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Lorraine Sommerfeld’s recent column echoed some of my own feelings and relationship with grass.

In addition to our other obsessions we can add grass, no, not that kind. We like the uniformity, the homogeneity of these green ground covers, that we pamper and fuss over. In our neck of the woods they have names like Kentucky bluegrass, ryegrass and fescue. There are warm and cool season grasses, sun-loving, drought, and shade tolerant grasses, tough grasses and delicate ones. Grass is big business since most turf grass species are not native to our continent and are high maintenance. From an environmental, ecological and climate change perspective they are a disaster. In addition to being thirsty, grass requires regular chemical treatments. Residential customers pay for wastewater treatment based on water consumption only, so they are basically paying a surcharge to water their grass. Adding insult to injury, a portion of this water is wasted as it runs off our lawns carrying fertilizer and pesticides to contaminate local water resources.

Was it golf courses with their meticulously manicured greens, these perfect putting surfaces, that inspired our love, sometimes love/hate, affair with grass?

Manicured lawns have become a status symbol, with neighbours vying for green perfection, every blade sheared to an exacting height. Dandelions and other weeds could make you persona non grata with your neighbours, giving a whole new meaning to turf wars.

And then there is all of the fossil fuel burning machinery used to cut, trim, aerate, and generally tidy up our lawns.

There is nothing quite like being awakened early, on a morning you wished to sleep in, to the raucous cacaphony of a lawn crew descending on a neighbour's property, with their lawn mowers, whipper snippers, and leaf blowers, the ensuing noise sounding like swarms of angry hornets.

Grass is boring. Naturalizing at least a portion of our lawn doesn't mean turning it into a dogpatch. It can become an attractive and interesting space, full of life. Local nurseries can give you good advice on native plants and trees. With pollinators under threat, rising greenhouse gas emissions, and an increasingly noisy world, we would be doing our environment and ourselves a favour by looking at nature friendly alternatives to grass.

In areas where there are water shortages, like the American Southwest, some residents have turned to artificial turf, fake grass made from petroleum, instead of native plants. We live in a plastic- filled world and such is our obsession for grass, real or otherwise, that we choose plastic over something natural. It is truly bewildering.

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