❤️❤️❤️ ALL of your videos are full of valuable plant information along with how to "grow with a conscience." This one has impressed me the most. You, and you're platform, have probably done more to teach people how to be better stewards of our planet than most governments have done. Keep up the great work. Grow on!
We live in the country on about 6 acres, 3 of which are lawn. I spend about 5 hours per week during the growing season (April-October), or about 130 hours per year just mowing it. We don't water the lawn and this summer we are in a drought so most of it is a nice crunchy brown. My long term goal is to convert about 70% of the lawn to wild , planting native trees, shrubs and wildflowers and prairie grass. I'd love to get back the time I spend mowing and use that time for my garden. In the 2 acres that has been growing wild, in spring we had our local volunteer fire department do a controlled burn. When spring turned to summer that area just exploded with wildflowers, back eyed susans, bee balm, cone flowers. It's nice to see all the pollinators, butterflies and humming birds at work out there.
Grow some clover and alfalfa! It's excellent for the soil. If you haven't learned about the Nitrogen Cycle, I highly recommend looking into it. Best wishes 💕
Here is a secret. You move grass 3 times a year (EU regulation on biodiversity ecological grasslands). Moving 3 times a year does not let shrubs develop and lets plants grow fully to seed. EU even pays people to do it.
Thanks for yet another great video, Nicole. Yes, this idea of an immaculate green monoculture we call “lawn” is just madness. At my place, we never water the grass, don’t put chemical fertilizer or any kind of pesticides or herbicides. I leave the lawn clippings on the lawn and sprinkle crushed egg shells and used coffee grounds as natural fertilizers. It’s nice to see the wild violets and clovers popping up by themselves.
It’s not madness and when people like you overreact it makes you look like an extremist. Insects are not disappearing because of lawns. Lawns take up a very small percentage of land in this country. Why is it that you can’t support your point of view without disparaging others??
Thank you for this information! It’s so hard to explain to people and change the mindset. I’ve seen “homesteader” TH-camrs put down 850 rolls of sod in their yard before and it’s now so painful to see 😭
I upvoted this before I even watched. I watched and it was exactly what I thought it would be. My wife hates the idea of a non-manicured "natural" loan. So we've had to compromise. We have a formal garden in the acre closest to the house. The other 2.5 acres is more natural. Planning to experiment with a food forest, hopefully relatively self sustaining, somewhere in the external garden.
Growing up in the 1970's my dad was not that big on lawn keeping. our yard was think with clover and we had years were the honey bees were just thick in our back yard. Got stung more then once when I stepped bare foot on one got to the point were I would just stop pull the stinger and be on my way. Bought my parents home about 15 years ago until last and this year I had not seen the honey bees
Thank you for sharing these thoughts, Cindy! It's mind-blowing how disconnected we've become from nature. But it's heartening there are people like you in this world who care deeply!
@@TrueFoodTV I will be the 1st to admit that I am very skeptical of the actual ecology movements too many Marxist involved, but at the same time here in the Midwest USA I have noticed a definite decrease in insect and bird life in the last 20 years
@@letsgowinnietheflu5439 yes a lot of these groups use communist tactics and are really just tools of the Marxists. And otherwise nice smart people are duped by them.
Love this!! Thank you TFTV family. :-) We're going to do this. I'm SO sick of our lawn. Fortunately we haven't put down any pesticides or fertilizer so the transition should be easier. We're going to research native plants and find the way forward. LOVE!
Hi Bruce, one of the more important things for a plant within its soil is the microbial activity present within that soil, the content of bacteria and certain algae’s. You’ll be pleased to know grass is one of the single best plants in supporting soil microbial development, and it’s massively helped by the majority (though not all) synthetic fertilisers.
I was thinking about doing this on one of my rental homes. It was built in the 1960s with a lawn in the front and in the back. I was able to see several photos overtime of the home and I noticed that the yards looked worse and worse over the years. We are currently putting the plans together to bring the property back to its natural state. If you are interested in some Time Lapse photos, let me know what angles you want. I’m not good at that photography stuff.
Great video as always! Your videos are so informative and aesthetically pleasing! Two things: 1) Not long ago I went to a lecture by Maya Lin and Edwina von Gal, and one of the things they talked about was this, "the largest irrigated crop in America." They mentioned things that were covered in your video such as not using pesticides and letting different varieties of plants grow to improve biodiversity. 2) I used to be the secretary for a cleaning company and seeing you seating with all those clovers around reminded me of a time a client complained about the gardener not mowing (she thought) because there were a lot of clovers that wouldn't entirely go away by moving. To be removed, they had to put a chemical to kill the clover and replant grass on the area. It's so sad that there are tons of people obsessed with a certain image of "perfection."
My neighbor is a forward thinking landscape architect and she converted her front yard from boring grass (and ever present “enemy” weeds) into a sort of rock garden with a variety of low maintenance native flowers and tall grasses and ground cover that thrives on its own. So much prettier and interesting to look at.
