Pennsylvania Game News - August 2010 - 55

carcinogenic in animals, passing through our lawns and into our waterways. On the other hand, Tom Scheuler, coordinator of the nonprofit Chesapeake Stormwater Network, says that lawns, because they do soak up stormwater runoff are better than paved surfaces, such as malls and parking lots. But another study shows that lawns hold only 10 percent of water, while the other 90 percent, which contains pesticides and fertilizers, runs off into streams, making lawns significant polluters of our water, especially since most homeowners use 10 times more fertilizer than is necessary. Unfortunately, most common grass species, such as Kentucky blue grass, have incredibly short root systems that require more water during dry spells and absorb less water during rainstorms. Native grasses and other plants have much longer roots that reduce watering and runoff. Add trees, shrubs and ground covers to the mix and 14 times more rainwater will be retained than in a lawn. Some folks are bucking the lawn trend by growing meadows and/or native plants in place of a lawn. Benjamin Hedges, writing “I Wanted a Meadow” in Notes of the Pennsylvania Native Plant Society was inspired by Douglas Tallamy’s book Bringing Nature Home in which he says, “By favoring native plants over aliens in the suburban landscape, gardeners can do much to sustain the biodiversity that has been one of this country’s richest assets.” Hedges bought an acre that included a house, lawn, a few trees and invasive shrub-

Imagine how much wildlife habitat would be created if everyone cut their lawn area in half.

bery. He immediately broke up the lawn and inventoried the plants on his property. Now that eight years have passed, he has more than 100 native plants and 50 exotics. He bought a few of the native plants, but most came in after mowing stopped, exactly as we’ve discovered. Give nature half a chance and it will recover. Imagine how much wildlife habitat would be created if everyone cut their lawn area in half, especially those huge country acres. Stealth changes would probably work best, though, and forestall criticism from the neighbors. Every year folks could plant more flower beds, shrubs and trees. They could also let one section go completely wild, preferably with a water source such as a stream, pond, or even a puddle, for the children in their lives. That would be a great way to fight the growing nature deficit disorder in youngsters who are spending more time inside than ever before. The late poet, May Swenson, wrote a poem in her book Nature: Poems Old and New called “Her Management.” The “her” is nature and [her] “furniture is pine and oak and birch and beech and elm…Broken, rotting, shambled things — lie where they like . . . Her management is beauty . . . ” It is well to remember that when we strive to improve on nature by mowing it down to create a monotonous “perfect” landscape of manor-green we may be doing more harm than good for the wildlife we cherish.

AUGUST 2010

Pennsylvania Game News - August 2010

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