Let the Grass Grow Free

Native meadow grass

Native meadow grass

There’s a movement afoot in Henrico County to make it easier to grow grass. Not marijuana. Meadow grass.

Lawns are one of the banes of suburbia. They are biologically sterile, supporting very little wildlife. They require constant maintenance, including applications of fertilizer that washes into the watershed and causes algae blooms in the Chesapeake Bay and its major tributaries. They hold little water during a downpour, contributing to the problem of storm water management. Last but not least, they require mowing, and small, inefficient lawnmower engines contribute disproportionately to air pollution. As a society, we’d be better off without lawns. Just one little problem: Homeowners love them.

If people want to keep their lawns, that’s fine with me. But people who want to convert their lawns to prairie grass should be free to do so. Trouble is, they can’t. Suburban county ordinances require homeowners to cut their grass.

In Henrico County, according to the Times-Dispatch, land within 250 feet of a residential property must be cut to a foot or less in height. But the Board of Supervisors is considering an ordinance that would loosen that restriction to 150 feet, and even 50 feet if a property owner is involved with a bona fide conservation program.

“This is a very positive step that the county is taking,” said Nicole Anderson Ellis, chairwoman of the Henricopolis Soil and Water Conservation District Board.

Added Mark Strickler, head of Henrico’s Office of Community Revitalization: “We had a case where somebody wanted to let their property go natural, and there really wasn’t a mechanism to allow that under the code.”

— JAB