Why grass lawns?

Why use grass as a ground cover? Aesthetic benefits are important as it adds depth, and dimension to the property. Combined with a healthy landscape it helps bring homes and buildings into the picture by adding a therapeutic value. What are some of the main benefits? Economic, health, environmental, let’s go through each of these and see what we can gain from having a grass lawn.

Economic benefits of a healthy turf can add as much as 15% to the value of the property. It improves curb appeal for the property and surrounding area. The return on investment of a healthy lawn is between 100-200%. There are some indirect economic benefits from a stand of turf by playing a significant role in reducing runoff and also having a cooling effect on homes and buildings.

Health benefits include promoting physical fitness. The turf helps relieve stress and gives a relaxing feeling. A healthy stand of turf also reduces the occurrence of injuries. Turfgrass traps over 12 million tons of dust and dirt particles from the air each year. Turf helps to reduce noise by up to 15-30%. They release oxygen while reducing the levels of carbon dioxide in the environment. A 2500 sq ft(50’x50′) area of turf is said to produce enough oxygen to sustain a family of four.

Environmental benefits of turf are that it stabilizes the soil. The majority of the weight of the plant is in its roots. Turf lawns help with temperature moderation and heat dissipation. A turf lawn can be up to 15-30 degrees cooler than bare soil and 30-50 degrees cooler than concrete. It helps with water purification, reduces water flow, allows soil infiltration, also removal and breakdown of unwanted materials in water supplies. Grasscycling, returning the clippings to the lawn/soil, helps the environment and the health of the turf. The grass clippings quickly decompose and release nutrients into the soil, reducing the need for fertilizer by up to 25%.