My ground cover is like a curated canvas of volunteer plants. So far I have found four kinds of ferns in just a small patch of land, some clover, and recently a creeper with tiny round leaves and tiny violet flower have turned (haven't figured out what it is yet). I also have an endemic flower, Torenai bicolor which also popped up own it's own and now it just reseed all the time. From what I have learned, if you are patient enough to wait and see what naturally pops up, nature will gift you the best plants for your garden. Just persuade nature, don't force it. I also got a great tip to only cut out plants and leave the roots to decompose, instead of uprooting it. A lot of biochemical activity happen between roots and soil biomes and leaving the root zone intact will benefit the other plants
I like the way you write it has a poetic quality I can tell you genuinely appreciate the details of your environment I feel as if I've seen it all for myself now. Here's hoping you're a Malabar Catholic and if you're a not I'm sure you won't mind if I light a candle for you as a blessing the next time I'm at Mass. Thanks for stimulating my imagination peace from the U.S. 🕊️
Biggest thing for me is always cut your lawn at the longest setting, and embrace long unkempt lawns, knowing that your healthier then your neighbours even if they don't like it... at least ours is more drought tolerant.
Hi , love from India 🇮🇳 Can you give me an idea , how can I make internal roads on my farm? What’s the cheapest and natural way of doing it so that I don’t disturb the main plantation by constantly walking over it. Thanks in advance❤️
That is why I never irrigate my lawn. Never spray any chemicals for weeds and never fertilize it. I always thought of it all as an effort to do what? To get the wow of a person walking by?
@@MichaelRei99 there is more than one way to take pride in one’s home. Having inedible, useless grass on one’s property for pure aesthetics is not for everyone. Just saying. And the fact that you made a generalization about all Indians based on a comment on the net is not a very flattering look.
I undid my lawn... and let it grow wild and I don't cut it lol I've had sooo many wild plants and more birds and bugs than ever around my home. I love it.
Growing up I always told my mom I shouldn't have to rake the leaves from the lawn they disappear anyway. But Noooo she had to make me rake them all up and send it off to the landfill. So I was right all along!
As you must know things grow on the edges , so some transition area is needed , it is called lawn or prairie . Water is not a finite source , only energy is. Otherwise I agree, waste is abhorrent . I mow the weeds to keep the trees down. Left to itself your lawn would be overwhelmed with trees in 10-20 short years.
having two acres of lawn. its a mix of grass clover . weeds ect. as long as there some color of green it fine by me it a waste of money and time. I enjoy see the tons of bees using the clover. there so much flowering in the yard I walk barefoot and they don't even bother me when I almost step on them.
I'm trying to ask my neighbors if I can Farm there Front yard and they can have all the food since they keep complaining about food prices. But they seem more interest in growing grass then saving money
There is no greater make work project than grass, and as soon as you stop, it starts to revert back to a wild area. Just like pushing a rock up a hill.
What sucks is a lot of hoas won't let any thing eles grow on these properties and keep there athoratrain communities all the same , or need permission ,some won't even let you grow certain plants, there all uniform ,I thankfully don't have that issue but it's sad to see instead of Leting people choses to grow more environmentally better and useful crops ,gardens ect..sad to see that grass....has takein over ,I moved to the mountains for that reason,7 acres ,bigg garden....lol its a must for me
Never fertilized or sprayed my lawn, I mow it just to avoid the township from fucking with me but I don't go crazy. I could care less about it and I have the nicest healthiest lawn .. nature takes care of itself.
We have a small lot in a neighborhood. Everyone thinks I’m crazy because I didn’t want to add grass on the whole .20 acre lot. We put gravel in the back where we keep cars & fire pit. On both sides of the house we have gravel. One side I am building a box garden lot. Our grass in the front is having a hard time growing. I really want to add more box gardens and wild flower. USDA had some rule that said I had to put a lawn in when we built. I wish I could have spent the money on the front yard I wanted instead of sprinklers and grass.
Great video, particularly your closing statement. This really is one way to make a small difference, it's too easy and there are no good reasons to continue with the status quo.
Dendilions are one of the most nutrition richest plants out there. Ask any expert. You can make honey from them, use them part of baking, you can cook roots for vegetables, and even make coffee from roots. Wild plants in general are lost knowledge these days. We are stuck in monoculture world. Cabbage family, nightshade family, couple common grains is like majority of what we eat. While world is full with millions of plants.
There are many commercial wild flower mixes available. On an old lawn that has not seen fertilizer or pesticides for over 20 years (currently a mix of fescues, clover, violets etc), can I just overseed without turning the soil?
I do agree that there are way to many plain, boring, over-watered lawns out there. I have a wildflower garden that I love right now, and I am seeding a large section of my 3/4 acre property with clovers and probably more wildflowers. We definitely need more creativity and diversity when we think about landscaping. That being said, I do think that there is a place for a cozy green lawn; it has practical recreational value, in my opinion, as long as it's not over done. And there are plenty of native grass varieties, many which are less water hungry, that work as good alternatives to what you would find at the big box stores.
In chapter 5 you mention that lawn mowers and leaf blowers and weed wackers emit more CO 2 than 11 cars would per hour. Where does that stat come from? How does one know that particular information is not coming from a source that has an agenda and thus might be getting creative or loose with the math to come up with that particular stat?
I have several sources to scientific studies undertaken in both US and Canada by both academic and government researchers. I'm a journalist. I know how to check my sources.
Do NOT eat dandelions 1) they have whatever insecticides are used around your home. (Especially if you have a pest control person come every few months
It irritates me to no end how much we have all been duped over the centuries into spending money on foolishness because we were tricked into thinking things that weren't true. The lawn thing is one of the biggest and worst. All because rich people needed to show off and companies wanted to make money.
Wow Nicole, no one could have said this better than you. Even here in South Africa we experience the same issues and water is horrendously expensive, so to keep a good lawn in our hot summers in nigh impossible. Thanks for being such a good advocate and sharing the real picture !
