Newspaper Article

Letters

Andrew Schock, Beth Dillaha, Bob Gonzalez, Ted Henry, Andrew Manning, Carol Greenberger, Bruce Dalzell

2000

Overview

As the most severe drought of the century continues to grip the Southeast, lawns are dying. But there is something homeowners can do now to prepare for next summer's heat wave: replace their lawns with native plants and other no-lawn landscaping. In urban areas, lawn irrigation accounts for as much as 30 percent of water consumption on the East Coast, with the average lawn using 10,000 gallons of water over the course of a summer. Coupled with intense water needs, the high doses of fertilizers used on many lawns are environmentally destructive. The average suburban lawn is deluged with 10 times the quantity of chemical pesticides an acre as farmland. It appears builders, when clearing lots, bulldoze dirt up against trees, covering their roots and bases and causing a slow death. In one to two years, the beautiful trees die and have to be removed, sometimes costing more than $1,000.

• Publisher: Atlanta Journal Constitution, LLC