Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Earth Day and the Green, Green Grass

Did you know....? Earth Day began 44 years ago when 20 MILLION AMERICANS rallied to fight for a cleaner environment. It inspired our government to create the Environmental Protection Agency. [Power to the people.]

Wanna get involved? I've got a hot tip on how every homeowner can make a difference. But, first? A question...

What is the most popular perennial in the world? Come on... you know this one. Look around you. It's everywhere!

Not sure? Perhaps this will help:
It's the most high maintenance thing you could ever plant.
It guzzles an astonishing amount of water.
It requires gallons of chemical fertilizers just to look good.
It costs you a fortune to keep it under control.
Need more?
  • Because of it, we gardeners are responsible for more water waste & pollution than farmers and industry combined.
And, yet this troublemaker is often the very first thing we decide to plant...

What is the most popular perennial in the world?
Kentucky Bluegrass
 Kentucky Bluegrass requires 2 inches of water, per week, in order to thrive. That doesn't sound like much until you do the math...

2 inches of water = 1200 gallons
(per week, per thousand feet, of lawn)

Even a small bluegrass lawn can guzzle 20,000+ gallons of water per month. 
Your lawn will easily drink a million gallons of water during the summer.

We waste water to make it grow. And, then we've got to mow it!
*Running your lawnmower for an hour causes as much pollution as 40 cars on the highway.
And, here's the real kicker. No matter how hard we try, it doesn't look that pretty...

* Keeping this poor performer looking green requires a continuous dose of chemical fertilizers.

So let's save the world and save ourselves a whole lotta money:

Replace Kentucky Bluegrass with Dwarf Fescue.
  • Dwarf Fescue is waterwise. This cuts your water bill to 1/4 of what you're spending on thirsty Kentucky Bluegrass.
  • Next up! Fire TruGreen. They used to be called ChemLawn, but they changed their name to sound more environmentally friendly. It hasn't changed what they do..  They dose your lawn with chemicals to keep that grass green. Dwarf Fescue doesn't require fertilizer.
  • Fire the lawn team while you're at it! Dwarf Fescue needs to be mowed every month, or so, not every weekend.
Dwarf Fescue is a slow-growing, drought-tolerant, lush, lovely, turf grass that does what grass is supposed to do. It just sits there and looks pretty.

Follow Me on Pinterest

No comments: