The startling facts about lawn

It was suggested at the February gathering Beneath the Wisteria that America’s largest cultivated crop was grass.

Lawn is America's largest cultivated crop
 and uses a third of all residental water.

Americans have, according to author and journalist, David Owen, 32 million acres of irrigated grass making it America’s largest irrigated and cultivated crop, while the second largest cultivated crop to be treated with the same devotion, but at a seemingly paltry 10 million acres, is corn.

Kialla landscape gardener, Roy Roberts, has a professional and personal interest in lawn and so appreciates it wonderful cooling attributes, something that needs to be embraced as the world warms up.

Meeting in the wonderful cool expanse of Shepparton’s Queens Gardens, Roy questioned the cultivation of individual lawns and wondered whether or not we should, as a community, spend more time at such gardens and be prepared, subsequently, to invest more resources, that being money and water, in their maintenance and expansion.

Many questioned the statistic that Americans cultivate three times as much lawn as corn and John Pettigrew suggested it would be nice to see some evidence.

Writing in his 2009 book, “Green Metropolis: Why LivingSmaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less are the Keys to Sustainability”, author and journalist, David Owen said:

“In 2006, a researcher at the University of Montana, in a study based on satellite data collected by the National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration, determined that the nation’s largest irrigated crop is cultivated grass, which covers more than 32 million acres in the continental United State. (The second largest irrigated crop at roughly 10 million acres is corn).

“Homeowners spend more than $40 billion a year on their lawns, and the use approximately a hundred million pounds of pesticides, which they apply more heavily than farmers do.

“A third of all residential water use, furthermore, goes into yards. The modern suburban yard is perfectly, and perversely, self-justifying; its purpose is to be taken care of.

“Beyond caring for their lawns, the interest of most Americans in almost any direct experience of the outdoors is falling precipitously. Bicycle riding is down nearly a third since 1995. A 2008 study published the National Academy of Sciences, showed that participation by Americans in a variety of outdoor activities had declined by as much as 25 percent since the late 1980s, as measured by the frequency of visits to national parks, the number of applications for hunting and fishing licenses, and other indicators.”

In all this, it is worth noting that what is a fact in America, soon  becomes a fad in Australia and then in equal quick time, a reality.