> Lawnmowers suck up gas and pollute the air: Every year, U.S. homeowners spill about 17 million gallons of gas while filling up mowers. I have a Fiskars "reel

> Lawnmowers suck up gas and pollute the air: Every year, U.S. homeowners spill about 17 million gallons of gas while filling up mowers. I have a Fiskars "reel mower" that doesn't use any gas or oil, though it's not getting much use now after recently converting most of the property to xeriscape. I like it and there's no way I would get a gas powered mower, especially not a "riding mower." > American lawns have so, so much potential—and right now, it’s going to waste. It’s time to culturally stigmatize the classic overwatered, overfertilized, overmowed American lawn—a symbol of excess that’s persisted for far too long. I agree but instead of criticizing lawns, I'd rather promote the beauty and functionality of a xeriscape yard. With a backyard food forest you can be harvesting hundreds of kilograms of food per year with minimal upkeep (beyond initial mulching and perennial planting). You can have stunning flower blooms from peaches, plums, apples, and other fruit trees. You can have fruit of all colors everywhere you look, just a rainbow of form and function. You can investigate and plant cold hardy things like Chicago Hardy Figs and other things you wouldn't dream were possible. Chances are, most figs available to you are dried, in the store. Imagine having a fresh one right off the tree, from your own yard picked less than 5 seconds ago. Apart from the initial creation, based on personal experience, I think maintaining a xeriscaped backyard food forest takes less work, less time, and less money than maintaining a yard. For me the only demanding part was putting down down all the (free!) wood chips, but we're supposed to exercise anyway -- and this kind has inherent value.