Do you own a piece of property? No, you don’t. How could you?
But perhaps you are fortunate enough to have the responsibility of stewardship, however temporary, of part of this beautiful planet. If so, what is happening in the front yard and in the backyard? What life is there and what is the condition of the life present? Is it diverse? Is it thriving?
Whatever the answer, the state of life, or the ecological integrity of the place where we live and exercise stewardship says a lot about our attitude toward nature. It affects how we perceive the relationship we have with life on this planet.
It would seem that we are obsessed with lawns. I would argue that this is a very dangerous and unhealthy obsession. When we maintain lawns the message we send to children is that nature must be controlled and subdued not for the sake of survival or prosperity, but because there is something wrong and threatening about wild nature when left to its own devices. But is there?
I recently began making a list of the plant species in the place where I live which is comprised of an area the size of a typical backyard between a vegetable garden and a forest edge that remains uncut year after year.
The grasses and wildflowers are tall and the insects and other animal life are diverse and abundant. All of which efficiently perform important ecological functions such as; enriching the soil, purifying air and water, and on a more personal level, encouraging a sense of reverence, wonder, and gratitude. With still more plant species to identify, there are so far 35 species in 18 families on the list. Many of these are edible or of medicinal value and all of them have their own inherent worth and ecological value.
Contrastingly, a typical lawn ideally has a single species of grass that is cut short enough to resemble carpet or green concrete. Moreover, there is an immense contrast in the environmental impact. A lawn usually requires burning precious fossil fuels in a lawnmower, the manufacturing of which also required intensive use of non-renewable energy and resources. The impact is even greater for those who choose to water their lawns or spray them with chemicals harmful to life.
Why not allow or even encourage the regeneration of a healthy functioning ecosystem, even in urban areas? In fact it is especially in urban areas where most people live and where our disconnectedness with nature is most severe. At a time when carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere are at potentially catastrophic levels, we could sure use the higher level of sequestration that increased plant life provides.
Every species affects the environment in which they live. It is the law of nature that each species may compete at the best of its abilities to maximize the likelihood of its own survival.
The lawn ethic of reducing biodiversity for the sake of a false aesthetic ideal does no such thing. We would do well to learn from our national animal the beaver, who in altering the environment, not only increases its own chances of prosperity, but actually increases biodiversity and therefore increases the prospects for life in general.
Unlike the municipality of Meaford which currently has no bylaw enforcement officer (making this a good time to stop cutting the grass) the planet has real laws to keep species like ours in check, but the penalty is much worse than a fine and the loss of a beautiful natural garden.
So don’t bother trying to keep up with the Jones’, because the Jones’ are crazy.
