Rainbow LawnCare
11571 K-Tel Dr.
Minnetonka, MN 55343

Why You Should Care About Your Lawn: A Short List

You may not know it, but your lawn is more than just a pretty space. Lawns offer multiple financial, environmental, and health benefits beyond their obvious aesthetic qualities.

Financial Impact

A broad expanse of properly maintained grass with well placed trees and shrubs is a huge asset to your property. In fact, a nice looking lawn and landscape can add up to 15% to your home’s value.
A strategically designed landscape including lawns, trees and shrubs can reduce air temperatures from 7º to 14º which will directly impact summer cooling costs. In fact, one estimate suggests that well planned planting of lawns and other landscape plants could reduce the total US air conditioning energy usage by up to 25%.

Environmental Benefits

Healthy lawns can also have a significant and positive environmental impact. In lawns where pesticide usage is minimized and fertilizer is correctly and judiciously applied, the environmental benefits will far outweigh the impact of pesticide and fertilizer inputs.
Lawns help reduce surface water run-off, and absorb and filter large quantities of storm water, reducing the amount which is funneled directly into our lakes and rivers. Research indicates that storm water run-off from healthy lawns with even a moderate slope rarely occurs in all but a very intense rainfall.
Ground water quality is also improved by lawns. The fibrous network of roots in a dense, healthy lawn filters out nutrients and other ground water pollutants, improving the water quality as it moves through the root zone.
Grass traps dust and allergens as well as other air pollutants, allowing them to be broken down by microorganisms and improving over-all air quality.
Through the process of photosynthesis grass plants remove a significant amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, replacing it with oxygen (O2). One estimate states that over the course of one growing season enough oxygen is produced to accommodate an adult person for one day by every 25 square foot section of lawn.

Aesthetics, Health, and Mental State

Lawns have been shown to have a positive, calming effect for people who live and work near them. A lawn view can reduce stress, and improve one’s health and mental state.
Warren Schultz, author of The Chemical Free Lawn, believes that humans are evolutionarily predisposed to a landscape of low, grassy plants punctuated by occasional trees and shrubs.
A healthy lawn can significantly reduce the potential for injuries during play and sports.
Lawns help reduce noise by absorbing and refracting sound, and cut down on glare and light reflection, making your home more comfortable and pleasant.

Information from University of Minnesota Extension Service
SULIS – Sustainable Lawn Maintenance Information
* Toward Sustainable Lawn Turf, R. J. Hull, S. R. Alm, and N. Jackson, 1994
* Lawn and Sports Turf Benefits, E. C. Roberts, and B. C. Roberts, 1987