Audubon At Home

Reduce Pesticides

Increase Backyard Biodiversity

Rethink your lawn

Learn How to Garden for birds and other Wildlife

RETHINK YOUR LAWN…

Home lawns blanket at least 21 million acres of land in this country. That’s an area over 17 times the size of the Grand Canyon!

Consider :

• The average American lawn is only 1/3 acre, but generates almost 2 tons of clippings (over 330 trash-bags full) a year.
  
• Lawns require 2½ to 4 times more water than shrubs or trees.
  
• Homeowners are using 50% more herbicides than they did 20 years ago.
  
• The average homeowner spends the equivalent of a typical work week (40 hours) simply mowing the lawn each year.
  
• $8.5 billion is spent annually on retail sales of residential lawn care products and equipment.
  

We love our lawns – they’re a wonderful place to play and picnic, and they can provide a beautiful setting for our homes. Is there room, too, for a pocket of native plants? Might a flowerbed be expanded, or a tree or shrub added? Can an area that is difficult to mow and maintain be allowed to naturalize?

Shrubs, trees, perennial flowers, and groundcovers consume less water than lawn grass, add visual interest and color to your landscape, and can provide a welcoming habitat for birds and butterflies.

Imagine the Impact

If each one of us that takes care of our own lawn (49 million U.S. households), replaced just ONE square yard (just 9 square feet) of our lawn with a non-turf alternative, we would eliminate 1.2 MILLION hours of mowing and stop 60,000 tons of grass clippings from ever finding their way to a landfill. In addition, millions of gallons of water would be saved and tons of fertilizers and pesticides never applied.

We Challenge You To Make A Difference

Summer may be a distant memory, but it won’t be long until the mowers and blowers roar into action. We challenge you to try something different with a part of your lawn this coming spring. Maybe put in some native plants that will attract your favorite birds or butterflies. Maybe plant a cluster of shrubs to increase your privacy. Start small – remember, if we each do a little bit, collectively we can make a big difference!

Here’s a few ideas to start you thinking:

• Plant beneath mature trees. Put a bed of perennials, groundcover, or low shrubs around an existing tree or shrub, or cluster of trees and shrubs. Give the bed a curved border for a natural look and to make mowing around it easier. Even a small bed, just 4 feet in diameter will eliminate over 12 square feet of lawn.
  
• Expand an existing plant bed. Adding one foot to the width of an existing bed that runs along a stretch of walkway, driveway, fence, or exterior wall of your house, can make a big difference. For every 9 feet, you’ve eliminated a square yard of lawn!
  
• Consider neighboring property. Cooperate with your neighbors and extend existing shrub and tree plantings to increase privacy while reducing lawn area.
  
• Work with Mother Nature. Stop trying to grow grass in areas where it just wasn’t meant to be – dense shade, boggy spots, exposed areas, steep slopes, etc. Native plants offer a wealth of solutions – learn which are growing in similar natural habitats.
  
• Plant native plants. Loss of natural habitats is one of the biggest threats to biodiversity. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the nation’s suburbs increase by 400 square miles every year. As you replace your lawn, think not only about what you plant but how you can plant in order to recreate beneficial habitat.
  
• Have fun. Consider your landscape a work (of art) in progress. What colors do you want to add? What shapes and textures are most pleasing? What wildlife can you help? What do you want your piece of the world to be? Don’t think of it as decreasing your lawn but increasing your backyard oasis.