Minimal Maintenance, Eco-Friendly, Creative Lawn Alternatives

Sometimes an easier solution is a better solution. There are a number of ways to build and maintain a lawn, but if given the choice or opportunity to start from scratch, there are multiple methods of developing one’s own lawn that are both easy and sustainable.

This article (houzz - 7 Low-Maintenance Lawn Care Alternatives) outlines seven alternatives to the traditional grass lawn. While the aim of its points is to present ideas which are easier than maintaining traditional grass lawns, the end result is using far less water by volume, and far fewer mowings. Mowing with the average, gas-powered consumer lawnmower is one of the most damaging aspects of lawn maintenance, so if one can diminish the number of times a lawn needs to be mowed, perhaps the savings can be passed onto replacing the gas mower with a more economical solution like a manual mower.

Pictured: a non gas-powered lawn mowing solution

The main takeaway here is that creating and maintaining an economically-friendly lawn doesn’t necessarily have to be a lot of hard work. There are many different ways to behave and live more sustainably; hopefully, options like these can tap into a busy demographic who may be afraid that embracing sustainability equates to personal hassle. 

Alternative Eco-friendly Landscape Suggestions

Ecopol Project continues with it's alternative tips and suggestions for having the lawn you want without putting the environment at risk. While investigating alternative solutions I stumbled across a video in which horticulture expert Melinda Myers shares 5 easy steps that make environmental and financial sense. The five steps are:

• Be water wise
• Recycle yard waste in your landscape
• Make your own compost
• Manage pest in harmony with nature
• Energy wise landscape design

Melinda Myers goes into great detail with each step and will be sure to give any lawn care enthusiast a tip they can use to support your environment and ours a well.

If you would like to learn more about Melinda Myers check out her at: http://www.melindamyers.com/

Economic Impact of Landscaping and Lawncare on US Latinos

While searching the net for articles relating to the economic impact of lawn care, this interesting article came up. It appears that in the US the lawn care industry is a decent stepping stone for first generation Latino immigrants into the US. The share of Latino employment in the Landscape and Lawn Care Services Industry amounts to 2.3 percent of total Latino employment. This is 2.6 times  higher than the national average and 3.4 times higher than the share of total employment that the Landscape and Lawn Care Services Industry represents for whites.

The Landscape and Lawn Care Services Industry is very important for first - generation Latinos. Nationally, the percentage of Latino workers who are foreign - born is close to 55percent. That percentage is over 80 percent in the Landscape and Lawn Care Services Industry. By comparison, the proportion of foreign - born whites and African Americans in the Landscape and Lawn Care Services Industry is lower than in other industries.

Who is actually performing lawn care is part of the overall fabric of issues that are related to lawn care, and therefore it is interesting subject.

https://latinostudies.nd.edu/assets/95362/original/ushccnational_report_novermber_21_2011_final.pdf 

"Brown is the new green"

Want to know if someone is sustainably taking care of their lawn?

 We will find out soon enough, and we won't even have to spy on our neighbors to see what they are putting on their lawn. Once the hot and dry weather gets here we will see one of two things change. Our water bill is going to get much higher or our lawn is going to get brown. This is where the phrase "brown is the new green " comes from. For the last couple of summers in the pacific northwest we have had record heat and most of the area was in some sort of drought. Not to mention that NASA declared that 2014 was the hottest year on record for Earth. Until after 2015 when it was even hotter. Who knows what to expect for 2016. As I sit here right now we are setting another record for the warmest it has ever been on this day in April, and it was the same case for yesterday. It has been recorded that the Earth is getting hotter, which in my head, means that water is going to get more sparse and we are going to continue to have to think of more sustainable ways to live. So, why not start by just letting our lawn turn brown for a couple of months. Seems like a pretty easy task to me.

I for one will not be watering my lawn again this summer. Yes, it gets brown and doesn't look to appealing. However, believe it or not, it turns green again! Who would have thought? This VERY interesting and helpful WEBSITE can teach you ways to have a healthy lawn without damaging the environment. Enjoy.

Honey, I Killed the Bees

photo credit: pixabay.com

It's becoming very well know, honey bees are an essential part of the ecosystem. Did you know your lawn care techniques could be killing them?

Dandelions are an essential food source for honey bees. Pulling this yellow weed from your lawn reduces the available nectar a honey bee can take back to its hive. Manually eliminating this weed from your lawn is one thing but who “pulls weeds” anymore when it’s so easy to drench your lawn with herbicides and pesticides?

Let’s imagine for a moment, you have just spent all day outside pulling those pesky yellow weeds. Realizing you could avoid all of that manual labor next weekend, you simply spraying the same area.

It’s time to take a break and enjoy your beautiful lawn.

You sit down and sip your refreshing honey-sweetened tea as you notice a bee find that lone dandelion you didn’t pull but made sure to spray. This bee just harvested chemical-laced nectar he will dutifully take back to his colony to convert into more honey.

How is that tea tasting now?