Some Americans Want Fewer Grass Lawns
2023-06-06
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1The area in front of Janet and Jeffrey Crouch's house in Columbia, Maryland, does not look usual for their neighborhood.
2That is because the Crouches do not have a grass lawn.
3Instead, they have some small trees and many native plants.
4Lawns are areas around a house or in a park that are covered with short grass.
5In recent years, support for replacing lawns with native plants has been increasing in the United States.
6The process is called rewilding.
7In fact, the number of Americans planning to turn part of their lawn to native wildflowers doubled between 2019 and 2021.
8That information comes from the National Gardening Survey of 2,061 U.S. adults.
9In 2019, the percentage was nine percent.
10By 2021, it rose to 19 percent.
11Paul Robbins is the writer of Lawn People: How Grasses, Weeds, and Chemicals Make Us Who We Are.
12He said that most people would prefer not to have lawns.
13"But they feel that they need to have them, or that they can't do anything about it."
14He added that many homeowners feel they should have lawns to please their neighbors.
15It can be costly to keep a lawn looking good and green.
16But the Crouches had to spend much more money for the right not to have one.
17People living in a house next to them complained to their homeowner's association, or HOA.
18The neighbors did not like that the Crouches did not have a grass lawn.
19HOAs can make rules about the plants that homeowners in a neighborhood are permitted to grow.
20Many HOAs require grass lawns.
21The HOA ordered the Crouches to pull out their native plants and put in grass.
22However, they refused.
23"We knew we were doing things that were beneficial for the environment," said Janet Crouch.
24She told VOA that it seemed wrong to put in only grass, which she called an environmental dead zone.
25Lawns are called environmental dead zones in part because they provide no food or shelter for wildlife.
26They also do not support pollinators like birds, bees, and butterflies.
27Bee populations have been getting smaller in North America and may be getting smaller around the world.
28Ted Steinberg is the writer of American Green: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn.
29He said there are other reasons that lawns are bad for the environment.
30He said they require a lot of water and chemicals.
31Large amounts of water can remove nutrients from the soil.
32Steinberg said that after the water removes the nutrients, people buy even more chemicals to put on their lawns.
33Scientists say some of these chemicals might cause cancer and other health problems.
34Nancy Lawson is the writer of The Humane Gardener and Wildscapes.
35She is also Janet Crouch's sister and the person who urged the Crouches to put in native plants.
36Lawson said there are over 16 million hectares of grass lawns in the U.S.
37That means lawns use more water than any other irrigated crop in the country.
38The Crouches' battle against their HOA took three years.
39They say they spent $60,000 fighting to keep their natural garden.
40They 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.
41I'm Andrew Smith.
1The area in front of Janet and Jeffrey Crouch's house in Columbia, Maryland, does not look usual for their neighborhood. 2That is because the Crouches do not have a grass lawn. Instead, they have some small trees and many native plants. 3Lawns 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. 4In 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. 5Paul Robbins is the writer of Lawn People: How Grasses, Weeds, and Chemicals Make Us Who We Are. 6He 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. 7It can be costly to keep a lawn looking good and green. But the Crouches had to spend much more money for the right not to have one. 8People 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. 9The HOA ordered the Crouches to pull out their native plants and put in grass. However, they refused. 10"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. 11Lawns 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. 12Ted Steinberg is the writer of American Green: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn. He said there are other reasons that lawns are bad for the environment. 13He said they require a lot of water and chemicals. Large amounts of water can remove nutrients from the soil. 14Steinberg 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. 15Nancy Lawson is the writer of The Humane Gardener and Wildscapes. She is also Janet Crouch's sister and the person who urged the Crouches to put in native plants. 16Lawson said there are over 16 million hectares of grass lawns in the U.S. That means lawns use more water than any other irrigated crop in the country. 17The 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. 18I'm Andrew Smith. 19Dora Mekouar wrote this story for Voice of America. Andrew Smith adapted it for VOA Learning English. 20_________________________________________________________________ 21Words in This Story 22replace -v. to remove something and put something else in its place 23complain -v. to find fault with something, express dissatisfaction, or make an accusation against 24beneficial -adj. helpful or having desirable effects 25irrigate -v. to supply areas of land with water by artificial means, such as canals or pipes carrying water from rivers or lakes 26______________________________________________________________________ 27We want to hear from you. 28We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 29Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.