Some Americans Want Fewer Grass Lawns

The area in front of Janet and Jeffrey Crouch¹'s house in Columbia, Maryland, does not look usual for their neighborhood.

That is because the Crouches² do not have a grass lawn. Instead, they have some small trees and many native plants.

Lawns are areas around a house or in a park that are covered with short grass. In recent years, support for replacing lawns with native plants has been increasing in the United States. The process is called rewilding.

In fact, the number of Americans planning to turn part of their lawn to native wildflowers doubled between 2019 and 2021. That information comes from the National Gardening Survey of 2,061 U.S. adults. In 2019, the percentage was nine percent. By 2021, it rose to 19 percent.

Paul Robbins is the writer of Lawn People: How Grasses, Weeds, and Chemicals Make Us Who We Are.

He said that most people would prefer not to have lawns. "But they feel that they need to have them, or that they can't do anything about it." He added that many homeowners feel they should have lawns to please their neighbors.

It can be costly⁴ to keep a lawn looking good and green. But the Crouches had to spend much more money for the right not to have one.

People living in a house next to them complained to their homeowner's association, or HOA. The neighbors did not like that the Crouches did not have a grass lawn. HOAs can make rules about the plants that homeowners in a neighborhood are permitted to grow. Many HOAs require grass lawns.

The HOA ordered the Crouches to pull out their native plants and put in grass. However, they refused.

"We knew we were doing things that were beneficial for the environment," said Janet Crouch. She told VOA that it seemed wrong to put in only grass, which she called an environmental dead zone.

Lawns are called environmental dead zones in part because they provide no food or shelter for wildlife. They also do not support pollinators like birds, bees, and butterflies. Bee populations have been getting smaller in North America and may be getting smaller around the world.

Ted³ Steinberg is the writer of American Green: The Obsessive⁵ Quest⁶ for the Perfect Lawn. He said there are other reasons that lawns are bad for the environment.

He said they require a lot of water and chemicals. Large amounts of water can remove nutrients⁷ from the soil.

Steinberg said that after the water removes the nutrients, people buy even more chemicals to put on their lawns. Scientists say some of these chemicals might cause cancer and other health problems.

Nancy Lawson is the writer of The Humane⁸ Gardener and Wildscapes. She is also Janet Crouch's sister and the person who urged the Crouches to put in native plants.

Lawson said there are over 16 million hectares of grass lawns in the U.S. That means lawns use more water than any other irrigated¹⁰ crop in the country.

The Crouches' battle against their HOA took three years. They say they spent $60,000 fighting to keep their natural garden. They won. Because of their efforts, the state of Maryland passed a law that lets people grow native plants instead of grass, no matter what their HOA wants.

Words in This Story

replace -v. to remove something and put something else in its place

complain -v. to find fault with something, express dissatisfaction, or make an accusation¹¹ against

beneficial -adj. helpful or having desirable effects

irrigate⁹ -v. to supply areas of land with water by artificial means, such as canals or pipes carrying water from rivers or lakes

1 crouch   

v.蹲伏，蜷缩，低头弯腰；n.蹲伏

参考例句：

• I crouched on the ground.我蹲在地上。
• He crouched down beside him.他在他的旁边蹲下来。

2 crouches   

n.蹲着的姿势( crouch的名词复数 )v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He crouches before rabbit hutch, shed sad tear for the first time. 他蹲在兔窝前，第一次流下了伤心的眼泪。 来自互联网
• A Malaysian flower mantis, which crouches among flowers awaiting unsuspecting prey. 一只马来西亚花螳螂，蜷缩在鲜花中等待不期而遇的猎物。 来自互联网

3 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

4 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

5 obsessive   

adj. 着迷的, 强迫性的, 分神的

参考例句：

• Some people are obsessive about cleanliness.有些人有洁癖。
• He's becoming more and more obsessive about punctuality.他对守时要求越来越过分了。

6 quest   

n.寻求，搜索，追求

参考例句：

• Man will suffer many disappointments in his quest for truth.人类在探索真理过程中必然会遭受挫折。
• His quest for perfection is relentless.他不断追求完美。

7 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 humane   

adj.人道的，富有同情心的

参考例句：

• Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗？
• Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。

9 irrigate   

vt.灌溉，修水利，冲洗伤口，使潮湿

参考例句：

• The farmer dug several trenches to irrigate the rice fields.这个农民挖了好几条沟以灌溉稻田。
• They have built canals to irrigate the desert.他们建造成水渠以灌溉沙漠。

10 irrigated   

[医]冲洗的

参考例句：

• They irrigated their crops with water from this river. 他们用这条小河里的水浇庄稼。
• A crop can be sown, weeded, irrigated, and fertilized uniformly. 一种作物可以均匀一致地进行播种，除草，灌溉和施肥。

11 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。