How to Reduce Your Lawn to Benefit the Environment

A lawn, while useful, is a stretch of land that has been stripped of brush and planted with a single type of grass, which often requires watering and regular treatment with chemicals to remain looking nice. Some individuals consider a lawn to be an environmental sin, a type of hazard to the environment that humans should avoid partaking in. If you want to reduce your footprint and increase your home's green factor, you can reduce your lawn's size, and, in doing so, reduce the amount of chemicals used to keep it neat and water wasted to keep it alive.

Step 1

In order to reduce your lawn, you must kill the grass in the sections you no longer want. While you can achieve this using chemicals, that would defeat the purpose of getting rid of your lawn to help the environment. Though it takes longer, the better solution is black plastic. Simply cover the parts of your yard that you want to reduce with pieces of this black plastic. Stake the plastic in place using tent stakes and a mallet.

Step 2

Once half a year has passed, remove the plastic and recycle it. The weeds, grass, and miscellaneous plants that were in the yard should all be dead, leaving behind bare dirt.

Step 3

Till the ground with a tiller or break it up into smaller pieces using a hoe, shovel, or trowel. Turn the dead grass under the dirt to mulch it.

Step 4

Cover the newly-turned dirt with rocks, bricks, or mulch to prevent new grass and weeds from sprouting, which will happen within a week of turning the dirt. Be creative, and create something that is visually attractive. Consider mixing multiple styles together, such as brick walking paths interspersed between mulch groves and the occasional flowering shrub.