Environment

• Water
• Nature
• Turfgrass
• Plant Health

Turfgrass

Most of us appreciate the R&R (relaxation and recreation) benefits of the green space in our community. Soccer games, picnics, family gatherings, weekend golf games, and more take place in our yards, parks and school yards. In many ways, these benefits provide plenty of reason to maintain our neighborhood places of outdoor enjoyment.

But turfgrass used in many of these areas provides additional benefit to our communities. Healthy turf contributes to our communities in these often unnoticed ways, too:

• Research indicates well-maintained turf can reduce soil erosion in one of the most cost-efficient methods available.
• The grasses hold soil in place to prevent it from being washed into lakes, rivers, and streams.
• According to the Lawn Care Institute, turfgrasses trap an estimated 12 million tons of dust and dirt released annually into the atmosphere.
• Turf grasses can also trap and hold runoff⁶, which results in more water infiltrating and filtering through the soil-turf grass ecosystem.
• Well-planned golf courses and parks create aquatic habitats including ponds, lakes and wetlands while also maintaining and promoting plant and animal diversity. Typically, 1.7 times more area on a golf course is used for natural habitats such as roughs, woodlands, and water features than the combined area devoted to greens, tees, and fairways.

Want to learn more about turfgrass? Check out the Lawn Institute website.

⁶Beard, James B. and Robert L. Green. 2006. “The Role of Turfgrasses in Environmental Protection and Benefits to Humans.” The New Brunswick Horticultural Trades Association.