From the American lawn to the freedom lawn: the perception and environmental impacts of manicured and naturalistic lawns

Abstract

Each residential manicured lawn in the United States averages three-tenths of an acre, cumulatively consuming over 20 million acres which comprises a significant portion of highly managed landscapes. Manicured landscapes are highly resource intensive, requiring copious amounts of water, fertilizer, herbicide/insecticide, and maintenance utilizing carbon emitting equipment. Additionally, manicured lawns contribute to natural habitat destruction, accelerating species extinction at rates that far exceed speciation. While numerous impacts are associated with manicured lawns, this aesthetic preference has largely been kept out of the conversation because it has become an accepted American landscape standard since the popularization of suburbia. The alternative is the naturalistic lawn which is characterized by mixed grasses and other herbaceous species allowed to grow and assume natural forms/habits. Although many homeowners are aware of the benefits of naturalistic planting and aesthetic forms, there is still much resistance to widespread adoption. Through this research, the perception, ecological, and economic benefits of naturalistic planting were studied. Data were collected through a literature review, survey, precedent studies, and a review of design guidelines with the overall goal of creating a projective design on a site in Pottawatomie County, Kansas illustrating naturalistic landscape design principles. Survey data were collected from residents with the ability to change their landscapes with manicured and naturalistic residential landscapes. From the survey analysis, lawns exhibiting a full extent of planting, no buffer edge, a mix of color and planting groups, and a medium growing height were most preferred. Regarding residents who did not have naturalistic lawns, the biggest deterring factors and challenges came from installation and establishment challenges while the most attractive factors for residents were wanting to increase pollinator populations and conserve water. Residents who had installed naturalistic lawns found managing aesthetics with expectations to be most difficult and found an increase in wildlife to be a pleasant surprise. These findings offer more insight into naturalistic lawn perceptions and contribute to the existing body of literature by developing naturalistic lawn guidelines leading to greater social acceptance.