We have a rectangle of grass in front of our house that is just big enough for a picnic. But why would we want a picnic in our front yard? The bigger question is why the heck did we have the builder put in a postage stamp of grass anyway? It is ridiculously high-maintenance and stupid bad for the environment. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing those vibrant, green springtime lawns blanketed with brand-new dandelions when riding through the State Park. The colors pop! The greenish-yellowish buds swishing and sweeping from the pantheon of willow trees along the lake adds a beautiful accent to the verdant soft grass and those intensely yellow buttons. But turf grass — which, in the United States, covers the combined surface area of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts — is horrible for the environment. Our perfect, well-trimmed lawns are mono-cultures that........

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