I think it’s been pretty well established that lawns are environmentally unfriendly. They require massive amounts of water. Fertilizers, pesticides, and fungicides get carried off by rain (or overwatering!) into storm drains and streams and can contaminate wildlife and environments many miles away. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, homeowners in the U.S. use up to 10 times more chemical pesticides per acre on their lawns than farmers use on crops.
Worse: According to a 2013 study, “Detection of herbicides in the urine of pet dogs following home lawn chemical application,” the detection of lawn chemicals in the urine of pet dogs was widespread – and that lawn chemicals persisted on the grass for at least 48 hours after application, and even longer under certain environmental conditions. It’s been established that exposure to herbicide-treated lawns has been associated with significantly higher bladder cancer risk in dogs.
And yet: What’s better than playing with a dog, or watching a dog or dogs play by themselves, on a blanket of nice thick green grass? Especially in the heat of summer?
I just read an article in the New York Times (“America’s Killer Lawns”) that provided some helpful ways to make lawns less toxic.
No beautiful lush lawn at my house…
For what it’s worth, I’ve never had a gorgeous lawn – probably because I’ve never engaged the services of a lawn-care company, not used fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, or pesticides on my grass. I wouldn’t feel good about using any of those things, even though I’ve certainly enjoyed playing or exercising on publics lawns and sports fields that almost surely DO use those chemicals. Every home I’ve lived in as an adult came with an existing crappy lawn, one containing as many weeds as grass species (my husband insists on using air-quotes when discussing our “lawn,” because he doesn’t think the collection of plants that dwell in front of our home constitutes turf in any way). At our last home, we stopped watering our “lawn” during the worst summer of California’s drought, and neither restarted nor, I have to admit, replaced it with alternative landscaping. It looked perfectly Dust Bowl-esque in the summer, just awful.
Like our past homes, our current home came with a front yard featuring lots of grass, as well as lots of other weeds and clover. It’s partially sun-baked and partially deeply shaded. Some species of plants thrive in one location and not in the others. But for the two summers we’ve lived here so far, we have kept it watered and mowed, and both the dogs and I really enjoy it, even if it’s not thick or lush or smooth or even. It’s cooler and softer than anything else outside in the summer! Also, it covers a wide swath of space; if we removed it, I have no idea what we’d plant or how we’d begin to landscape or hardscape it. For now, anyway, it is what it is.
Lately, I’ve been watching videos of a trainer I know working her young puppy on a smooth green carpet of permanently installed artificial turf outside her home and have been coveting a training space like that. But I don’t know that I would ever pull the trigger on an expense like that, either.
What about you? Do you maintain a lawn for your family’s enjoyment? Or do you live lawn-free? If you have given up grass, do you miss it?
We bought an old campground with 17+ acres and a steam. The property is also a filter for runoff from the local road. We have never used herbicides or pesticides. We mow 6′ wide paths for walking and have a large area fenced for a back yard. I love our “weedy” lawn, which may have some bald spots and worn areas from dogs playing (a Great Dane can really rip up the lawn when doing running turns), but I wouldn’t change a thing of our “lawn care.” Our dogs love our lawn just as much as your suburban dogs love their pristine flat green grass or fake turf. But our dogs and people will never get sick from herbicies or pesticides and our stream will stay clean of chemicals for anyone living downstream.
We have clover and pretty little wild flowers mixed in with different grasses and the lovely yellow dandelions (which I sometimes harvest for salads or teas). My only concern is making sure I dig up any poison ivy that creeps in from the meadow. (By the way, don’t burn poison ivy – dig it up and throw it away in a wild area you don’t walk through.)
Bravo for anyone who goes natural and clean!
Yeah I think when you use fertilizer the gras grows better the dogs love to play in a green fresh grass…
My lawn is fine; full of weeds but heck, they are green. I try to pull most of the broad leaved weeds but as far as I'[m concerned if it’s green, it’s lawn. I don’t fertilize but do leave grass clippings on it and use white clover as suggested above. So far haven’t had a problem with bees. They seem to prefer flowers in the gardens. My fertilizer for OUR veggies is our own compost. I used to make my own earth from vermiculite, bought soil, peat moss and and our compost, then fertilized with chicken and worm poop. I hate the smell of the other fertilizers. Why don’t they bag horse manure? It smells much better than pig, chicken, sheep and cattle.
Anyway, now I guess I’m just too old and lazy to do all that work anymore and buy premixed soil, use our compost and I guess chemical fertilizer because I sprinkle it on.
As Joni Mitchell sang, “Give me the spots on my apples, but leave me the birds and the bees.” I agree! No pesticides on the “lawn” or the trees or the bushes in my yard–dandelions any day. I admit to spraying my ailing Virginia Creeper with a hand-held bottle of pesticide mixed with water, but the dogs have to go indoors till it dries.
I am glad to say that in 50 years I have never lost a dog to cancer and hope to keep it that way.
Have you guys tried Dog Rocks? They are 100% natural and you put them in your dog’s water bowl. we have been using them since 2008 and have a really lovely lawn. They are defo worth a try, you have to have one pack in each water bowl and you HAVE to change them every 2 months but they are brill
My husband and I have always had a pact – the backyard is mine and the front yard is his. Meaning, nothing was ever put on our backyard where the dogs roam and he could treat the front to his heart’s content. However, that changed this year. Our pup, now 17 months, chases everything, including bees, wasps, etc. I loved my backyard full of clover but so do the pollinators and as a result, we have had several mishaps with the pup. So this year, the backyard was treated. I kept our boy off the yard for 7 days and fortunately it rained 2 of those days during that time. I weighed the risks and felt it was the best course for the current pup/lawn fight. That’s the only treatment the backyard will receive and I plan to use Mike’s discoveries from here on out as I don’t like using herbicides.
Hi All, I live in coastal Connecticut. For the last 25 years, we have owned Long-coat German Shepherds, Currently on dogs #4 and #5. I have a small yard, 1/4 acre total. The backyard lawn is about only 50×70 feet, and fenced for the dogs. For all of these 25 years, I have struggled to create a decent back lawn for the dogs, albeit a small yard (compared to those described above). So, I’d like to share a few of my *organic* lawn discoveries. I have pursued an organic lawn for the health and well being of the dogs. (1) Weed killer – Corn meal gluten. Period. Safe enough to sprinkle on your breakfast cereal! Previously hard to find, now widely available in large bags. Corn meal gluten works as a pre-emergent weed killer; it prevents weed seeds from germinating. Use it repeatedly, and over time, you will conquer weeds. Corn meal gluten decomposes into Nitrogen, and turf grass loves nitrogen. (2) Lawn Gypsum resolves the salt problem in your yard, and much of that salt is from dog urine. Gypsum is non toxic, and chemically fixes a few soil problems – removes salt, adds calcium, and softens the soil especially in high clay situations. (3) Organic non-toxic fertilizers – Ironite, Milorganite, and… just discovered this year Sustane brand organic fertilizer. (www.Sustane.com) Sustane has a their own annual “4-step” fertilizer program and products.
Hope that helps, if you trying to grow grass.
We live in Arizona where natural turf does not do well. We discovered artificial turf that is made especially for pet use. Plus, charcoal is used below the turf. No urine smells & it looks beautiful! Our dog lies on it even when the weather is in the 100’s.