Case Study for Homeowners
Homeowners Can Be Environmental Stewards with Zoysiagrass Lawns
by Frank Whitbeck, March 14, 2014
Homeowners Dream
Every American dreams of owning their own castle wherever they are located. Their minds visualize ample living spaces along with a healthy green lawn where children and grandchildren can play in a healthy environment.
Cheaper and Faster Growing Lawn Choices
With regard to their lawns, homeowners have an amazing variety of choices of what kind of grass to use. Typically they can buy something cheap and fast growing like grass seed (Fescue, Rye and Bluegrass) or a fast growing sod like Bermudagrass or St. Augustine. But cheaper grasses are really more expensive and impact the environment in the long run because they must be mowed more often and fed (fertilized) more often.
Cheap grasses also become “temporary” grasses when a weather event occurs, whether too cold or too hot, and a replanting is required: more labor and more cost. And Mother Nature loses in the end with all of the activities that keep cheaper, fast growing lawn grasses alive: heavy use of irrigation, heavy use of fertilizers, heavy use of chemicals like weed killers and fungicides, and more replanting of spot areas that die.
Spot areas generally involve activities requiring more use of labor and fossil fuel powered equipment such as heavy trucks, forklifts, mowers, lawn edgers, weed trimmers, blowers and lawn chemical services. We’ve seen one lawn chemical service advertising to homeowners an annual lawn chemical service that includes eight (8) visits a year to do something to your lawn (and that’s only chemical applications; mowing is not included).
More Expensive and Slow Growing Lawn Choices
In contrast, more expensive lawn grasses are more expensive for a reason; they are not just more luxurious, they grow MUCH SLOWER! That is what you want as a homeowner, which is a healthy, slow growing lawn. And that is what Mother Nature likes too!
With slower growth comes less mowing, use of less water and less maintenance after they are established. The best slow growing grasses are in the Zoysiagrass family of grasses. And Winrock Grass Farm for almost 65 years now has selected the very best Zoysiagrasses from around the world for home lawns for you and America to enjoy:
- Winrock Zoysia® for sunny areas
- ShadeKing® Zoysiagrass for lower light level conditions
- EZOY™ Zoysiagrass for ultra premium home lawns
What’s Good for Mother Nature
At another end of the spectrum is the “Plant a Tree” crowd. Trees are great but too many make a FOREST and hence there is no healthy lawn to enjoy and play on. While trees are good for the environment, so are slow growing, healthy lawns.
Consider that a healthy lawn creates oxygen. Just a mere 56 square foot area, 7.5 feet by 7.5 feet, can provide enough oxygen each day for one person to live. A healthy lawn also creates a “refrigerator effect.” Just think, a healthy front lawn and backyard can help a lot to actually COOL THE PLANET and solve global warming! (Read more about the Environmental Benefits of Winrock Zoysia®).
A healthy lawn also attracts and absorbs CARBON DIOXIDE, the exhaust of fossil fuel vehicles and machines, as well as dust and particulates that can cause hay fever and asthma. And, unlike a forest of trees, a healthy lawn can absorb massive amounts of rainfall and water runoff, as much as one foot in a day!
Think of your Zoysiagrass lawn as an ENVIRONMENTAL FILTER! So while it is good to plant and save trees, it is also good, even better in many cases to have a slow growing, healthy lawn. And, in particular, a healthy lawn that requires a lower use of water, mowing, fertilizers and chemicals to remain luxurious.
Winrock Zoysiagrass Offers the Best of Both Worlds
So here you have the best of both worlds. You can plant and promote trees and plant and promote a slow growing, healthy Zoysiagrass lawn selection from Winrock Grass Farm. Our 65 years of accumulated knowledge and experience drives us to recommend Winrock Zoysia®, ShadeKing® Zoysiagrass and EZOY™ Zoysiagrass because these grasses have been selected for requiring a lower use of water, labor and fossil fuels following establishment.
For homeowners, using grasses from Winrock Grass Farm translates to less carbon exhaust, less chemicals, less labor and less money cost inputs to maintain a healthy lawn. You can reduce your use of water, fertilizer, chemicals, and mowing (and pollution) by 50% or more compared to faster growing, cheaper grasses. Mother Nature will like that and your pocketbook will too!
About the Author
Frank Whitbeck, President of Winrock Grass Farm for 40 years as of May, 2019, has worked with the largest developers in housing, industry and golf in America to bring about a better environment.