This is a great history! However it was slaves that took care of the lawn, including the lawns for Pres. Washington and other rich Americans, not paid servants.
Your best video ever!! I want to pass it on to my HOA who recently gave me a violation for having dandelions in my lawn. I have wanted to use my lawn for food production but it is against HOA rules. It’s time for HOAs to rewrite their covenants to reflect a healthier ecosystem for all.
Good to see you again! It's a sensitive topic that you navigated well and a reminder to me of what is "the biggest crop in America." I'm wondering how you have such a beautiful field without mowing it? I use 4 to 6 inches of woodchips as ground cover to avoid mowing and have an easy time at pulling weeds. I still have a little bit of grass here, but not where I walk. It is dry, tall, and full of seeds right now. As you said, nature is everchanging, so the appearance of that grass is also everchanging. In my tiny garden, a bunch of dandelions popped up. The greens very tasty, and the roots made excellent tea-pour boiling hot water on them in a teapot. To get the very last flavors in extra soakings, slow simmer also advised. Impressive video and you didn't even move an inch. You picked a great symbol of "Oh, what mistakes we've made."
@@MichaelRei99 I'm glad someone out there is reading, and no I'm not yelling at my sisters and friends to get rid of their lawns. I love the way Nicole Jolly gently nudges people in the right direction on this issue and many others. The ecological disaster caused by lawns and described in this video in detail is enough to make you want to vomit every time you see one. That's basically what Nicole said in Carl Porter language. In public places, at least this crop gets some use. If you want to list the top 5 reasons humans are going extinct soon, "the lawn" would be one of them. Nicole also says this at the end of this video. Throw some wood chips over it is my suggestion. You can get wood chips delivered to your home for free from one of the many tree trimming services. What could be better?
A lot of the "Look at how rich I am" You are condemning is also true of pets and decorative clothing and jewelry and fancy cars. I can keep going. And I bet you a whole nickel that the kind of person who wants a monoculture lawn doesn't watch your channel. But there's more. Damn few large lawns are monoculture. Mine isn't. Big money golf resorts and billionairres homes in Greenwich CT maybe, but most monoculture lawns are in the suburbs and that real estate is already isolated from the natural world by miles of roads.
I’m a grounds manager at an elite level football (soccer) club in the UK, and have been for 8 years now. Your understanding of this topic is effectively non existent. I’d make a particular note of your comments on chemical and nutritional inputs, the idea that all these micro/macro nutrients and traces of active chemicals hit drains has been disproved hundreds of times.
I got chickens about 6 years ago and made my husband stop spraying the lawn for them. My “lawn” is now as natural as can be and I’m too that point where an immaculate lawn looks ugly to me.
I'm planning on getting some of the taller metal beds this year. I already have two of them, but the next four will be the taller ones. Anything to save my back in the long run (plus, they look gorgeous!)
I'm from a small country in the Middle East called Lebanon. When I moved to the States it really bothered me that Americans cut their trees, put lawn all over, then starts pulling weeds, cutting the grass and just spending ridiculously time and money for nothing. It's been 8 years since I moved and until now that I made some progress convincing my husband to change little bit in our land.
@@nancyyamout8499 the point is is that you don’t move to another country and start telling them that they are doing things wrong. Why on Earth would anyone do that?
I never have been able to wrap my head around an "immaculate" lawn. If it requires that much effort and resources then naturally we are going against nature.
It actually doesn't require a lot of effort if you work to build healthy soil (which would be, by the very definition of healthy, bio diverse) you can easily get a lawn that is so healthy it crowds out everything else.
Ahh man I hate lawns. Hate it so much as it is wasted space and resources (especially water). Wife said she is scared of snakes and I asked her when she last spent time in the yard. She was not a happy camper.
No that would be a waste of time and infringe on peoples rights to pursue happiness. Let’s not be nature tyrants. It’s not a good look and won’t help the cause.
I can’t love this enough!!! I just bought 20 acres that have been vacant over 30 years. While it’s grown wild, and has lovely diversity, invasive plants have also taken hold and overrun much of the growth and inhibited native plants from taking root. So I’ve been removing invasive species (invasive honeysuckle, buckthorn, multiflora rose, choking clematis, and many others). I’ve also brought in and planted over a hundred bare root trees known to be beneficial to our state’s natural environment-sold by the DEC, Upstate NY. While I hope to build a small cabin, and eventually a home, I plan to maintain wild growth, bring in more native species, grow food in small regions while keeping the woods intact, and only harvest what I absolutely need. My degree is in biology with an ecological emphasis My career is is another field (which I love) It’s lovely to finally use my background for good. Thank you so very much for this video!! Get the word out!!!
Hardiness Zones was/is a brilliant consideration in Architecture and Landscaping Design. Although I am not a biologist nor botanist glad to hear that you are considerate of regional native species.
Cultivated weeds for no reasonable use but to make the house look nice. Here in Iowa we enjoy when the July hot dry weather hits and don't have to mow it for two or more months. I spend my growing flowers for the bee's and Humming Birds around the house and grapes for a fence. Best thing to do is create flower beds that have many different zones to attract pollinators
4:14 "hire servants"?? ... is that how you think Washington and Jefferson managed to keep such tidy lawns? For all intents and purposes you're yadayadaing over slavery in America being a part of "lawn care" in it's origins. Fascinating piece... just a mild omission in the details.
While growing native plants may be possible for most, rewinding lawns with native "weeds" is harder. Many homeowner associations won't allow it. Realtors and therefore banks claim that it lowers property values. This means that renters, landlords, and owners who feel that they need to sell in the near future cannot do anything but grow lawns. And then there are the unenlightened neighbors who will look on your lawn as a source of "weeds."
