </p>
<p>The fad was clearly waning by the 1960s. In a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSxihhBzCjk">famous scene</a> from The Graduate, actor Dustin Hoffman expresses disillusionment in the “great future in plastics.”</p>
<p>And then there’s the color pink. Art historian Karal Ann Marling <a href="http://www.amazon.com/As-Seen-TV-Culture-Everyday/dp/0674048830">explains</a> that in the 1950s, pink was perceived as “young, daring – and omnisexual.” She points out that popular celebrities like Mamie Eisenhower, Jayne Mansfield and Elvis Presley loved to incorporate pink in their wardrobes, their bedroom decor and – in the case of Elvis – their cars.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89052/original/image-20150720-12564-yhvr4e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89052/original/image-20150720-12564-yhvr4e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89052/original/image-20150720-12564-yhvr4e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89052/original/image-20150720-12564-yhvr4e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89052/original/image-20150720-12564-yhvr4e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89052/original/image-20150720-12564-yhvr4e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89052/original/image-20150720-12564-yhvr4e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Elvis Presley’s famous pink Cadillac is on display in Graceland’s Auto Museum in Memphis, Tennessee.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/string_bass_dave/16646459132/in/photolist-rmZsm5-cMJabq-cMJmv9-5XBmH1-5Xx7hX-5Xx7zp-cMJbhY-cMJn4b-cMJkm3-cMJ69q-kWDd1-cMHWfJ-cMJ3VG-cMHXi3-cMJgiJ-cMJbSo-4tvzhq-cMHYus-cMJ9mw-cMJ1YL-cMHZ7S-cMJ7mf-vLVVYW-dPnu8K-7u6Mod-N54Xm-cMJ2CL-34nBMx-N54Xq-cMJduL-cMJf8d-cMJ81o-cMJe3C-cMJiLh-cMJeA7-HTP37-5oRpLy-cNsqcJ-cMJ1hy-7MdjuN-4L2Jvq-8E9kXt-68ZTHy-8E1qkf-mHQhx-xZi2w-8E1q8j-teZmk-2EKPVo-dPt88o">David Brossard/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Featherstone’s design wasn’t the first time flamingos swooped into American culture, either. In fact, Americans had long cherished the exotic bird, native to the Caribbean and parts of South America, and this love affair came to a head in 1957 with an explosion in popularity of Caribbean culture. </p>
<p>Caribbean-American pop star Harry Belafonte’s album Calypso, which contained the hit single <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMigXnXMhQ4">Banana Boat Song (Day-O)</a>, dominated the Billboard charts in 1956. And as a <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=BVQEAAAAMBAJ&source=gbs_all_issues_r&cad=1">1957 LIFE Magazine cover story</a> attests, Americans were flocking to Caribbean resorts in record numbers.</p>
<p>Jennifer Price wrote the most comprehensive essay on the plastic pink flamingo in her book Flight Maps. She <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Maps-Adventures-Nature-America/dp/0465024866">details</a> how 19th-century European and American settlers hunted flamingos to extinction in Florida. </p>
<p>But as the state drew wealthy vacationers in the 1910s and 1920s, resort owners imported the pink birds to populate their grounds. They even named Miami Beach’s first luxury hotel “The Flamingo.” Soon, Florida and these exotic-looking birds became synonymous with wealth and leisure. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89220/original/image-20150721-24286-t007g9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89220/original/image-20150721-24286-t007g9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89220/original/image-20150721-24286-t007g9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89220/original/image-20150721-24286-t007g9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89220/original/image-20150721-24286-t007g9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89220/original/image-20150721-24286-t007g9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89220/original/image-20150721-24286-t007g9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Florida postcard from the 1940s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/8006283904">Boston Public Library/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As the century progressed, the development of interstate highways and a rise in disposable income made Florida a practical destination for middle-class and working-class families. Vacation spots made accessible by the Interstate Highway System cashed in on the style and flair of the Caribbean fad. The flamingo was now associated with a region that was both exotic <em>and</em> affordable.</p>
<h2>Out in the wild</h2>
<p>Despite the plastic pink flamingo’s resonance with so many things 1957, the ornament was almost instantly ridiculed as kitsch, which was a particularly damning designation given its habitat: the American lawn. </p>
