A well-designed yard brings an abundance of environmental, financial, and practical benefits! A landscaping scheme that uses turfgrass as its centerpiece creates an attractive contrast to a home’s hardscapes and allows easy access to plantings. Turfgrass is an inexpensive, natural, and clean option for groundcover. Below are some of the ways a healthy lawn pays for itself many times over.
-A lawn filters air and water, cooling the environment. In the summer months, temperatures in and around our homes and other buildings are more comfortable when surrounded by turfgrass. It is not uncommon for turfgrass temperatures to be 15 to 25 degrees cooler than hardscapes. This reduces our dependence on air conditioning, lowers our electricity costs, and encourages more time outside. That water you think you are saving by not having a lawn may well be used at the power plant to generate electricity for cooling.
– A lawn absorbs and disperses sound waves, resulting in a quieter environment by muting the noise generated by activity surrounding the home.
– A lawn protects the environment by absorbing hundreds of pounds of pollution from air and water. Pollutants from vehicles and industry are filtered by turfgrass before toxins can contaminate rivers, lakes, and groundwater.
-Lawns protect the soil from wind and heavy rain erosion and trap many airborne dust particles.
-Turfgrass efficiently converts carbon dioxide into oxygen. An average residential lawn of 5000 square feet produces enough oxygen each day to meet the needs of 8 people.
-Turfgrass lawns act as a firebreak for homes in a high-vegetation area. A healthy lawn may be the deciding factor in determining home safety during a wildfire.
– It is widely accepted that an attractive landscape will add 15 to 25 percent to the value of a home. And, in general, a well-balanced landscape can be established for much less than 10 percent of the new home value.
-Turfgrass is tough enough to withstand traffic that may destroy other, more fragile forms of ground covers. It keeps a home cleaner by preventing mud and dirt from being tracked inside the home.
-Not only does turfgrass beautify a home and yard, but it also enhances an entire neighborhood resulting in happy residents and neighbors.