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Reducing Lawns to a Minimum and Changing
Maintenance Practices
By their very nature, lawns require lots of maintenance. Turf grasses grow fast and require frequent mowing which generates pollution when power mowers are used. Lawns are usually composed of only one or two grass species that are cut very low and prevented from going to seed; they provide little value to wildlife. The soil beneath lawns is often heavily compacted so rain has trouble getting into the ground. Instead, it runs off, contributing to flooding and carrying excess fertilizer and pesticides into lakes and streams. Lawns have only about one-tenth the absorption capacity of a mature forest.
Lawn Reduction
Consider reducing your lawn to the minimum size needed. You may find you can even do away with a lawn entirely. Consider one or more of these environmentally friendly alternatives:
- create or expand beds of
native
flowers and shrubs - plant a wildflower meadow or another form of native groundcover
- allow the lawn to revert to woods (occasional management to control invasive exotic plants might be necessary until the woodland matures)
Several methods of turf removal are available, including digging up the lawn. One of the easiest ways is to cover the grass with a thick layer of newspaper and then top with a layer of organic mulch. After several months the grass will have died and you can begin to replant without removing anything.
Lawn Maintenance:
Even if you keep some area in lawn, much can be done to lessen environmental problems:
- Reduce or eliminate the need for pesticides by practicing Integrated Pest Management.
- Use a mulching mower so that clippings can remain on the lawn and provide nutrients as they decompose.
- Where the lawn is small, use a non-powered reel mower.
- Keep mowers in efficient operating condition (well-tuned, sharp blades) and raise the cutting height to 3-3.5" during the hot summer months to keep the grass roots shaded and cooler, reducing weed growth, browning, and need for watering.
- Use extra caution when refueling equipment; purchase and use a leakless nozzle.
- If you don't use a mulching mower, compost excess grass clippings in your yard and later use it as a soil amendment around trees and shrubs.
- Learn to tolerate some weeds or a greater variety of plants in the lawn; some, like clover, fix nitrogen in the soil, others stay green longer during droughts.
- Reseed areas with "ecology" mixes that contain several plant species.
- Don't over-fertilize. A slow-release organic fertilizer applied but once, in the fall, is usually sufficient. Seek additional help from your local Cooperative Extension Agent.
Sources of Additional Information:
US EPA - Your
Yard & Clean Air 
US EPA
- Healthy Lawn, Healthy Environment