Environmental benefits of Turf grasses/ Well-maintained Lawns

Healthy well maintained lawns provide truly marvelous environmental benefits which contribute a lot to the world around it. Environmental benefits of Turf grasses/well-maintained lawns are as follows.

Cooler and quieter: when the heat is on, Turf grass helps keep you cool. Street or sidewalk temperatures may reach 100oF or higher, but turf remains at 75o. This could mean that the front lawns on a block of eight houses perform the same cooling work as 70 tons of air-conditioning-enough to cool off homes.

Turf also makes your life a bit quieter. It effectively absorbs and deflects sound. When combined with trees and other landscaping, a lawn can reduce harsh, unwanted noise to a distant murmur.

Help in breathing: A healthy lawn us an amazingly efficient production system. Turf plants remove carbon dioxide from the air and produce oxygen in return. Just 625 square feet of turfgrass supplies all the oxygen a person needs for one day. An average home lawn of 5,000 square feet produces enough oxygen for eight people each day. In comparison, it takes two 100-foot trees to provide the same amount of oxygen for eight people.

Soil saver: Turf grass controls erosion by knitting the soil together, trapping runoff water, and eliminating many of the problems caused by dust and mud. And it’s one of the more efficient water savers you will find in nature. A healthy lawn absorbs rainfall six time more effectively than does a wheat field.

Dust trap: if you have ever walked through a dry, barren area, such as a construction site, on a windy day, you have some idea of what life might be like without healthy lawns. Clouds of windblown dust make for difficult breathing, irritated eyes, and reduced visibility. Turfgrass is an effective air cleanser. It shows the air moving across its surface, so that dust particles settle out onto the blades and are eventually washed back to the ground. Every year Turfgrass traps millions of tons of dust that would otherwise blow unrestricted.

Pollution fighter: In one year’s time, the blades and roots in an acre of healthy turfgrass absorb hundreds of pounds of pollutants from the air and rainwater. Among them are sulpher dioxide, nitrogen oxide, hydrogen fluoride, nitrates, and other gases blamed for acid rain and greenhouse effect.

A common misconception is that the products put on lawns contribute to groundwater contamination and to algae blooms in nearby ponds and lakes. The truth is that few materials get past grass roots. The dense root system under a healthy lawn captures pollutants as water filters through the soil.

Safe surface: Perhaps the most important benefit is the recreational value lawns provide for young and old. Dense turf is a safer playground and playing field than nearly any other surface. It reduces the severity of many injuries and helps to cushion falls.

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