Xref: utzoo sci.bio:2088 sci.environment:1359
Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cwjcc!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!att!cuuxb!rbc
From: rbc@cuuxb.ATT.COM (~XT6511100~Rick Clark~C24~H15~6011~)
Newsgroups: sci.bio,sci.environment
Subject: Re: Is Mowing your Lawn bad for the Environment?
Keywords: lawns, oxygen production
Message-ID: <2896@cuuxb.ATT.COM>
Date: 8 Jun 89 21:42:52 GMT
References: <24792@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> <20388@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> <2876@cuuxb.ATT.COM> <415@abel.UUCP>
Reply-To: rbc@cuuxb.UUCP (Richard B. Clark)
Followup-To: sci.bio
Distribution: usa
Organization: AT&T, Data Systems Group, Lisle, IL
Lines: 38

In article <415@abel.UUCP> jma@abel.UUCP (Jeff Abrahamson) writes:
>
>	Several people have debated the pros and cons of fertilizer
>w.r.t. thatch.  Could someone clue me in on why you don't want thatch?
>
>	Unless you cut your grass quite short (which wastes water in
>all but the wettest areas), you shouldn't see much brown through the
>green.  And thatch makes for a softer lawn.  When I walk (-->
>barefoot) or lie on grass, I much prefer to see grass and thatch than
>topsoil (as I do on some well-raked lawns).
>-- 
>----------
>Jeff Abrahamson			jma@abel.uucp, abel!jma@manta.pha.pa.us
>UPenn Mathematics		jma@grad1.cis.upenn.edu
>Bicycle Coalition of the Delaware Valley

Well, there is thatch, and then there is THATCH.  This is more of a
problem in parts of the country drier than your Delaware Valley.
Thatch in good, barefoot turf you can only see by looking carefully
deep in between the blades.  THATCH, on the other hand makes the lawn
look like thin, green streaks on a background of pale brown that glares
in the sunlight.  In bad cases, the grass retreats to little islands
of struggling green, and there are many pock marks as big as your fist
with no grass at all.

THATCH is definitely not pleasant to walk or lay on.
The grass gets into lumpy tufts.
The grass blades develop stiff, protective sheathes that poke tender skin.
the ground gets compacted under the thatch without grass roots to aerate it.
The grass is not dense enough to maintain a cool, moist microclimate.
It feels like it reflects nearly as much heat on a pedestrian as a concrete
sidewalk.

Ants and large weeds however, think THATCH makes a major improvement in a
lawn.
-- 
=Richard B. Clark
 Lisle, IL       ...!{att,lll-crg}!cuuxb!rbc  OR cuuxb!rbc@arpa.att.com