RADNOR – The Radnor Environmental Advisory Council is launching a new program to encourage residents to develop eco-friendly lawns.
On Earth Day, April 22, they plan on formally announcing their eco-friendly yard program.
Margaret Reinhardt, chairperson of the township’s EAC, told Radnor’s commissioners they’ve been discussing an educational program to encourage eco-friendly lawns.
“We’re hoping to launch a different way of educating residents, and that is by modeling what … is an ecologically friendly yard. This involves a change in really a person’s kind of sense of aesthetics,” Reinhardt said.
According to Reinhardt, five or six percent of land in the United States is covered by lawns that are mainly covered by grass.
About 65 percent of Radnor residences are single-family homes with lawns of varying sizes.
Water and fertilizers are often applied to lawns that give nothing, such as food produced by farmers, in return.
Reinhardt said solutions for the problems include mowing and watering less, mulching or compositing clippings and leaves, and avoiding chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
The EAC also recommends doing away with gas-powered lawn equipment and opting for using electric lawnmowers. They are also enraging people to make rain gardens, install rain barrels and reduce grass by planting native plants, bushes, and trees.
“Ultimately, we would like to start educating to reduce the grass by planting native plants, bushes and trees,” Reinhardt said.
Those native plants, she said, require less or no mowing, and they often have deeper roots to absorb heavy rains, which means less flooding. That also means they generally need less water than a lawn.
On Earth Day, Reinhardt said they plan on having a native plant giveaway at the Radnor Township Administrative Building. Along with the native plants, they also plan on providing informational brochures.
The other announcement that will be made is the eco-friendly yard awards, highlighting Radnor lawns that have achieved the distinction of being labeled eco-friendly. Those property owners will receive yard flags signifying the eco-friendly lawn designation.
Reinhardt said the point of the flag is to let people passing by a neighborhood know that the yard doesn’t have a messy lawn, but an environmentally good lawn.
“The purpose is to educate Radnor residents on lawns,” Reinhardt said.
Commissioner Sean Farhy said he supported the plan but asked about the potential for someone to use it as an excuse to let their lawn go and not take care of it.
Reinhardt said she doesn’t think it will promote neglect.
“I’m not sure it’s going to initiate a big problem, but that is certainly a thought,” Reinhardt said.
Moira Mulroney, board president, said the flags the EAC are providing would show that the yards are intended to look the way they do.
