The Grass Isn’t Always Greener (even if it’s artificial turf)

Turf grass almost spoiled my Thanksgiving. Allow me to explain.

I drove to my grandma’s New York City apartment this Thanksgiving expecting to eat my favorite vegan loaf and watch my uncles drink one-too-many glasses of red wine. Instead, I found myself engaged in a dynamic conversation with my cousin about turf versus grass lawns. 

It all began with dessert. This Thanksgiving, my aunt dished out more than apple pie; she also dished out her excitement about the turf she recently installed to replace the grass in her backyard. 

My cousin was all in, responding quickly saying “That’s great! Turf is so much more environmentally beneficial than grass.” I answered defensively, arguing “That is so not true.” We went back and forth for who knows how long. It had never taken me this long to finish one slice of apple pie. 

My aunt, who is among the lucky few with a backyard in Manhattan, replaced her grass lawn with turf when she realized she could have the perfect lawn without the maintenance. With turf, my cousin asserted, you don’t use water or pesticides. 

Turf champions have been making these same arguments for a decade. Among other things, they see turf lawns as a way to fight drought, lower maintenance costs, and eliminate pesticide usage.

Pausing mid-bite, I panicked, suddenly doubting myself. My cousin had a point, grass lawns are far from perfect. But even grass provides greater benefits than turf, right?  I was right, right?

Despite my cousin’s enthusiasm for turf lawns, I countered her arguments with the concerns that environmental scientists and landscape architects have long raised. 

In case you ever need to engage in the contentious grass versus turf debate at your Thanksgiving table, here are four things you need to know:

  1. Turf is not alive. Nothing lives in turf. Grass and soil, however, is alive, home to beneficial bacteria, microbes, insects, and more.
  2. Turf affects runoff. Made mostly of petroleum-based plastic products, turf confines heat during the day and traps it through the night, causing runoff water to leave turf hotter than it would grass, a harmful condition for aquatic ecosystems. 
  3. Turf is not biodegradable. Following its average lifespan of 15 years, turf ends up in a landfill. 
  4. Turf won’t stay green forever. Not only does turf come with a plethora of environmental problems, it also carries aesthetic issues. In other words, even your maintenance- free, green, neatly trimmed turf will turn yellow with time.  Just wait.

Grass lawns are not environmentally beneficial, but turf grass provides even fewer environmental benefits.

My last bite of apple pie would have been just a little bit sweeter had I been able to make this argument Thanksgiving night. But now, I am ready for that next family meal.

Front Lawns: Mowing & Growing the American Landscape, A Brief History of an American Obsession

Link to original Story Map

The Story Map Text:

From the suburbs of Chicago to the suburbs of New York, our obsession with lawns spans America.

But, why? Why do these spaces carry so much value? How did our obsession begin?

The following events illustrate the story of how lush front lawns— and the devices and practices used to create them— reflect the American Dream of home ownership.

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1700

America owes the physical creation of the lawn to landscape designers in England and France. The first lawns were grassy fields enveloping English and French castles — the logic being that castle grounds free of trees allowed soldiers guarding the castles a clear view of their surroundings. Further into the 1700s, European landscape designers began experimenting with concepts of closely, clean-cut grass areas within gardens. Lawns quickly become an indicator of class. Just like today, those with lawns are those who have the financial means to maintain it.

1757

Language matters. The word “lawn” was introduced to the English dictionary in 1757 as a “large clump of dirt with grass.” The creation of this word gave a name to this phenomenon.

1806

Among the first to replicate the European lawn in America was U.S. President Thomas Jefferson. In front of his Monticello estate, Jefferson had a large front lawn designed, simply for his viewing pleasure.

1830

Englishman Edwin Bear Budding invents the mechanical lawn mower in 1830. The design of the lawn mower sets the foundation for quick, efficient lawn management that we know and “love” today.

1841

The desire for lawns to look like putting greens begins in 1841 when Jackson Downing published the first ever American landscape-gardening book. Downing’s popular book told readers that if they ‘improve’ their cookie cutter front lawns, they would ‘improve’ themselves.

1868

Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, commonly known as the ‘Father of the American Lawn’, accepted the task to design Riverside, a suburb of Chicago. In the design, Olmsted required that each house be set back 30 feet from the road to allow room for one or two trees and a lawn that would connect to the neighbors’ yard.

1871

With the invention of the lawn sprinkler in 1871, homeowners— the elite few who had running water in 1871— no longer had an excuse not to have a lawn.

1935

Missouri mechanic Leonard Goodall crafted the first power rotary mower in 1935. Caring for a lawn became easier and faster than ever.

1938

Passed in 1939, The Fair Labor Standards Act makes the dream of a 40-hour workweek a reality. With newfound weekend time, many Americans filled their Saturday’s with lawn mowing and watering. While it was not explicitly said, the condition of the front lawn reflected your status and value to your community.

1945

The end of World War II prompted the federal government to finance low-cost mortgages, encouraging builders to construct low-middle class housing. Lawns are used in these new housing developments to recreate upper class suburban residences, drawing more residences into the neighborhoods. Before this, front lawns are reserved for the upper class. Intentional efforts by the government denied housing loans to many people of color, excluding them from living in suburban communities.

1950

The development of new forms of pesticides makes a weed-free lawn possible.

1962

The first prominent anti-lawn advocates emerged after the publication of Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring, detailing the harmful effects of the pesticides (being used to keep lawns weed free) have on people, wildlife, and the greater environment.

1966

The Masters Golf Tournament is televised in color for the first time, allowing viewers to see the manicured, bright green grass fields displayed on their TVs at home. In a Sports Illustrated issue following the tournament, the author writes, “having seen what is possible, millions of homeowners feel compelled to go and do likewise.”

2005

Turf grasses, grass used for lawns, become the single largest irrigated crop in America. Lawn irrigation uses more water than corn, wheat, and fruit orchards combined.

2009

Americans spend a record $20 billion in 2009 on lawn care.

2016

In the small town of Cahokia, Illinois, authorities arrested a woman for failing to mow her lawn in accordance with strict municipal lawn-care rules. Both before and after this arrest, there have been other mowing-related legal cases, emphasizing the importance of lawns in American culture.

2020

Compared to state park sites in the U.S. occupying 14 million acres of land, lawns now cover 50 million acres of land in the U.S. That’s a lot of grass.

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The legacy of the American front lawn is one we are all familiar with.

Front lawns tell us that with hard work, determination, and sacrifice, anyone can achieve a life of prosperity. Front lawns tell us that we, too can have that perfect, pristine patch of grass.

Front lawns may look perfect, but they obscure a long history of exclusion and environmental damage.