<p>As one of the few outward social spaces in the privacy-obsessed architecture of suburbia, lawns were (<a href="http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/kaufmana/downloads/Kaufman%20Lawn.pdf">and still are</a>) subject to extreme social pressure. They were perceived as both a symbol of the American dream and a productive way to spend one’s newfound leisure time. </p>
<p>However, “Keeping up with the Joneses” was less about outspending your neighbor than it was about conformity and maintaining appearances. The preferred look of middle class lawns was well-manicured and free of ornament, with flowers abutting the house. </p>
<p>To homeowners’ associations, the plastic pink flamingo’s bright color and synthetic material was an affront to the middle-class yearning for sophistication (though a piece of pink plastic is no less “natural” than a lawn maintained by DDT and Miracle-Gro).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89237/original/image-20150721-24261-1l2xzdy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89237/original/image-20150721-24261-1l2xzdy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89237/original/image-20150721-24261-1l2xzdy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89237/original/image-20150721-24261-1l2xzdy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89237/original/image-20150721-24261-1l2xzdy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89237/original/image-20150721-24261-1l2xzdy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89237/original/image-20150721-24261-1l2xzdy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Get off my lawn.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&searchterm=plastic%20flamingo&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=111072848">'Pug' via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A cultural migration</h2>
<p>On the other hand – as Jennifer Price points out – working-class consumers tended to express themselves differently, favoring loud, playful and decorative schemes for their homes and lawn. </p>
<p>Flamingos sprouting from small lawns in Catholic neighborhoods seemed less out of place among concrete Virgin Mary statues and tiny St Francis fountains. </p>
<p>In the 1950s, publications like LIFE propagated a narrowly defined definition of middle class style and taste. So the display of the plastic pink flamingo in the 1950s and 1960s was perhaps not mere unsophisticated kitsch, but rather an overt rejection of the “middle-brow striving for the high-brow” lawn aesthetic. </p>
<p>While cultural critics like Gillo Dorfles have <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kitsch-The-World-Bad-Taste/dp/0876631065">maintained</a> that lawn decorations like garden gnomes and sculptured animals were an “archetypal image conjured up by the word ‘kitsch,’” a younger generation saw the plastic pink flamingo as a rebellion against the “stay normal” pressures of postwar suburbia. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89219/original/image-20150721-24286-6fc3nk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89219/original/image-20150721-24286-6fc3nk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89219/original/image-20150721-24286-6fc3nk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89219/original/image-20150721-24286-6fc3nk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89219/original/image-20150721-24286-6fc3nk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1180&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89219/original/image-20150721-24286-6fc3nk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1180&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89219/original/image-20150721-24286-6fc3nk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1180&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">John Waters’ 1972 film Pink Flamingos: ‘an American trash comedy classic.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/52667842@N04/9095335535/in/photolist-dD8epj-oLk6dr-8JBoc3-jWMt7F-66M7W5-oRTuAn-7cYJG9-pWy4GE-6KxzrG-7cYEhU-eRHYnV-auX9CB-ak8GTG-58yZf2-yvd6G-7k83jY-4VdCbh-7XNuCa">00anders/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Their camp appropriation of the plastic pink flamingos crossed the boundaries of good and bad taste, making <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069089/">Pink Flamingos</a> a fitting title for John Waters’ 1972 transgressive film about two contenders for the title “filthiest person alive.” </p>
<p>Eventually, this transgressive power began to also wane, and the product faced possible extinction in the early 2000s due to the rising cost of oil. </p>
