One frustrated homeowner on Reddit went off about all the problems with traditional grass lawns, sparking an in-depth discussion on the platform.
Although the post appeared on r/unpopularopinion, the anti-lawn stance is more popular than the original poster thought. Many people are opting for alternatives to traditional lawns, whether they're trying to save money on water and fertilizer, spend less time mowing, protect the environment from runoff, practice water conservation, grow their own vegetables, or simply enjoy the beauty and variety of a rewilded lawn from an experienced company like Yardzen.
But this Redditor was focused on the many yards in the U.S. still covered in grass. "If you do any research at all about how lawns came to be in their modern form, they basically started because some conceited European aristocrats wanted to show off that they had so much land they could afford to just waste a big portion of it," the user said. Planet Natural's history of lawns appears to back this up.
"Now instead of community gardens and water and land efficient housing, we get big ugly slabs of green that we have to cut once a week," the Redditor continued, adding that a failure to mow would bring down the wrath of their HOA. Traditionally, HOAs have enforced lawn rules to try to make the neighborhood look uniform and keep property values high — and fighting those rules can be difficult.
"All this is ignoring how awful lawns are for the local ecology," the Redditor pointed out, comparing grass lawns to monoculture farming. This is the practice of growing whole fields of just one species of crop, rather than mixing multiple types of plants. A growing body of research backs the claim about monocultures being harmful and has been shared by organizations like the European Commission.
In conclusion, the Redditor proposed some of their favorite grass alternatives. "Moss lawns and front yards full of native plants are much more interesting to look at and far better for the environment," they said.
"I've never understood why someone would have a big yard like this that's just grass," agreed one commenter. "I'm breaking ground today for a small garden so that I can harvest a few fast growing plants like lettuce and cucumbers before winter."
"If you don't like the idea of having a lawn, you should be allowed to grow fruits and vegetables there instead," said another user.
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