Take Back Your Landscape

When a new subdivision is created, the developer wants to sell the homes quickly so they can recoup their investment.  No developer can afford to sit and wait until the landscape matures.  Thus they plant a couple of trees, a handful of shrubs and then lay down sod to cover the rest of the yard.  This landscape on the fly becomes the basic landscape for the house.

The developer’s minimalist landscape is carried forward by the new homeowners.  They just paid a bundle for their new house and they postpone doing anything extensive in the yard.  They hire a lawn maintenance company to take care of things because they’re far too busy at their new job.

Lawn maintenance companies hate any sort of obstacle.  They want to offload their equipment quickly and zoom around the grass on a riding mower.  They richly deserve the term “mow and blow” maintenance companies because that’s their specialty.  The more properties they can service in one day, the more money they can deposit in their bank account.

Pest control companies, irrigation companies and sod companies have a vested interest in perpetuating vast lawns of St. Augustine grass so that they can make money off your high maintenance turf.  The pest control people profit off the bugs that attack your lawn while the irrigation companies profit off the periods of drought.  The sod companies profit off turf that has to be replaced because of the bugs and the drought.

Which raises some questions:  Do you really need a large, high maintenance lawn?   What value does that hold for you and your family?  Is this really a sustainable practice in this climate?

If you have little time or energy to devote to gardening, then perhaps you should stick with the large lawn, minimalist landscape.   Please remember that the costs of maintaining a lawn will go up each year.  Everything based on fossil fuels (including chemical fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides) will gradually go up in price.

If you have a moderate amount of time for gardening, then maybe a Florida friendly landscape would be more appropriate.  You can create interesting spaces in your yard (including some grassy areas) that are attractive and that work with the environment.  You can use xeriscape principles to reduce your irrigation requirements.

For somebody with a major interest in gardening, an edible landscape, butterfly gardens or cottage style gardens might be most appropriate.  You can lower costs by using organic methods.  Seek to incorporate permaculture strategies into your gardening.

It all depends on the individual.  Break away from the status quo.  Analyze how your landscape can serve your own needs and goals. 

 Just make sure that your landscape benefits you more than it benefits the landscape companies.