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My parents cut the lawn but otherwise do nothing to it. It abounds with many different insect species: ants, bees, grasshoppers, dragonflies, butterflies, moths
by graeme 7y ago
My parents cut the lawn but otherwise do nothing to it. It abounds with many different insect species: ants, bees, grasshoppers, dragonflies, butterflies, moths
Many different flowers and grasses grow, along with strawberries, clover, etc.
This may depend on climate; they’re in eastern canada. And I’m sure there would be arrange things to create an even better bug environment. But the default lawn can be quite good for insects if you just let it grow. I always hated those sterile green lawns people made; the varied lawn we had was much prettier.
- alistairSH 7y agoIt's common in the US to treat lawns so that only a single, or small number of, grass species exists. This is a relatively new thing - through the 1960s or so, lawns were as you describe - as long as it was mostly green, it was just mowed - clovers and some other "weeds" were allowed to grow alongside grass. The advent of targeted herbicides and advertising campaigns has led us to growing monoculture lawns.
- falcolas 7y agoIn my neighborhood, there’s maybe 1 person out of every 20 who does this. The rest of us mow it regularly and move on with the rest of our lives. The highly visible actions of a few who have the time to take those actions (or pay for those actions) is not representative of the rest of us.
- alistairSH 7y agoThat's not my experience (suburban DC). Overall, I'd guess closer to 1/5 or 1/10 do seasonal treatments. In wealthier subdivisions ($800k+ homes, which isn't unusual here), I'd guess half or more have regular lawn service including chemical treatments. In more middle-class areas, the number of professional treatments drops off considerably, but the residents still do a substantial amount of fertilizing on their own.