The Gift, Acrylic on canvas, 21” x 17”, framed
The End of An American Icon to
A New Wildscape
Maybe we will come to shape our little slices of land, if we’re lucky enough to have them, in a way that pays tribute to the America that once was, rather than the one we once willed.”
-Megan Garber
Until this summer’s drought hastened its death, the St. Augustine lawn has carpeted our front yard without much more help than compost and rain since 2014. It had been my intention to let it die and replace it with a more beneficial cover (beneficial to both the soil and animals), but until recently, it did so well that was not going to happen.
Most of my neighbors also let their lawns die out this summer, but my suspicion is that they don’t intend to replace them with anything. Whatever pops up in the spring will be. Unfortunately, a lot will be the invasive grasses: KR Bluestem and Bermuda. If they are lucky they might get patches of Straggler Daisy, or Sensitive Plant.
California and Nevada made news this summer when it became evident that the water supply wouldn’t support the watering of lawns. Even celebrities were not immune to #droughtshaming. Residents were paid to rip out their lawns to replace them with drought resistant natives.
The American penchant for lawns was born in Europe and transferred with the American colonists. With time it has become a national symbol of good citizenry, conformity, and the battle against nature and its potential for wildness. Today it is estimated that 40 million acres are devoted to irrigating this inedible green. If you put that in terms of square footage that 40 million becomes 1, 742,4000,000 trillion. Then the average lawn takes 45 gallons of water per square foot, but overwatering and watering when evaporation is high can send that into 90 gallons. Now we are getting closer to what amounts of water we are using as a nation simply to maintain our yards: 235,224,000,000,000.
So what do you do when you are left with brown straw and the soil becomes a desert – when it turns to dirt because it loses its microorganisms and fertile qualities?
I began cultivating the frog fruit that has already been growing in small sections. Frog fruit doesn’t need much coaxing. It grows by rhizomes. In fact, just pushing a stem into the ground can begin the rooting process with the right amount of dampness and warmth. The frog fruit is so drought resistant that even this summer it grew without much water, producing flowers from May through October. All summer long I found bees, wasps, flies, and butterflies nectaring on the matchstick flowers. The White Peacock, Phaon Crescent, and Common Buckeye butterflies lay their eggs on frog fruit leaves, making it a host plant.
While the frog fruit is filling in the yard, I thought I would take advantage of the sunny spot and spread some wildflower seeds. I hope the spring rains, next year, will provide the right amount of moisture to produce a riot of color in this currently barren space. Perhaps we can change our national landscape to bring back the landscapes that one dotted the land while inspiring a tolerance for wildness and chaotic beauty.