Post by @yvg@indieweb.social
Over the past few days, a few crickets have made their way into the house.
Whenever I can, I guide them back outside so they don't land on us during the night.
This morning, I was mowing the lawn a bit - not much, just as much as needed, before the rain - and there were plenty of them in the garden.
A neighbour, as often happens, suggested I cut it shorter "to drive the crickets away". I looked around: all my neighbours' lawns are kept extremely short, and the surrounding countryside is completely plowed.
"And where are the poor crickets supposed to go?"
"They'll find somewhere else."
I put the lawnmower away and decided that, in my garden, they are more than welcome.
@stefano I haven't mowed in 4 weeks now, and I can see the clover taking over where the grass is drying out, it's an all-you-can-eat buffet for bees and other pollinators :D My goal is to eventually have no more grass, instead clover and other "weeds" over the next months/years.
There is tons of research about why lawns are terrible and mostly cargo-culting due to "people have lawns because people have lawns".
So happy to see other people thinking about it!
https://blog.nwf.org/2024/04/why-we-shouldnt-have-lawns/
1 boost
CelloDad has been nurturing a corner where the clover is abundant - hoping to make it spread. He now judges lawns by how much clover grows on them 🙂
My own take on US lawn obsession is that it's a holdover from colonial times: everyone hates the colonisers but also wants to emulate them: Americans want that Downton Abbey lawn (but don't have the Downton Abbey climate that makes it effortless to have such a lawn).