Posted on Sep 3, 2023
More Kansas City homes are embracing native lawns, but local laws still hold gardeners back
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The proliferation of traditional grass lawns have brought problems like flooding, river contamination and pests. But the local ordinances and the rules of homeowners’ associations across the Kansas City area practically insist on Euro-style turf.
Abundant wildflowers, tree-lined creeks and tall shrubs and deep-rooted grass that evolved for survival in the Midwest defined the landscape of Kansas and Missouri.
They formed self-sustaining systems that nurtured a rich variety of insects, frogs, buffalo and small mammals.
Then, we planted turf.
Europeans imported the idea of lush, single-species lawns as a status symbol. The aesthetic stuck.
That crowded out the local plants as development stripped away and sold the topsoil and ate up ground with high-maintenance, shallow-rooted bluegrass and fescue.
Abundant wildflowers, tree-lined creeks and tall shrubs and deep-rooted grass that evolved for survival in the Midwest defined the landscape of Kansas and Missouri.
They formed self-sustaining systems that nurtured a rich variety of insects, frogs, buffalo and small mammals.
Then, we planted turf.
Europeans imported the idea of lush, single-species lawns as a status symbol. The aesthetic stuck.
That crowded out the local plants as development stripped away and sold the topsoil and ate up ground with high-maintenance, shallow-rooted bluegrass and fescue.
More Kansas City homes are embracing native lawns, but local laws still hold gardeners back
Posted from kcur.org
Kansas City
Gardening
Law
Posted 8 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel good day Brother William, always informational and of the most interesting. Thanks for sharing, have a blessed day!
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Abundant wildflowers, tree-lined creeks and tall shrubs and deep-rooted grass that evolved for survival in the Midwest defined the landscape of Kansas and Missouri.
They formed self-sustaining systems that nurtured a rich variety of insects, frogs, buffalo and small mammals.
Then, we planted turf.
Europeans imported the idea of lush, single-species lawns as a status symbol. The aesthetic stuck.
That crowded out the local plants as development stripped away and sold the topsoil and ate up ground with high-maintenance, shallow-rooted bluegrass and fescue.
Today, grass is the most common crop in the United States, covering a total area about the size of Georgia. And Kansas City environmentalists argue that the proliferation of traditional grass lawns over the past century-plus brought a multitude of problems — among them, flooding, river contamination and pests.
But the local ordinances and the rules of homeowners’ associations across the Kansas City area practically insist on Euro-style turf."...
..."Abundant wildflowers, tree-lined creeks and tall shrubs and deep-rooted grass that evolved for survival in the Midwest defined the landscape of Kansas and Missouri.
They formed self-sustaining systems that nurtured a rich variety of insects, frogs, buffalo and small mammals.
Then, we planted turf.
Europeans imported the idea of lush, single-species lawns as a status symbol. The aesthetic stuck.
That crowded out the local plants as development stripped away and sold the topsoil and ate up ground with high-maintenance, shallow-rooted bluegrass and fescue.
Today, grass is the most common crop in the United States, covering a total area about the size of Georgia. And Kansas City environmentalists argue that the proliferation of traditional grass lawns over the past century-plus brought a multitude of problems — among them, flooding, river contamination and pests.
But the local ordinances and the rules of homeowners’ associations across the Kansas City area practically insist on Euro-style turf."...
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