Does the Lawn Necessarily Require Inputs

Plants, as a rule, tend to grow upwards towards the light, transforming available moisture and solar energy into complex sugars that build tissue. While the range of plant adaptations to meet this bottom-line need is vast, those of turfgrasses are specific and notable. 

Countless generations of grazing by wild and domesticated animals resulted in the survival and reproduction of the specialized qualities of grasses, especially turfgrasses. The evolutionary advantages of grasses, most clearly developed in 

More commonly, owing to continual grazing or mowing of the seedstalk before it reaches the inflorescence stage, turfgrasses grow asexually through 

Of course, as noted previously, grasses have evolved to deal with harsh and uneven conditions. Living in some of the most extreme temperature and precipitation zones in the world, Poaceae are prepared to live periodically without water or nutrients. Indeed, each species of grass is uniquely adapted to the periodic scarcities of water, sunlight, and nutrients typical of the area to which they are indigenous. 

Thirdly, insects are the most abundant creatures on Earth. Outnumbering all other animals in total numbers, the number of known insect species is also larger than all other animals and plants combined. Insects are diversely adapted, reproduce quickly, and are at times ravenous. Their arrival in a monocultural lawn in significant numbers is a periodic inevitability unless constant vigilance, labor, and inputs are used. 

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But simply because lawns are part of a classed economy and are part of an economic vision of consumer citizens, does not mean such landscapes need be input-demanding or intensively managed by necessity. Given that lawns take the specific contemporary form they do, must they necessarily require high levels of inputs, including the chemical inputs that make lawn people so anxious ... 

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