Naturescaping: A Landscape Alternative

When Potomac, Maryland residents' Walter and Nancy Stewart's lawn tractor broke, they let their 7 acres "go" for a while...until they received an anonymous note from a concerned neighbor, followed by a citation for an unruly lawn (the law says the grass may be no higher than 12 inches). The Stewart's, who had noticed that their former sun-baked lawn had turned into a thriving meadow supporting a variety of new insects (butterflies), birds (quail), and animals (rabbits), took their case to court. And they kicked suburban-peer-pressure-keep-up-with-the-Joneses butt. The county dropped the case. Naturescaping: A Landscape Alternative is an enormously interesting combination of documentary, how-to, and performance art that asks the age-old question that's been uppermost on many minds (mostly male) for centuries: "do I have to mow the lawn?" In what has to be one of the major discoveries of the 20th-century--right up their with "picture-in-picture" TV (allowing serious pigskin scholars to study both network football games simultaneously), this program answers "naw." There are several alternatives explored on the video: low-maintenance landscaping (planting perennials and hardy grasses), edible landscapes (i.e. vegetable, herb, and fruit gardens), and natural lawn care (which doesn't use potentially harmful chemicals). Humorous old newsreel clips featuring robot lawnmowers which didn't quite catch on with consumers (they look like an overgrown Pac-Man on a search and destroy mission) and a wonderful poetry reading by Pulitzer prize-winning poet Henry Taylor on the unwritten rules of suburbia, round out this winning mix. An unusual and thought-provoking title, Naturescaping: A Landscape Alternative is sure to spark lively conversation around the breakfast table on Saturday mornings. In fact, by explaining to my wife the many healthy alternatives to cutting the grass, and the obvious benefits both to the landscape and myself, I was able to delay mowing our lawn for nearly an hour. Highly recommended. (Available from: Public Production Group, Suite 4, 900 Second St. N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002; (202) 898-1808.)