@@MichaelRei99 unenlightened people are not untermenschen. They are simply less informed. The problem is that some of them will actually prevent you from using your property in the way you would like. Your reductio ad hitlarium is absurd and obscene. I am perfectly willing and able to speak about actual Nazi ideology and it's video logical factions from the Strasser Brothers to Hitler.
It is forbidden by law in Europe to wash your car anywhere, where water is not collected and sent through treatment. So basically you cannot wash your car in your driveway, unless you have treatment system installed.
I hate working on the lawn. Weeds everywhere. It's hard. I'm only doing it because my wife wants it. How do we change the trend? Also, it's not as easy as you claim. Our yard was unmodified for years. It is a giant mess of really ugly fast growing weeds, nothing pretty, just tons of invasive weeds, the kind you really don't want, and have to deal with on their own.
@TURE FOOD TV Thanks you so much for making this video!! I spent a large majority of my life as an urbanite in NYC, but always with the heart and soul of an environmental steward and conservationist. Lots of love and support for my urban farmers, for sure. But last year, I had to move back home with my mom, who lives in a classic sort of suburb. And I find myself irate almost daily and screaming at the walls (because no one will listen🤣) about this EXACT TOPIC! Almost word for word! I am so grateful to have found your channel. Thank you for putting into words and broadcasting this message. It gives a lot of support to the other voices (like mine) which are not as readily heeded. It makes us feel less alone and more empowered to keep spreading this message.🙏
Thank you. What a fabulous episode. I wish there was a way to make every lawn loving person watch this. I ripped up my lawn about 20 years ago, much to the horror of some neighbours. I have a diverse postage sized garden with native plants, and some non native which eventually will be replaced, mulch and a veggie garden. Yup, in front of my house. Again many people did not like it at first. The cool thing is, over the years our neighbourhood has become only about 50% lawns and there are now many veggie gardens in front yards. Love it!!
❤️❤️❤️ ALL of your videos are full of valuable plant information along with how to "grow with a conscience." This one has impressed me the most. You, and you're platform, have probably done more to teach people how to be better stewards of our planet than most governments have done.
Keep up the great work.
Grow on!
That really means something to me. Thank you for the kind words.
+1 couldn't have said it better myself
We live in the country on about 6 acres, 3 of which are lawn. I spend about 5 hours per week during the growing season (April-October), or about 130 hours per year just mowing it. We don't water the lawn and this summer we are in a drought so most of it is a nice crunchy brown. My long term goal is to convert about 70% of the lawn to wild , planting native trees, shrubs and wildflowers and prairie grass. I'd love to get back the time I spend mowing and use that time for my garden. In the 2 acres that has been growing wild, in spring we had our local volunteer fire department do a controlled burn. When spring turned to summer that area just exploded with wildflowers, back eyed susans, bee balm, cone flowers. It's nice to see all the pollinators, butterflies and humming birds at work out there.
Oh wow, I would love to see that! So inspiring! Keep up the amazing work.
Grow some clover and alfalfa! It's excellent for the soil. If you haven't learned about the Nitrogen Cycle, I highly recommend looking into it. Best wishes 💕
Here is a secret. You move grass 3 times a year (EU regulation on biodiversity ecological grasslands). Moving 3 times a year does not let shrubs develop and lets plants grow fully to seed. EU even pays people to do it.
You should get goats or something..
Thanks for yet another great video, Nicole. Yes, this idea of an immaculate green monoculture we call “lawn” is just madness. At my place, we never water the grass, don’t put chemical fertilizer or any kind of pesticides or herbicides. I leave the lawn clippings on the lawn and sprinkle crushed egg shells and used coffee grounds as natural fertilizers. It’s nice to see the wild violets and clovers popping up by themselves.
It’s not madness and when people like you overreact it makes you look like an extremist. Insects are not disappearing because of lawns. Lawns take up a very small percentage of land in this country. Why is it that you can’t support your point of view without disparaging others??
Oh and BTW coffee grounds do not make good fertilizer unless they are composted first.
Finally - Someone applauds my laziness! Dandelions were almost extinct in my neighborhood until I came along.
I need to show this to my wife. The best video of this Chanel. This is one hell of a Chanel. I learned so much from here.
Thank you for this information! It’s so hard to explain to people and change the mindset. I’ve seen “homesteader” TH-camrs put down 850 rolls of sod in their yard before and it’s now so painful to see 😭
I upvoted this before I even watched. I watched and it was exactly what I thought it would be.
My wife hates the idea of a non-manicured "natural" loan. So we've had to compromise.
We have a formal garden in the acre closest to the house. The other 2.5 acres is more natural.
Planning to experiment with a food forest, hopefully relatively self sustaining, somewhere in the external garden.
Growing up in the 1970's my dad was not that big on lawn keeping. our yard was think with clover and we had years were the honey bees were just thick in our back yard. Got stung more then once when I stepped bare foot on one got to the point were I would just stop pull the stinger and be on my way. Bought my parents home about 15 years ago until last and this year I had not seen the honey bees
Thank you for sharing these thoughts, Cindy! It's mind-blowing how disconnected we've become from nature. But it's heartening there are people like you in this world who care deeply!
