12 Reasons Why Growing a Lawn Is the Worst Thing You Can Do for Your Yard

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It sounds like having a lush, green lawn might be your ultimate yard goal, but truth be told, it might actually be damaging your yard. A cultured lawn with fresh trimmed edges has always been a yard’s picture of perfection, but keeping it up can certainly be a difficult task. Lawns are thirsty, demanding, and surprisingly high maintenance. Also don’t discount the hidden costs, in terms both financial and environmental, that it takes to keep that grass so manicured to perfection.

If you want a little green but don’t have the time or inclination to maintain one alongside the highway, there are far easier caring and kinder to the environment alternatives. Still, if you’re clinging to that traditional lawn dream, it may be time to rethink. So, let’s look at why wanting to grow a lawn might be the worst thing you can do in your yard.

Water Woes

Lawns are very thirsty. Across much of the world, a considerable fraction of household water is used to keep grass green and healthy. Hot summers leave you pouring gallon after gallon of water only for it to dry immediately. Water that could be used better elsewhere; if you live in a drought area, all that water could be better used somewhere else.

Chemical Dependency

An arsenal of chemicals from fertilizers to pesticides are often needed to keep a lawn looking pristine. Your grass is going to look great with these products, but these products can seep into the soil and can eventually end up in your nearby water sources. Making a picture perfect lawn can be harmful to local wildlife and pollute rivers and lakes.

High Maintenance

Raising a lawn is like adopting a pet that never grows up—the grass has to be tended to at all times. Mowing, edging, watering, treating for pests, maintaining a lawn is a never ending chore. Working out this hard won’t even be worth it for many people. Imagine what your weekends might be like if the lawnmower wasn’t constantly whining.

Biodiversity Desert

In reality, a traditional grass lawn is a monoculture — it’s made up of just one type of plant. It’s not just boring, it’s also bad for biodiversity: this lack of variety. They aren’t good for local wildlife as food or as a place to live. Growing a lawn could be forcing pollinators such as bees and butterflies out of a healthy ecosystem.

Soil Compaction

The soil underneath lawns does not protect itself very well. Regular mowing and walking on the grass can actually cause soil compaction making it hard for air, water and nutrients get inside to the ground. Less fertile soil is compacted, so you’ll need even more fertilizer and care to keep your lawn green. It’s a never ending vicious cycle.

Air Pollution

Keeping a lawn is expensive and between gas powered lawnmowers, trimmers and leaf blowers, a lawn comes with a hefty carbon footprint. These machines are noisy, too, and contribute to air pollution by emitting greenhouse gases. That means, while you’re rising early to keep your lawn perfect, you’re also emitting air and greenhouse gases.

Unwanted Pests

Pest Control — Image Credit: PublicDomainPictures/ Pixabay

A lawn might sound inviting, but it’s not just for you. All sorts of unwanted pests — from beetles to lawn grubs — are always ready to have a little grass for lunch. Some choose pesticides but that can just result into more bad environmental problems and worse it eliminates beneficial insects while you are at it.

Costly Affair

It takes a lot of work to maintain a lawn – both on the environment and on your wallet. What about seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, water bills and maintenance equipment? It all adds up quickly. If your patch of green needs tender loving care beyond a simple lawnmower run, then investing in low maintenance alternative, wouldn’t break the bank.

Heat Island Effect

One of the guilts of the ‘heat island effect’ are grass lawns. Lawns, unlike trees and other plants, tend to absorb heat and radiate it out, so your yard is hotter than it should be. It can make your outdoor space less comfortable, most especially in the warmer months when you’d like to spend more time outdoors.

Invasive Species

Powerful Reasons Gardeners Swear by Epsom Salt — Image Credit: Petr Ganaj/Pexels

An easy target for invasive plant species is lawns, which can quickly take over your grass and make maintenance even more difficult. A lot of lawn grasses are not native, therefore they will not be as hardy against invasive grasses, which places more demands on monitoring and more chemicals treatments.

Nutrient Drain

Soil nutrient draining is notorious with lawns. The soil runs out of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to maintain healthy, green grass, leaving lawns the color of gray. If your lawn isn’t fertilized regularly, your lawn will probably begin to look patchy and weak, requiring that much more attention to appear its best.

Missed Opportunities

Crop unrecognizable gardener in gloves and jeans planting green plants into fertile soil while working in garden on summer day — Photo Credit: Greta Hoffman/Pexels

A lawn takes up valuable real estate. When you devote so much space to just one type of grass you lose space for growing other plants that will be beautiful, diverse, and functional in your yard. Suppose you took a few of those acres of that lawn and made it planting with flowering plants or shrubs, or maybe even a vegetable garden; your yard would have become a beautiful green house.

Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.