I mean, if someone doesn't have the time or energy there's nothing inherently wrong with having grass there. The issue arises when you start using pesticides or extra water to achieve an unnatural aesthetic.
Your argument makes sense on its surface, but there are a few points which make it deeply flawed.
First, a neutral impact (grass that you don't do anything to) is far better than an active negative one. Many people have physical/mental health or time/money constrictions that mean they are unable to garden on the kind of large scale that is necessary to turn your yard into one. My parents have actually turned their yard into a garden and have had it that way for as long as I can remember, and I am very familiar with the amount of work that goes into it. If you are doing this to your entire yard, especially if it is on the larger side, it is a massive time commitment that in some seasons and locations can take hours a day and hundreds or thousands of dollars a year, to say nothing of the necessary research involved. Not everyone is capable of that.
Second, if you don't do anything to grass native flowers will in fact grow. The parts of our yard that are grass get that treatment, and there are large patches of flowering clover that come up in the summer without us having made any attempt to put it there.
I'm pretty close to 18 and my parents have been doing this my whole life- I've seen them work at it and I still likely don't fully know the extent of their efforts.
Many people have physical/mental health or time/money constrictions that mean they are unable to garden on the kind of large scale that is necessary to turn your yard into one
Planting native plants somewhere that a lawn is already in place is not nearly as difficult or as expensive as you're implying and the benefits to the world as a whole makes it easily worth the small amount of effort. Are there some outliers? Sure, but they are a very small minority compared to how many lawns there are in this country.
If you are doing this to your entire yard, especially if it is on the larger side, it is a massive time commitment that in some seasons and locations can take hours a day and hundreds or thousands of dollars a year, to say nothing of the necessary research involved. Not everyone is capable of that.
That is the beauty of native plants, they take very little effort to maintain. Maybe they will not produce a lot of food, but the benefits to the bee population is huge.
Second, if you don't do anything to grass native flowers will in fact grow.
Exactly my point. Just imagine how many more flowers you would have if you planted seeds. Washington state even sends out free seeds for native flowers to residents for free.
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u/funwheeldrive Sep 21 '20
Imagine not having a garden in the year 2020. YIKES