@@TrueFoodTV I will be the 1st to admit that I am very skeptical of the actual ecology movements too many Marxist involved, but at the same time here in the Midwest USA I have noticed a definite decrease in insect and bird life in the last 20 years
@@letsgowinnietheflu5439 yes a lot of these groups use communist tactics and are really just tools of the Marxists. And otherwise nice smart people are duped by them.
Love this!! Thank you TFTV family. :-) We're going to do this. I'm SO sick of our lawn. Fortunately we haven't put down any pesticides or fertilizer so the transition should be easier. We're going to research native plants and find the way forward. LOVE!
Bruce!! yessssss... let me know how/if I can help/advise. Love to you guys.
Hi Bruce, one of the more important things for a plant within its soil is the microbial activity present within that soil, the content of bacteria and certain algae’s. You’ll be pleased to know grass is one of the single best plants in supporting soil microbial development, and it’s massively helped by the majority (though not all) synthetic fertilisers.
I was thinking about doing this on one of my rental homes. It was built in the 1960s with a lawn in the front and in the back. I was able to see several photos overtime of the home and I noticed that the yards looked worse and worse over the years. We are currently putting the plans together to bring the property back to its natural state.
If you are interested in some Time Lapse photos, let me know what angles you want. I’m not good at that photography stuff.
Great video as always! Your videos are so informative and aesthetically pleasing!
Two things:
1) Not long ago I went to a lecture by Maya Lin and Edwina von Gal, and one of the things they talked about was this, "the largest irrigated crop in America." They mentioned things that were covered in your video such as not using pesticides and letting different varieties of plants grow to improve biodiversity.
2) I used to be the secretary for a cleaning company and seeing you seating with all those clovers around reminded me of a time a client complained about the gardener not mowing (she thought) because there were a lot of clovers that wouldn't entirely go away by moving. To be removed, they had to put a chemical to kill the clover and replant grass on the area. It's so sad that there are tons of people obsessed with a certain image of "perfection."
It’s so sad that you concern yourself with other peoples affairs. How about you mind your own business!!
My neighbor is a forward thinking landscape architect and she converted her front yard from boring grass (and ever present “enemy” weeds) into a sort of rock garden with a variety of low maintenance native flowers and tall grasses and ground cover that thrives on its own. So much prettier and interesting to look at.
My ground cover is like a curated canvas of volunteer plants. So far I have found four kinds of ferns in just a small patch of land, some clover, and recently a creeper with tiny round leaves and tiny violet flower have turned (haven't figured out what it is yet). I also have an endemic flower, Torenai bicolor which also popped up own it's own and now it just reseed all the time.
From what I have learned, if you are patient enough to wait and see what naturally pops up, nature will gift you the best plants for your garden. Just persuade nature, don't force it.
I also got a great tip to only cut out plants and leave the roots to decompose, instead of uprooting it. A lot of biochemical activity happen between roots and soil biomes and leaving the root zone intact will benefit the other plants
I like the way you write it has a poetic quality I can tell you genuinely appreciate the details of your environment I feel as if I've seen it all for myself now. Here's hoping you're a Malabar Catholic and if you're a not I'm sure you won't mind if I light a candle for you as a blessing the next time I'm at Mass. Thanks for stimulating my imagination peace from the U.S. 🕊️
Hi Nicole,
I always leave more educated after watching your channel.
You are so right on this about grass 🌱 it's a big markup.
Biggest thing for me is always cut your lawn at the longest setting, and embrace long unkempt lawns, knowing that your healthier then your neighbours even if they don't like it... at least ours is more drought tolerant.
Thank you for the TLDR timestamp. always appreciated.
Next native bugs
Please
Hi , love from India 🇮🇳
Can you give me an idea , how can I make internal roads on my farm? What’s the cheapest and natural way of doing it so that I don’t disturb the main plantation by constantly walking over it.
Thanks in advance❤️
That is why I never irrigate my lawn. Never spray any chemicals for weeds and never fertilize it. I always thought of it all as an effort to do what? To get the wow of a person walking by?
You are clueless! People do it for their own satisfaction. I guess having pride in your home is not important to Indian people.
@@MichaelRei99 psychologically the pride comes from others approval
@@MichaelRei99 there is more than one way to take pride in one’s home. Having inedible, useless grass on one’s property for pure aesthetics is not for everyone. Just saying. And the fact that you made a generalization about all Indians based on a comment on the net is not a very flattering look.
Love this video please dont lose your beauty and love for our earth we need more teachers of all things green like you god bless
I undid my lawn... and let it grow wild and I don't cut it lol I've had sooo many wild plants and more birds and bugs than ever around my home. I love it.
Great! That's what my garden looks like.
Growing up I always told my mom I shouldn't have to rake the leaves from the lawn they disappear anyway. But Noooo she had to make me rake them all up and send it off to the landfill. So I was right all along!
Leaves don’t disappear. Go into the woods and you’ll see plenty of leaves.
Sorry, Rocky's mom -- your kid was right! 😉
@@TrueFoodTV so you think they send the leaves to the landfill? No Rocky’s mom was right!!!
@@MichaelRei99 Not in the '70s. There was no such thing as composting or recyclable.
@@rockys7726 it certainly was where I’m from. We’re you around in the 70’s??
As you must know things grow on the edges , so some transition area is needed , it is called lawn or prairie . Water is not a finite source , only energy is. Otherwise I agree, waste is abhorrent . I mow the weeds to keep the trees down. Left to itself your lawn would be overwhelmed with trees in 10-20 short years.
Hard to believe you don’t have a million subscribers. Just a matter of time.
Thank you! If you could help spread the word, that would be awesome!
