Grass does have its place though. Although it actually requires the most maintenance of any type of landscaping (between watering, mowing, aerating and top-dressing), a lawn also acts as a filter for air pollution as well as chemicals that would make their way into the groundwater; it prevents erosion and it can keep soil healthy when managed properly.

That last point is a major caveat though. As Laureen Rama, author of Eco-Yards: Simple Steps to Earth-Friendly Landscapes explains, treating your lawn with chemical fertilizers and herbicides effectively wipes out the beneficial micro-organisms that the grass roots would normally harbour, compromising the health of the soil rather than boosting it and leading to a not-so-healthy lawn.

Rama, who also owns Eco-Yards Natural Landscape Design, Installation, Consultation and Eco-Yards Spray in Calgary, recommends instead top-dressing your lawn with a quarter inch of compost in late spring, applying a high quality organic fertilizer or employing an organic fertilizer spray-on service. Each of these options is rich in the micro-organisms needed to repair soil and add nutrients to the grass.

In contrast, using chemical fertilizers depletes the soil of these essential microbes. As a result, the soil and lawn become, in essence, addicted to fertilizer and herbicides because the nutrients and micro-oganisms they need are no longer naturally occurring in the soil and plants. Not only that, but fertilizing and watering (and consequently washing chemicals into the storm sewers and through the soil to the groundwater) create fast growth which means more time spent mowing the lawn—and more energy burned.

“You’re polluting the environment, so your grass will grow faster, so you’ll have to mow more,” muses Rama.

The whole lawn care regime of fertilizing, killing weeds, watering and mowing, when managed improperly, can create a lawn that is unable to find nutrition and water on its own and instead depends on its owner for these needs.

Grass height is another important part of the puzzle. Rama recommends leaving grass at a height of three to four inches so that the plants will shade their own roots, slowing evaporation and thus requiring less water. When you do mow, use a mulching mower and leave the grass clippings on the lawn to decompose. This provides nutrients for the lawn and eliminates the chore of raking, plus the waste of sending grass clippings to the landfill wrapped in a garbage bag.