Gardeners are being encouraged to save our ‘at risk’ domestic garden lawns and help protect the environment.

Research shows that up to 15% of our 17 to 20 million lawns are at risk of being dug up to provide car or caravan parking, for building extensions or to provide hard landscaping.

National Gardens Park is lawn mower maker, John Deere’s awareness campaign which is dedicated to protecting our lawns, safeguarding the vital environmental and social benefits they bring in our increasingly urbanised society.

A quick check-list of the benefits of lawns includes:
• Reducing the risk of flash flooding by allowing rain to permeate the soil reaching nature’s natural reservoirs
• Converting harmful CO2 into oxygen
• Providing an essential natural environment for insects, mammals, birds and invertebrates
• Controlling pollution by absorbing sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide
• Helping cool down summer temperatures
• Helping control allergies by filtering allergens and trapping pollen and dust

“The vast majority of lawns are inevitably in urban and inner city locations where the natural environment they create is essential for a balanced eco-system.” They are an essential part of our green infrastructure,” says John Deere’s David Hart.

He points out that 100 square metres of lawn will produce sufficient oxygen each day to support nearly two adults and the total area of domestic lawn supports half of the population.

Explaining the name John Deere’s National Garden Park he explains that using a conservative estimate the total number of domestic lawns equates to 772 square miles, an area larger than the recently created South Downs National Park (627 square miles).

“Our National Gardens Park is equivalent to our third largest National Park, just smaller than the Lake District – 885 square miles with a lot of water – and Snowdon at 827 square miles but with lots of rock.

“The challenge,” says David, “is encouraging people to appreciate that their garden lawn, regardless of its size, is a vital piece in a much larger jig saw and we all know the effect of a missing piece. Every garden lawn in this country is absolutely vital and must be protected and retained, for the benefit of us all.”

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds agrees. John Day, the RSPB’s urban advisor. Said: “Lawns are one of the most undervalued wildlife resources of the built environment. If retained and managed properly they can be home to invertebrates, many of which need grass to complete their life cycles. Important in their own right, some of these invertebrates in turn help provide food for declining birds like house sparrow and starling as well as mammals such as hedgehogs.

“If not over-manicured, lawns can also provide seed for some birds and flowers such as daisies are a valuable source of nectar for declining pollinators such as bees and also for hoverflies which feed on aphids.”

Concerned about preserving our environmental heritage, the sale of school playing fields and the use of Green Belt for housing, Roger Wolens, director of The Green Organisation, said: “What better place to start protecting than in your own front garden. Nothing looks better or smells fresher than a newly-cut lawn. We will do all that we can to help make this campaign the success it deserves to be.”

To join John Deere’s National Gardens Park go to www.johndeere.co.uk/nationalgardenspark - membership is totally free.
 

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