Planting For Lawn Pests

As I sit on my porch watching the activity in my front yard, I am reminded why I keep the turf I have.  The concept among so many in the native plant world is that turf must be eliminated and replaced with a native ground cover if it's going to be a landscape that supports wildlife.  While a landscape devoid of native plants certainly does little to support the diversity of life possible, it is short-sighted to believe that it is the only solution.  My remaining patches of turf support lawn pests and I welcome them.  The glossy and white ibis that reside in my area, use my lawn to feed and that food is critical to supporting them.  The mole crickets that live just beneath the soil surface and the chinch bugs that require my St. Augustine grass are species that I would not have otherwise.  Each day, as the troop of ibis work their way across my lawn area, I am reminded that having this turf is important.  I also know that it would feed the caterpillars of Carolina satyrs, clouded skippers, fiery skippers, and whirlabouts should they ever appear in my landscape.  Far from being an anathema to wildlife, my remaining patches of turf are likely far more important to creating a living landscape than any monoculture of species such as sunshine mimosa (Mimosa pudica).  My point is not to denigrate sunshine mimosa, but to ask for some critical thinking in the way we landscape.

It is not turf that's the problem, it's the way we manage it.  A landscape that consists solely of one species is never going to achieve the level of diversity we strive for, but the way we manage our landscapes is the key.  If we manage our turf the way it has been traditionally done, it will be dead to the rest of the living world, but if we don't use herbicides to kill the other plants that invade our lawns and we don't use pesticides to kill the pests, we create an additional layer for biodiversity that would not be possible otherwise.  I do not water my lawn and I do not fertilize it either.  It stands on its own - and because of this the ibis and the butterflies have habitat to support them  Each time I see an ibis probe its bill into my turf and come up with an invertebrate, I am reminded of this.

Reduce your turf and add diversity with your plantings, but realize that keeping an area of turf grass is not cause for shame.  It is a critical area of habitat for me here in my Holiday home.  Manage your turf for lawn pests...