<p>Luckily the flock has survived (you can still purchase a pair for around $20 on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Union-Products-62360-Featherstone-Flamingos/dp/B00XZ6XHDS?">Amazon</a>). Today plastic pink flamingos have even been spotted gracing planters on a brownstone off Park Avenue in Manhattan, illustrating just how far the bird has migrated among American classes and tastes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/43987/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Annie Dell'Aria does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Through the years, the iconic lawn dweller has migrated across a range of tastes.Annie Dell'Aria, PhD candidate in Art History, City University of New YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/409392015-05-25T12:43:06Z2015-05-25T12:43:06ZIn a time of drought, a call to rethink lawns<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82304/original/image-20150519-30498-627blh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The de-greening of America. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&searchterm=Green%20lawns%20grass&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=71264710">Dudarev Mikhail/Shutterstock </a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is part of The Conversation’s series on drought. You can read the rest of the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/living-with-drought">here</a>.</em></p>
<p>As geographer David Lowenthal writes, “Landscapes are formed by landscape tastes.” The lawn – ideally green and lush – is a fundamental component of American landscape taste.</p>
<p>That’s becoming an increasingly expensive taste. Drought-stricken regions such as California are trying to <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-21/california-mandatory-water-restrictions-pit-crops-versus-lawns">restrict water</a> use by residents, and that puts a target on the lawn. But Americans are wedded to the green, even if some resort to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/25/us/turf-means-some-california-lawns-require-no-water.html">artificial lawns</a> and other water-saving alternatives. </p>
<p>Prying the lawnmower out of the hands of suburbanites will not be an easy task.</p>
<p>The lawn, front yard and back, is a national product, available on shelves, advertised in brochures and modeled on streets everywhere. </p>
<h2>The lawns that bind us together</h2>
<p>In a country of the United States’ scale and diversity, we have constructed landscapes to bind us together, mechanisms to create a cohesion of comfort despite our dispersed geography. The ways are many, from shared goods to television shows. In this drama, landscape forms a ground of experience that provides identity, structure and meaning. </p>
<p>The lawn is the American garden, and grass is the nation’s largest crop. At the block level, front yards create continuous greenswards. The individual increments of lawn coalesce and their effects multiply. Like actions in our homes or automobiles, any individual change in this domain has only modest impact. But collectively, multiplied by millions, the effects are enormous. </p>
<p>Much of American landscape taste is part of an Anglo-American tradition. The aristocratic residents of English and later American estates idealized the vision of great swaths of grass, maintained by sheep and scythe.</p>
<p>In the 13th century, <a href="http://www.wildarum.co.uk/Blog/files/albertus-magnus.html">Albert Magnus</a> wrote, “Nothing refreshes the sight so pleasantly as fresh mown grass.” The invention of the lawnmower by Edwin Budding in 1830 democratized that ideal for the middle class, and the lawn became a key component of suburban domesticity. </p>
<h2>The promotion of a lawn aesthetic</h2>
<p>In 1897, a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) agronomist wrote that “nothing is more beautiful than a well kept lawn.” But the taste has deep roots. Lawns are stylized meadows with an association to pastoral traditions, images and ideals. In the 20th century, a lawn aesthetic was <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/1181477?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">promulgated </a>through publications and government agencies and fostered by a lawn industry. They promoted the aesthetic of the perfect lawn: a monoculture of grass kept green year-round, lush, soft to the step, uniformly mowed and weed-free.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82306/original/image-20150519-30533-1ktkoil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82306/original/image-20150519-30533-1ktkoil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82306/original/image-20150519-30533-1ktkoil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82306/original/image-20150519-30533-1ktkoil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82306/original/image-20150519-30533-1ktkoil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82306/original/image-20150519-30533-1ktkoil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82306/original/image-20150519-30533-1ktkoil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lawns create yard waste.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-59131393/stock-photo-ride-on-lawn-mower-cutting-grass-focus-on-grasses-in-the-air.html?src=5aYeT-7sVPwmqnM1tyZkXQ-1-39">Evgeniya Moroz/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The ideal begins to sound venomous when we are confronted with facts such as: grass clippings account for three-quarters of all yard waste and are the second largest source of solid waste in the nation, according to the authors of <a href="http://yalepress.yale.edu/book.asp?isbn=9780300086942">Redesigning the American Lawn.</a> Change seems improbable with the realization that turf grass is a US$25 billion industry, lawn care over $6 billion and hundreds of thousand of livelihoods are dependent on landscape care and maintenance. </p>
