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Health & Fitness

I'll take clean water for $200, Alex

Clean water and air are far more important than having a perfect green yard. That's why I'm ripping out my grass this year in favor of sustainable landscaping.

We've been putting it off, but I think this is the year that we're finally going to do it. We're going to rip out most of our lawn and replace it with landscaping and mulch - plenty of plants, trees, flowers and rain gardens. And it's going to drive my neighbors crazy. Which is part of the fun, of course...

You see, many of the fine folks in my neighborhood seem to be just a tad-bit obsessed with lawn maintenance. I'm pretty sure that the local home and garden centers stay in business due to the households within a half-mile radius of my house. And that's probably the reason there is very seldom a weed - much less a blade of grass above uniform height in our area, thanks to bi-weekly mowings and the incessant buzz of weed whackers, hedge trimmers and leaf blowers. There's apparently such a thing as a leaf vacuum if you can believe it.

But what, you may ask, is wrong with that? Isn't it important to keep up our yards, and thereby maintain local property values? Aren't there ordinances on the books about the maximum height of grass and having too many noxious weeds on your property?

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Well, of course, there's nothing wrong with taking care of one's yard so it doesn't become an eyesore. I completely agree with that - actually, one of my main concerns about Hastings is the apparent lack of attention paid to aesthetics (have you noticed the weeds on medians throughout town?). It's called making a first impression when visitors come to your community, but I digress...

Yet when yard work borders on obsession and negatively impacts the environment, someone needs to draw the line somewhere. And once again, I guess I'm going to be the guy out there calling the question. 

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Here's my perspective:

My wife and I have agreed for years that spraying gallons of weed killer, fertilizer, and other toxins on large expanses of grass that no one will ever use - for no purpose whatsoever - is nothing more than a huge waste of time and money - not to mention a really crappy thing to do to our air and groundwater. You remember groundwater, don't you? The stuff that comes out of our taps at home? The liquid we drink, cook with, make into ice cubes, and give to our pets? Many cities in the metro area are frequently in the news for having polluted wells. I'm shocked.

And in recent years, that same water so many people insist upon polluting (so they can have a big green yard they won't use or even walk on), has been in terribly short supply (a.k.a. we've been in a drought). But why would that stop people? We persist in sprinkling hundreds of gallons of water on our lawns, disobeying the odd/even ordinance, and even watering in the mid-day sun, when most of the water quickly evaporates. We mow our lawns with gas-powered mowers, chop weeds (that weren't adequately poisoned) with gas-powered trimmers, and spray down our driveways with gas-powered high-pressure hoses. 

It's true that because I don't saturate my yard with toxic chemicals throughout the spring and summer, I've had some issues with dandelions, crabgrass, clover and crunchy grass (a.k.a. dead grass). So we're ripping most of it out and going with sustainable plants that will last for years, look good and not require chemicals and a ton of water. Our project will doubtlessly draw comments, snickers and I'm sure an occasional shaking head from inside the cab of a passing F-150. But that's OK.

In the meantime, I plan to have fun discovering new plants, get some fresh air, work hard, and turn our yard into an oasis for birds, insects and anyone who doesn't mind an occasional blade of grass out of place or a fallen twig from what remains of the trees in my home's vicinity (that's another column altogether).

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