Hum. Delly-Because they need less water, fertilizer and pesticides on them. I have also read other articles that said that grass lawns are a major contributor to carbon emissions because of all the mowing they get with gas powered mowers.
I'm guessing!!!! ONLY GUESSING here, because I know how little work each requires.... Is that they aren't good for the environment. Unless you want the free fertilizer the geese donate to them, as the answer.
For thousands of years the benefit of green grass has long been recognized. The amount of maintained grass area in the US could cover the six New England states, approximately 27 million acres. Besides the aesthetic value of a green area there is also a psychological component contributing to a relaxing mood and a feeling of well being. While the maintenance of green spaces may elicit concern for the environment , manufacturers of lawn products are beginning recognize and address issues of concern. Green areas as lawns and golf courses contribute to the air we breath by converting co2 to oxygen. Grass also acts to reduce localized air temperatures , trap air polluting particles and dampen excessive noise. Grass aids in soil retention, reducing erosion. The benefits of a well maintained lawn are not lost when presenting a good business image to the general public which leads me to my favorite well maintained lawn. The green expanse covering a baseball field as I first enter a stadium for a night game and an atmosphere charged with excitement. I always stand awhile in awe of the green majesty of grass. And hope the home team will be playing their best. Jerry
Spoiler Swedish scientists found that a large majority (63 percent) of the 200+ golf courses they studied in the UK were found to have ecological values similar to, or higher than, nature-protected sites such as forest areas, state parks, and biological preserves. They concluded that they contributed to the air quality by converting carbon dioxide to oxygen. Therefore golf courses improve the air quality. They trap air polluting particles and can also help to reduce excessive noise pollution. Grass also aids in soil retention and reduces erosion.
I dont know that they are either good or bad for the enviornment. They do spend outrageous amounts of money to keep them up though, which I think is a big waste. I do not play golf and have no use for the 'sport' either. How boring to pan an endless sky trying to find the stupid ball. And then they make you be quiet while you are bored to death... No thanks. I bet the poisons they use to kill weeds are very bad for the enviornment though.
Ploughing ground releases CO2, lawns and other large areas of grass and even fallow fields hold the CO2 in the ground. Much of this CO2 is ancient and has been there for ages. We all know that plants need and use CO2, giving off O2 (oxygen) as a byproduct of living. When these plants (and other living things) die and decompose the CO2 that they were holding is released into the atmosphere, but some is slowly re-released into and absorbed by the soil where it remains fixed and stored until the soil is disturbed as with ploughing. This releases it back into the atmosphere once again. It has been estimated that releasing CO2 stored in the soil is three times greater than the CO2 stored in living things. There may be other positives to having expanses of grass (one may then infer that those expanses do not get ploughed), but this is also a valid reason, and one reason that I do not turn my soil over, but only min-till it.
Delly--Wow, I never knew grass did so much good. We have a super grass growing in our yard. Zoysia. It is so dense that the weeds have a hard time growing in it. It also stays fairly short so we mow less often. It is sooooo soft to walk on :-D It's like walking on a carpet. I have learned so much from one simple question.
Who would have thought that lawns and golf courses are good for the environment? USDA's Agricultural Research Service found that turfgrass captures and stores excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, acting as a greenhouse gas scrubber. The study examined soil records from Denver-area golf courses and learned that trapping carbon in the soil lasts up to 31 years in fairways and 45 years in greens.