<p>Surely we are victims (typically willing), but popular taste is powerful and not easily changed. Lawns satisfy deep desires and are a commonplace pleasure, but they are an ecological disaster, and a green lawn in places of drought is a perverse waste of a precious resource, water. </p>
<p>American have been called <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/our-love-affair-with-lawns-66994201/?no-ist">lawnoholics</a>, but it is moderation, not abstinence, that is called for. There are alternatives.</p>
<p>The impervious surface of the artificial lawn, <a href="http://www.astroturf.com">Astroturf,</a> created not from soil and seed but petrochemicals, is not one of those alternatives. Ultimately, it necessitates a change in our landscape tastes. A new aesthetic along with a new ecological awareness arises in concert.</p>
<h2>The shift to a new front-yard aesthetic</h2>
<p>Nationally, front yards and sidewalk planting strips have given way to vegetable and ornamental gardens. Wetlands are now preserved instead of drained, and native plants often favored over exotic introductions. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82305/original/image-20150519-30538-8s8qlh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82305/original/image-20150519-30538-8s8qlh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82305/original/image-20150519-30538-8s8qlh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82305/original/image-20150519-30538-8s8qlh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82305/original/image-20150519-30538-8s8qlh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82305/original/image-20150519-30538-8s8qlh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82305/original/image-20150519-30538-8s8qlh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82305/original/image-20150519-30538-8s8qlh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A private house with a xeriscape instead of a front lawn in Hidden Meadows, California.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Xeriscape_2,_Hidden_Meadows.jpg">Downtown gal</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>The natural cycle of grass, a perennial, turning brown in the summer can join natural foods and organics as desirable, and at no cost! In dry areas, <a href="http://www.wikihow.com/Xeriscape">xeriscape </a>planting, which focuses on plantings that require little water, is an alternative.</p>
<p>In Tucson, the idealization of a green grass lawn gradually gave way to an aesthetic of desert planting, and a new landscape taste emerged. In 1991, Tucson passed an ordinance codifying xeriscape planting and permitting only small “oases” of turf and plants in need of irrigation. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.mcgillcompost.com/blog/embrace-the-freedom-lawn">Yale researchers</a> have offered a<a href="http://yalepress.yale.edu/reviews.asp?isbn=9780300086942"> “Freedom Lawn” </a>as an alternative. They do not propose abandoning the lawn, only limiting its dimensions, altering its constituent elements and modifying its maintenance. The Freedom Lawn has a diversity of plants, eschews the chemical fix and is selectively mown (preferably by hand). It respects lawn conventions. It is traditional and innovative.</p>
<p>In many ways, the Freedom Lawn is a return to medieval practice, the pleasance of the Unicorn Tapestries, with its rich variety of organic life and deep association. The name is catchy and clever, having a patriotic ring and an open-ended set of allusions. The Freedom Lawn implies a liberation from labor and community restraint, conjuring up a return to individualism and away from provincial conformity. </p>
<p>If the small fragments, the pieces that create the mosaic we call landscape, are altered, the total picture will be different.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/40939/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kenneth I Helphand does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Americans love their lawns but are lawns good for America, particularly in drought-stricken areas? A look at our grassy love affair and what might be better alternatives.Kenneth I Helphand, Professor of Landscape Architecture , University of OregonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.