Having a beautiful, natural lawn has many benefits besides its appearance, one of which is how it helps the environment. When you choose to have a natural lawn, you are choosing to have a positive impact on the environment. Natural lawns are a sustainable and eco-friendly choice, helping to contribute to overall environmental health. You can enjoy the beauty of your lawn while knowing you are helping the planet.
The planet is really feeling the impact of modern society, which is why we all need to do what we can to help. Thanks to environmental campaigners, plastic use has been significantly reduced, but we need to do more than that. It is surprising just how much you can do to help the environment, even in small things such as having a healthy lawn. Keep reading for some of the environmental benefits of grass.
How Your Lawn Helps The Environment
Clean Air
Grass, like all living plants, takes up carbon dioxide and releases oxygen. Having an appropriate amount of oxygen is essential for life on our planet, as is the trapping of carbon dioxide.
Healthy lawns are extremely efficient at producing oxygen. A 25-square-foot area of healthy grass will produce enough oxygen each day to meet the needs of one adult. Too much carbon dioxide can lead to higher temperatures, as well as other environmental dangers. Not only does grass remove carbon dioxide, it is also great for trapping dust. This keeps it out of the air and your lungs, creating a much higher air quality.
Trap Water
When your lawn is healthy and well-maintained, it will absorb significant rainfall. Grass has a superior ability to hold runoff water, allowing more infiltration through the soil.
Rain can be an issue when there’s too much water and not enough lawns to absorb it effectively. In areas without a lawn, the soil, mulch, or gravel washes away, taking debris along with the rain water. This can block storm drains and potentially lead to flooded streets and polluted lakes. Having a lawn will slow the runoff while allowing time for water to seep back into the ground.
Cooling Effects
Although grass is exposed to the sun, your lawn will cool itself through the natural process of transpiration. This is the process where moisture is carried through plants from the roots to small pores on the underside of leaves. It changes to vapour and is released into the atmosphere. The evaporation process lowers the grass temperature. This is very effective, with air temperatures over grass being considerably cooler than over concrete or similar surfaces on a sunny day.
This benefit extends to your home. Areas where there are more buildings and concrete surfaces tends to be significantly warmer than those surrounded by grass. A home with a lawn is more likely to be cooler than one with a concrete surface.
Enhancing Your Lawn’s Sustainability
To enhance your lawn’s sustainability you should ensure your lawn is kept healthy. If your grass was left untreated and therefore died, the environmental benefits are no longer there. The healthier your grass, the better it is for the environment. You can greatly help our planet just by caring for your lawn and ensuring that it is healthy and thriving throughout all the seasons.
How you keep your lawn healthy changes as the seasons do. In summer, for example, you should make sure when you cut your lawn it isn’t too short to help reduce any stress on your lawn. In autumn, on the other hand, you should make sure all leaves that fall onto your lawn are raked up and moved away. For more seasonal lawn care tips, read our lawn care calendar.
It can be a big help to get a professional in when it comes to keeping your lawn healthy. At Greensleeves we have carefully compiled our selection of lawn treatments to ensure your lawn receives everything it could possibly need to thrive. If you are worried about your lawn and how to keep it healthy throughout the year, get in touch with us today. We can also help diagnose your lawn if you think there is an issue that is damaging your grass.
If you have been looking for a way to contribute to the health of the environment, definitely look at the health of your lawn. If we all had healthy lawns that helped contribute to the health of the environment, we may be in a much better position than we are right now. Help save the planet with the environmental benefits of grass.
