By: Marikay Shellman

BPW Colorado Virtual  Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024) 

Several articles are staring me in the face, “There’s a water crisis.  Why do we still have lawns?” and “You- yes, you!- can help the planet.  Start in your backyard.”  and “Lawmakers will push even harder to replace lawns” and “DurangoScape 2024 to focus on native plant benefits”.  An article on Douglas Tallamy’s book, “Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Begins in Your Yard” caught my attention. 

The author believes that we everyday people can save the planet and support insects and birds by “ditching the pesticides and herbicides” and planting native species such as coneflowers, milkweed, and oaks.  78% of land in US is privately owned, therefore we must have buy-in from not just national and state parks, but also homeowner associations, homeowners, businesses, and public and school parks.  “Don’t worry about the whole Earth.  Worry about the piece of the Earth that you can influence.” Douglas W. Tallamy. 

We don’t need to rid of our lawns totally, just shrink them back by maybe reducing them in half.  Plan where you want to have a grassy area, for your dogs to roll in or for a sitting area.  Then transform the rest by planting native grasses, native bushes, and flowers.   

The largest irrigated crop in the United States is lawns devouring about 9 billion gallons of water per day, more than thirsty corn or soybeans.  Beyond the water lawns need, the millions of pounds of fertilizer and pesticides required to have that perfect lawn leach pollution not only into our neighbor’s yard but also into our waterways.   40 % of these chemicals use on American lawns are outlawed in other countries due to carcinogens.   

Do an online search for your local Botanical Garden, native plant societies or master gardeners.  The National Wildlife Federation has a native plant finder ( https://nativeplantfinder.nwf.org).  Audubon has a native plants database (https://www.audubon.org/native-plants).  Homegrown National Park (https://homegrownnationalpark.org) has a Keystone Species list.