On my return trip home today, I witnessed the practice of spraying oil over top of straw as new grass seed had just been put down on the entrance drive to my subdivision. It has been listed as an Audubon Society subdivision because an approval process had been meet on the creation of “Green” space. I couldn’t figure out any reason for this process, so I asked the landscaper why this method was utilized. With so many geese present in the ponds and lakes scattered throughout the subdivision, this is done to prevent the geese from eating the seed.

Logical as this seems, the madness didn’t end there. Heavy concentrations of salt are put down during threats of frozen precipitation, non-native species of plants are heavily utilized in all common areas, and incorporated into landscape packages provided by builders. Upon receiving the Covenants and Restrictions, there was a dedicated section on how to apply to the homeowners association for any landscaping additions one cares to make. It listed by species what would be allowed and the irony is that less than 10% of them are indigenous to the region.

Lifestyle Improvement is about environmental responsibility especially when the developer opted to include an environmental strategy. Perhaps if common sense combined with the requirements of each of the plants selected is applied, the yearly cycle of replacing dead and dying areas could be eliminated. As an expanded thought – perhaps leaving as much of the natural surrounding in place and enhancing it with native species would require less human involvement.

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