Thank you for sharing this message!!
having two acres of lawn. its a mix of grass clover . weeds ect. as long as there some color of green it fine by me it a waste of money and time. I enjoy see the tons of bees using the clover. there so much flowering in the yard I walk barefoot and they don't even bother me when I almost step on them.
I'm trying to ask my neighbors if I can Farm there Front yard and they can have all the food since they keep complaining about food prices. But they seem more interest in growing grass then saving money
There is no greater make work project than grass, and as soon as you stop, it starts to revert back to a wild area. Just like pushing a rock up a hill.
Not really . I enjoy taking care of my lawn and the exercise I get from maintaining it keeps me healthy. Win win!!
Dandelion buds saute'd in butter and garlic. Yumm
What sucks is a lot of hoas won't let any thing eles grow on these properties and keep there athoratrain communities all the same , or need permission ,some won't even let you grow certain plants, there all uniform ,I thankfully don't have that issue but it's sad to see instead of Leting people choses to grow more environmentally better and useful crops ,gardens ect..sad to see that grass....has takein over ,I moved to the mountains for that reason,7 acres ,bigg garden....lol its a must for me
Well don’t live in an HOA. Very simple.
My yard's on its own, I mow and trim to keep it neat..I have what I call weed zones around my garden which brings in pollinators..
I love this video thank you!
I love this chick damn
Never fertilized or sprayed my lawn, I mow it just to avoid the township from fucking with me but I don't go crazy. I could care less about it and I have the nicest healthiest lawn .. nature takes care of itself.
We have a small lot in a neighborhood. Everyone thinks I’m crazy because I didn’t want to add grass on the whole .20 acre lot. We put gravel in the back where we keep cars & fire pit. On both sides of the house we have gravel. One side I am building a box garden lot.
Our grass in the front is having a hard time growing. I really want to add more box gardens and wild flower. USDA had some rule that said I had to put a lawn in when we built. I wish I could have spent the money on the front yard I wanted instead of sprinklers and grass.
Great video, particularly your closing statement. This really is one way to make a small difference, it's too easy and there are no good reasons to continue with the status quo.
Congratulations on making Joe knows turf of the Burn and Return Podcast episode 50!
Well done!
Dendilions are one of the most nutrition richest plants out there. Ask any expert. You can make honey from them, use them part of baking, you can cook roots for vegetables, and even make coffee from roots.
Wild plants in general are lost knowledge these days. We are stuck in monoculture world. Cabbage family, nightshade family, couple common grains is like majority of what we eat. While world is full with millions of plants.
And it’s an invasive species you forgot to add!
There are many commercial wild flower mixes available. On an old lawn that has not seen fertilizer or pesticides for over 20 years (currently a mix of fescues, clover, violets etc), can I just overseed without turning the soil?
It’s funny that my daughter and I were talking about this tonight.
Two words: Astro Turf. (j/k)
🤣
I do agree that there are way to many plain, boring, over-watered lawns out there. I have a wildflower garden that I love right now, and I am seeding a large section of my 3/4 acre property with clovers and probably more wildflowers. We definitely need more creativity and diversity when we think about landscaping. That being said, I do think that there is a place for a cozy green lawn; it has practical recreational value, in my opinion, as long as it's not over done. And there are plenty of native grass varieties, many which are less water hungry, that work as good alternatives to what you would find at the big box stores.
15min video provides much more valuable stuff than so called experts' 2hours-life-wasting report 🥰
6:44 Not even for animals
Awesome video Nicole! I make sure my grass grows long so wildflowers can flourish..
Fascinating video. I refuse to water my lawn, that's what rain is for
There goes my American dream
😂 Here is to all the lawn Care Nuts!!! Strong and proud!!
American dream is a lie.
Love a nice lawn
Great video as always. Thank you for educating us.
I was so impressed… I subscribed!
I want clover and violets!!!!
Love it!
HOA hates this.
To keep a lawn green and neat is a way of making some businesses grow.
Thank you so much for making this video. I try to sing the gospel of no-grass to everyone who will listen. I hope this video gets a billion views!
Love it! Thank you! I have been thinking about this.
Ground covers?
I've been converting more and more of my yard into usable garden space. If I wanted a pristine green outdoor carpet, I'd lay down astro-turf.
Definitely an eye opening video.
In chapter 5 you mention that lawn mowers and leaf blowers and weed wackers emit more CO 2 than 11 cars would per hour. Where does that stat come from? How does one know that particular information is not coming from a source that has an agenda and thus might be getting creative or loose with the math to come up with that particular stat?
I have several sources to scientific studies undertaken in both US and Canada by both academic and government researchers. I'm a journalist. I know how to check my sources.
@@TrueFoodTV can you share them so we can
Emaculate video,
Emaculate video
Emaculate video
Lots of readings you did Nicole.
Thank you 🙏
Do NOT eat dandelions
1) they have whatever insecticides are used around your home. (Especially if you have a pest control person come every few months
Omg! You are singing my song! Tell it like it is Nicole!
I’m actully a Aussie.
The best way for a sustainable lifestyle is to abandon this lawns idea and convert them into food growing space it would benefit us all
I like clover because it tastes like apples.
It irritates me to no end how much we have all been duped over the centuries into spending money on foolishness because we were tricked into thinking things that weren't true. The lawn thing is one of the biggest and worst. All because rich people needed to show off and companies wanted to make money.
Watching this from England, it sounds like common sense; had no idea what Statesians did with their lawns. Seems odd.
