You may not realize that you walk and drive by acre upon acre of the most unecologically used land in the world each day… lawns (including your own most likely).  We have been ‘sold’ on an image of a living green carpet, ‘weed free’ and lush.  You’ve seen the commercials.  Well that kind of lawn takes tons of fossil fuel to maintain in that quite unnatural state, in fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, water (transported, stored, pumped), mowing, edging, etc.  These kinds of lawns are also a major source of pollution when seasonal rains carry the toxics (herbicides & pesitcides) and fertilizers into streams and waterways.

So kick the habit.  Resist the ‘Madison Avenue’ (advertised) image of a lawn that we’ve been collectively hypnotized with.  Nature loved diversity.  Let your lawn incorporate many species of grasses and plants.  There is no such thing as a weed in nature.  The idea of ‘weed’ is a human construct.  If you prefer one species to another, dig out the less preferred one.  But don’t spread (fossil fuel intensive) toxins to kill species.  There is, in fact, no way to contain these toxins… a fact that is definitely concealed from us and downplayed by their manufacturers.

Lawns also require more water, an increasingly precious resource, to maintain than either trees or shrubs.

Let your lawn run free. Let it diversify over time.  Cut it for sure, but introduce other species, like clover, wildflowers seed mixes, etc.  Or better yet, after enough time goes by for the past applications of toxins to breakdown, turn a section of your lawn, or the whole lawn, into a lawn garden.