The going gets turf: do lawns have a future in the age of drought?

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The going gets turf: do lawns have a future in the age of drought?
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The health of an ecosystem is measured in its biodiversity. By that metric lawns that comprise a single type of grass are dead. From 1843 magazine

he lawns at Tusmore House, a neo-Palladian mansion 15 miles north of Oxford, are so perfectly flat and exactingly shorn that they induce a kind of vertigo. Unlike familiar grass, with its divots and erupting daisies, the grass here feels as though it might evaporate underfoot in a cloud of pixels.

There are around 12,000 different species of grass, making it the fifth-largest family of flowering plant There are around 12,000 different species of grass, making it the fifth-largest family of plants. Grasses commonly used for lawns will grow close to a metre high, if left untended in friendly weather, such as that usually found in the north-east of America and northern Europe. The blades thrive in nutrient-rich environments, which is why they typically grow alongside nitrogen-fixers such as clover, which return to the soil what the grass draws out.

The environmentalists face a tough battle to drive us off our lawns. Tradition is a powerful counterweight. But the simplicity of their solution is in their favour: stop mowing, stop spraying, stop worrying about perfect stripes and precise edges. “We don’t need flat areas of mown grass,” says Goulson.

The Victorians fertilised lawns with morality. The rise of rail networks enabled the middle-classes to flee sooty, overcrowded cities for a more bucolic life in the suburbs. These new homes, with theirStop mowing, stop spraying, stop worrying about perfect stripes and precise edges

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