I absolutely love how passionate you get about this subject. Most people wouldn’t give it a second thought.
Wow Nicole, no one could have said this better than you. Even here in South Africa we experience the same issues and water is horrendously expensive, so to keep a good lawn in our hot summers in nigh impossible. Thanks for being such a good advocate and sharing the real picture !
If you think that’s the real picture I feel sad for you!!
Oooh this is juicy.
This is a great history! However it was slaves that took care of the lawn, including the lawns for Pres. Washington and other rich Americans, not paid servants.
Strawberry lawn
Your best video ever!! I want to pass it on to my HOA who recently gave me a violation for having dandelions in my lawn. I have wanted to use my lawn for food production but it is against HOA rules. It’s time for HOAs to rewrite their covenants to reflect a healthier ecosystem for all.
No it’s time for you to accept the rules or get the heck out!!!
Good to see you again! It's a sensitive topic that you navigated well and a reminder to me of what is "the biggest crop in America." I'm wondering how you have such a beautiful field without mowing it? I use 4 to 6 inches of woodchips as ground cover to avoid mowing and have an easy time at pulling weeds. I still have a little bit of grass here, but not where I walk. It is dry, tall, and full of seeds right now. As you said, nature is everchanging, so the appearance of that grass is also everchanging. In my tiny garden, a bunch of dandelions popped up. The greens very tasty, and the roots made excellent tea-pour boiling hot water on them in a teapot. To get the very last flavors in extra soakings, slow simmer also advised. Impressive video and you didn't even move an inch. You picked a great symbol of "Oh, what mistakes we've made."
Having a lawn is not a mistake. Saying it is is a mistake and small minded!
@@MichaelRei99 I'm glad someone out there is reading, and no I'm not yelling at my sisters and friends to get rid of their lawns. I love the way Nicole Jolly gently nudges people in the right direction on this issue and many others. The ecological disaster caused by lawns and described in this video in detail is enough to make you want to vomit every time you see one. That's basically what Nicole said in Carl Porter language. In public places, at least this crop gets some use. If you want to list the top 5 reasons humans are going extinct soon, "the lawn" would be one of them. Nicole also says this at the end of this video. Throw some wood chips over it is my suggestion. You can get wood chips delivered to your home for free from one of the many tree trimming services. What could be better?
Suddenly producing 18x more oxygen than trees has no benefits lol. Lovely!
A lot of the "Look at how rich I am" You are condemning is also true of pets and decorative clothing and jewelry and fancy cars. I can keep going. And I bet you a whole nickel that the kind of person who wants a monoculture lawn doesn't watch your channel.
But there's more. Damn few large lawns are monoculture. Mine isn't. Big money golf resorts and billionairres homes in Greenwich CT maybe, but most monoculture lawns are in the suburbs and that real estate is already isolated from the natural world by miles of roads.
Lawns are awful. Thanks for covering the topic so well.
If you don’t like lawns don’t have one!!
I’m a grounds manager at an elite level football (soccer) club in the UK, and have been for 8 years now. Your understanding of this topic is effectively non existent. I’d make a particular note of your comments on chemical and nutritional inputs, the idea that all these micro/macro nutrients and traces of active chemicals hit drains has been disproved hundreds of times.
Can we look up the rate of cancers in your field of endeavor ?
I got chickens about 6 years ago and made my husband stop spraying the lawn for them. My “lawn” is now as natural as can be and I’m too that point where an immaculate lawn looks ugly to me.
Awesome!!
That’s just plain ridiculous! Grass is beautiful!!
@@MichaelRei99 not when all you can see is the amount of chemical that went into it.
@@MichaelRei99the media has trained you well
I'm planning on getting some of the taller metal beds this year. I already have two of them, but the next four will be the taller ones. Anything to save my back in the long run (plus, they look gorgeous!)
That's a really great idea! When/if I expand my garden, I would do the same!
I'm from a small country in the Middle East called Lebanon. When I moved to the States it really bothered me that Americans cut their trees, put lawn all over, then starts pulling weeds, cutting the grass and just spending ridiculously time and money for nothing. It's been 8 years since I moved and until now that I made some progress convincing my husband to change little bit in our land.
What do you think would happen if we went to Lebanon and tried to tell everyone there that what they are doing is ridiculous??
@@MichaelRei99 nothing! Some will approve and some will not. But for sure people will keep doing what they are doing.
@@nancyyamout8499 the point is is that you don’t move to another country and start telling them that they are doing things wrong. Why on Earth would anyone do that?
@@MichaelRei99 I respect what others do and it's definitely not my business, but that doesn't mean I should like it.
@@MichaelRei99 lol America does that all the time. They love to order people around. XD
I never have been able to wrap my head around an "immaculate" lawn. If it requires that much effort and resources then naturally we are going against nature.
It actually doesn't require a lot of effort if you work to build healthy soil (which would be, by the very definition of healthy, bio diverse) you can easily get a lawn that is so healthy it crowds out everything else.
You can’t wrap your head around science but you can wrap your head around a fairytale. Got it.
@@RamPuppy you clearly know your lawns!!
Ahh man I hate lawns. Hate it so much as it is wasted space and resources (especially water). Wife said she is scared of snakes and I asked her when she last spent time in the yard. She was not a happy camper.
all cities ordinances should watch this video to learn :)
No that would be a waste of time and infringe on peoples rights to pursue happiness. Let’s not be nature tyrants. It’s not a good look and won’t help the cause.
@@MichaelRei99 How the hell would that infringe on peoples rights?
