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As a landscape contractor who deals with the "turf war" on a daily basis I'm happy to see the topic being discussed here. There are many different perspectives from which to look at this issue including environmental, economic, functional and aesthetics. As with most issues the solution lies somewhere in the middle and depends on your context and site situation. Our time studies have shown that removing lawn and replacing with plant material (edible or otherwise) doesn't save much in the way of time, water or fertilizer. What does though is choosing the proper turf species, proper maintenance practices and working to build soil health and biology.  On the other hand taking out lawn and replacing with plants can increase the biodiversity of your site to attract wildlife, prevent pests and disease, and also to provide food for your family.  Lawn has its place. I like to play ball with my kids on a lawn, preferably without thistles in it (I don't mind the clover though). From a design perspective, put and keep lawn where it makes sense from a functionality standpoint and use other spaces in your landscape for flowers, color, fruit, shade, entertaining, etc. Looking forward to the conversation!

Dean DeSantis

posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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