Lawns

Is a beautiful green carpet of grass worth the time, money, and environmental impact it entails? A monoculture of non-native turf grasses – the centerpiece of suburban landscapes for decades – offers little benefit to wildlife, and the water, fertilizers, and pesticides applied to lawns come with a significant environmental cost.

If you want to get off the perfect-looking, chemically-enhanced lawn treadmill, you have options. They range from more environmentally friendly, non-toxic methods of cultivating traditional lawns, to replacing grass monoculture with native ground covers or more complex, native plant mixes. Click below for our best ideas and resources for each:

Going Organic with a Traditional Lawn

Lawn replacement with native ground covers or more complex, native plant landscapes

A great resource, whichever way you lean, is Dan Wilder Jaffe’s May 2022 Kill Your Lawn presentation for Lexington Living Landscapes.