I can’t love this enough!!!
I just bought 20 acres that have been vacant over 30 years. While it’s grown wild, and has lovely diversity, invasive plants have also taken hold and overrun much of the growth and inhibited native plants from taking root.
So I’ve been removing invasive species (invasive honeysuckle, buckthorn, multiflora rose, choking clematis, and many others).
I’ve also brought in and planted over a hundred bare root trees known to be beneficial to our state’s natural environment-sold by the DEC, Upstate NY.
While I hope to build a small cabin, and eventually a home, I plan to maintain wild growth, bring in more native species, grow food in small regions while keeping the woods intact, and only harvest what I absolutely need.
My degree is in biology with an ecological emphasis
My career is is another field (which I love)
It’s lovely to finally use my background for good.
Thank you so very much for this video!!
Get the word out!!!
Building a cabin on the land will ruin its biodiversity. You need to let the entire property stay wild!!!
Hardiness Zones was/is a brilliant consideration in Architecture and Landscaping Design. Although I am not a biologist nor botanist glad to hear that you are considerate of regional native species.
Well done, Monica!!!! What you're doing to nurture the environment is so inspiring! Thank you for all your hard work on those 20 acres.
Cultivated weeds for no reasonable use but to make the house look nice. Here in Iowa we enjoy when the July hot dry weather hits and don't have to mow it for two or more months. I spend my growing flowers for the bee's and Humming Birds around the house and grapes for a fence. Best thing to do is create flower beds that have many different zones to attract pollinators
4:14 "hire servants"?? ... is that how you think Washington and Jefferson managed to keep such tidy lawns? For all intents and purposes you're yadayadaing over slavery in America being a part of "lawn care" in it's origins. Fascinating piece... just a mild omission in the details.
While growing native plants may be possible for most, rewinding lawns with native "weeds" is harder. Many homeowner associations won't allow it. Realtors and therefore banks claim that it lowers property values. This means that renters, landlords, and owners who feel that they need to sell in the near future cannot do anything but grow lawns.
And then there are the unenlightened neighbors who will look on your lawn as a source of "weeds."
The neighbors are not un enlightened just because they don’t feel the way you do. That’s how the Nazis separated people.
@@MichaelRei99 unenlightened people are not untermenschen. They are simply less informed. The problem is that some of them will actually prevent you from using your property in the way you would like.
Your reductio ad hitlarium is absurd and obscene.
I am perfectly willing and able to speak about actual Nazi ideology and it's video logical factions from the Strasser Brothers to Hitler.
Lower property values means lower taxes. I’d emphasize that with the neighbors if they get worked up. Something we can all get behind
excessively watering the lawn (or washing the car every Saturday for that matter) should be forbidden. water is getting precious these days.
It is forbidden by law in Europe to wash your car anywhere, where water is not collected and sent through treatment. So basically you cannot wash your car in your driveway, unless you have treatment system installed.
Water has always been precious we are just now realizing it
I was actually thinking about same.
We can plant any other food plants, like fruits or kitchen garden, Orchard, orchid etc,
Yes, we have to think creatively! There are so many possibilities!!
I hate working on the lawn. Weeds everywhere. It's hard. I'm only doing it because my wife wants it. How do we change the trend?
Also, it's not as easy as you claim. Our yard was unmodified for years. It is a giant mess of really ugly fast growing weeds, nothing pretty, just tons of invasive weeds, the kind you really don't want, and have to deal with on their own.
Best presentation yet regarding the stupidity of lawns!!!
Don’t lose any sleep over it! My lawn is lush and green and not going anywhere!!
@@MichaelRei99 Whatever works for you.... certainly not losing sleep over your lushness 😀
WHY DONT YOU HAVE MILLIONS OF VIEWS. I'm not American but I love your consciousness.
@TURE FOOD TV Thanks you so much for making this video!! I spent a large majority of my life as an urbanite in NYC, but always with the heart and soul of an environmental steward and conservationist. Lots of love and support for my urban farmers, for sure. But last year, I had to move back home with my mom, who lives in a classic sort of suburb. And I find myself irate almost daily and screaming at the walls (because no one will listen🤣) about this EXACT TOPIC! Almost word for word! I am so grateful to have found your channel. Thank you for putting into words and broadcasting this message. It gives a lot of support to the other voices (like mine) which are not as readily heeded. It makes us feel less alone and more empowered to keep spreading this message.🙏
Such kind words. Thank you. From one NYC refugee to another.
We have a wild yard. Beautiful flowers, bee's , and birds all over. Love it.
I’m guessing you have a bumper sticker, or two on your car (vehicle). How about a nice game of golf?
Thank you. What a fabulous episode. I wish there was a way to make every lawn loving person watch this. I ripped up my lawn about 20 years ago, much to the horror of some neighbours. I have a diverse postage sized garden with native plants, and some non native which eventually will be replaced, mulch and a veggie garden. Yup, in front of my house. Again many people did not like it at first. The cool thing is, over the years our neighbourhood has become only about 50% lawns and there are now many veggie gardens in front yards. Love it!!
I live in the southwest. After seeing what’s going on just west of us we should all go zero scape, convert our sprinkler systems to drip.
no, pollinators aren’t dying at alarming rates.
Gonna watch Ryan knorr after this lol
Lawns have become a huge business over the years. They're pretty ridiculous. I prefer well-maintained organically treated natural growth.
That’s fine but their are people who appreciate a beautiful well kept lawn. You do you and let others do them.
@@MichaelRei99 Agreed.