Nature’s green friend

Grass – a lawn – signified all that was important to the home-owner; it was their territory; it showed that they were putting down roots; it was England.

That was then; this is now, and many a lawn has been ripped up and replaced – with wooden decking, concrete, tarmac. Yet not only can a lawn be a thing of beauty, it is also a vital ingredient in the health of the environment.

A lawn can reduce the risk of flash flooding – unlike an impermeable surface, it can soak up rainfall and prevent runoff.

It also converts harmful CO2 into oxygen, is a home to numerous insects and a feeding ground for many birds.

Turning a lawn into a parking spot for the family car(s) may seem like a good use of space, but it could be a recipe for disaster.

And just think of all those lawnmower manufacturers who could be put out of business...

A few weeks ago, Yorkshire householders were urged to help the environment by reducing the risk of flooding from rainwater running off newly resurfaced drives and gardens in the region each year.

Paul Harris, sales and marketing director with Halifax-based Iplas, producer of Zypave, a plastic grid surface solution used in drainage systems, said the problem of urban flooding was caused partly by drainage systems being deluged by rainwater.

He said that this was compounded by too many home owners continuing to lay impermeable surfaces such as tarmac – despite alternative and cost-effective permeable materials, which deliver environmental and other benefits, now being readily available – and local authorities failing to notify householders of planning requirements or inform them that permeable options exist.

Mr Harris called on Yorkshire’s local authorities to instigate a public education campaign, to raise awareness of these materials, alongside applying the law relating to paving over drives and gardens.

So perhaps it’s time we should all join in the fight to save the lawn; England just wouldn’t be the same without it.