If you've been looking for a way to live a more sustainable lifestyle, a great place to start is giving up your well-manicured lawn for something less taxing on your time and the environment.
No place is better manicured and meticulously planned like the Allen Centennial Gardenslocated on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Other than being a beautiful place to visit, the gardens serve as a teaching tool for UW students, the public, and green industry across the state.
Gardens Director Ben Futa explains that the key to changing your lawn into your own little patch of sustainability is to be patient. Put away the lawn mower, fertilizer, and other tools and simply sit back, relax and watch your lawn do its thing.
"It's one big creative landscape. It's a huge palette," says Futa. "One of my friends described gardening in the absolute perfect sense...that it's the slowest of the performing arts."
You will be surprised by the diversity, wildlife and beauty your lawn will add to your home by simply letting it be. Material culture contributor Gianofer Fields visited the Allen Centennial Gardens to explore what happens when we give up the suburban idea of the perfect lawn for something more sustainable:
Gianofer Fields studies material culture at UW-Madison and is the curator of "RadioChipstone" - a project funded by the Chipstone Foundation, a decorative arts foundation whose mission is preserving and interpreting their collection, as well as stimulating research and education in the decorative arts.
