Keep Your Hands Off My Yard

 

I got a letter from my insurance company last week, suggesting that I mow the grass at the cabin, and I wondered if they had ever tried to mow rocks. The company had sent someone out last summer to take pictures around the house, ostensibly to look for fire hazards. Their recommendation was to cut the grasses down to 4 inches and clean up the “tree debris.”

At my house in Boulder, I spend a large part of the summer mowing the lawn, trimming the edges, and pulling weeds. The last thing I want to do at the cabin is take care of the yard.

More importantly, the yard is part of nature, part of the landscape which I co-inhabit with chickarees, ground squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, wild turkeys, deer, nuthatches, juncos, Stellar’s jays, crows, and an occasional bear and bobcat.

Cutting down the grasses would create an artificial area—a neat lawn--that would separate me from nature. I might as well put up a sign: “civilized area here,” while outside of that would be the wild, messy area where grass grows as high as it likes, flowers are scattered in unruly patterns, tree branches die and fall to the ground where they rot, and rocks are scattered around the yard.

Of course, I prefer the wild, unruly landscape. I like the tall grasses, how they bend in the wind and how the sunlight gets tangled up in them. I like that things grow where it suits them: just the right amounts of moisture, sunshine, and nutrients in the soil. I’m glad I have nothing to do with those choices that are a result of some serendipity. What is it in humans that makes us want to improve on nature?

I’m aware of the fire danger but if we cut down all the grasses to prevent fires, we’re also destroying the animal habitat. Not only do the rabbits (above) eat the grasses but a lot of the small ground animals use the grasses to hide from predators.

Besides, most of my yard is rocks, filled in with some grasses and wildflowers. It doesn’t lend itself to a lawn mower, and in the process of mowing the grass, I would also be cutting down (in summer) the pasqueflowers, columbine and purple asters that grow among the grasses. Maybe my insurance company would prefer the flowers be in neat borders around the lawns rather than scattered messily throughout the yard. And then there’s the problem of mowing over the mounds of dirt made by the gophers.

As for the fallen tree branches, stuff happens in nature: tree branches fall or are blown down, and sometimes they’ll sit there for years, becoming part of the landscape before I gather them for firewood.

In my neck of the woods, nature rules.

Comments

[shoney]

Love that rabbit! The insurance company is sending letters to everyone advising that they cut grass, trim branches and so on---often they don't actually drive by to see if there is a problem, they are setting themselves up NOT to have to pay for anything if there is ever a problem. Sorry to rant. Insurance is a scam, though most of us pay into it

[Laurel Kallenbach]

Yes, nature has its own rules--and you really have to live by them. Realistically, if there were a wildfire, having short grass would probably not make a difference anyway. Maybe longer grass would help hold moisture in the soil, making the land more resistant to fire. Keep the critters!!!

[Rachel Maizes]

Fire, too, is part of nature, just not a part your insurance company likes. I admire your decision to live in nature and to adapt yourself to it, rather than adapt it to you, destroying it in the process. I suppose you could move all those rocks, too, destroying the habitat of all the insects that live beneath them. Hell, you could bulldoze the whole lot and pour a concrete, fire-resistant pad. Yeah, that's the ticket.

[Kathy Kaiser]

I like your point, Laurel, about longer grass holding the moisture better. I'll use that with my insurance company if they start insisting on the grass being cut. Thanks!

[Avery Gerner]

Hmmm, I actually heard that for the first time when an insurance company asked a homeowner to mow their lawn. It was probably to prevent the occurrence of grass fires, which can destroy a whole house.

[sally]

I LOVE THE RABBIT!!