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Wildlife Gardening Forum Conference 28th

June 2012

Lawns, Biodiversity and People

You may wonder why lawns have been singled out for a special themed conference meeting, and

possibly feel that the subject is not of great general interest. But lawn management could be one of

the Forums greatest challenges, and one of our biggest opportunities, not just within private gardens,but over the whole fabric of urban green infrastructure.

Lawns are the biggest single habitat component in most gardens, usually covering more than half their

area. For most people they are an essential multi-function resource, used for childrens play, sitting

about in the sun, hanging out the washing and a place to chuck crusts to feed the birds. We may moan

about mowing grass, but it is actually quite a quick and easy form of management, frequently popular

with techno-centric middle aged men. Whatever we recommend for wildlife, it has got to fit in with

what gardeners want.

On the other hand, conventional lawns are not very sustainable. To avoid browning in dry periods,people use prodigious amounts of tap water, even though lawns always bounce back when it finally

rains. Some gardeners use large quantities of expensive fertiliser and selective herbicides to keep

them green and weed-free. These chemicals have a high carbon footprint, and cause releases of N20

much in excess of agricultural grassland. Cutting with a petrol lawnmower release much more CO2

than the grass lays down as biomass. These problems will get worse with climate change, to the

extent that the lush green English lawn may have to become a thing of the past.

In the urban environment, the default management for public open spaces, road verges, roundabouts

and land left over after development is boring mown rye grass, in many cases useful only for

emptying dogs. This uninspiring green desert is managed by contractors forced to underbid their

competitors, and on a shoe-string basis that amounts only to regular hard cutting. Surely, as our

Patron Sarah Raven has shown, these areas can be adopted by local people, diversified and managed

to provide an attractive, stimulating and more biodiverse area that can increase local pride, and reduce

vandalism. Does the default choice always have to be grass?

Lawns are similar in many ways to grazed meadows, and garden lawns can support more native plant

species than in the whole of the rest of the garden, although these plants may not be obvious because

they often cannot flower. We know allowing grass to grow longer increases the number of animal

species it can hold, and if plants like clover can flower, the lawn will support pollinators. However,

the heavy fertiliser treatment many lawns receive make it very hard to promote broadleaf plant

diversity against the competition of grasses. What management techniques can improve the picture?

There are probably also cultural values that need to change to make flowering lawns popular,

including the realisation that it is possible to have a pretty flowering lawn in the spring, which then

doubles as a hard working play area in the summer.

This conference should be of interest to all gardeners and naturalists, but perhaps especially so to

people who work with schools, councils and community groups to improve biodiversity and the

quality of human life in their local area. Establishing flowering lawns will be of great help to apiarists

and people interested in helping pollinating insects. For people with concerns about sustainability and

climate change, there may be less intensive forms of lawn management with biodiversity gains.

Your input in the discussions will help decide the Forums future policies on garden and public lawns,

so please think around these issues and come prepared to add your comments.