THE COASTAL GARDENER:

I hate mowing lawns.

Maybe it’s because that’s where I started my horticulture career.

At the age of 12, after five years of Saturday practice on our own front and back lawn, I began knocking on neighbors’ doors, offering my precision lawn mowing services to the marketplace on Grace Street in suburban Inglewood.

For $1 per address, I would manicure the neighborhood into a fine green carpet, every blade perfectly in its place. An old push mower at first gave way to a bright red gas-powered rotary mower. Eventually, I worked up to the Rolex of mowers at the time, a McLane front-throw, self-propelled, seven-blade, 21-inch beauty. Briggs and Stratton, 3.5 horsepower with a fire hydrant-yellow finish. It was the envy of the lawn-mowing neighborhood.

But maybe I dislike mowing lawns because I now see the insanity of the process. Fertilize and water incessantly to make the millions of tiny green blades grow quick, tall and straight. Once they do, push the fancy metal machine over them and slice them off, back to where they were before the water and fertilizer. Feed, water and slice. Feed, water and slice. Repeat each week indefinitely. Hmmm.

Now this just doesn’t seem like gardening to me.

Perhaps my disdain for lawn mowing stems from its impact on the planet. One hour of lawn mowing might produce as much air pollution as driving a car from here to San Francisco. In an urban area, like Orange County, lawn-and-garden equipment accounts for as much as 30% of all the ozone-forming emissions. I don’t think Al Gore mows lawns.

Turfgrass is thirsty. Lawn watering is by far the largest use of domestic water in California. More fertilizer, weed sprays and fungicides are used on lawns than any other part of the garden. Once the water goes on, usually every other day, many of these chemicals end up in our bays and oceans.

Mowing a lawn just isn’t gardening to me anymore. Now I see gardening as tending to plants. Plants that are creatively arranged, coming in and out of bloom or leaf, changing with the seasons. Gardening involves creativity, a subtle observation of nature’s ways and an understanding of the interplay of soil, light, air and water.

I’d rather plant, prune, pot, mulch, weed or rake; I’d rather do anything in a garden than mow a lawn. Lawn mowing isn’t for me.

I must now confess. Last week I bought a lawn mower. Oh my.

It’s the first time I’ve owned or pushed a lawn mower in about 15 years. Not surprisingly, I still knew exactly how to do it. Start at the perimeter, and then zigzag in long, straight rows from one side to the other. Memories of Grace Street and $1 a home.

You see, I moved to a new home and a new garden about six months ago. It has a lawn — actually three lawns, pretty pitiful examples of lawns, but by definition I think that’s what you would call them. I don’t like lawns and I didn’t want any lawns, but there they were.

I plan on removing the grass and converting the spaces to more creative uses, a California meadow, a succulent garden, a Mediterranean bulb area, a protea garden and an edible garden. But I have much work to do before then — soil work, irrigation work and hardscape work. In the meantime, I have three green carpets to manage.

Goodwill provided just what I wanted, and at only $39: an electric, self-mulching model. I justified my actions in this way: At least I wasn’t using an unregulated hydrocarbon-producing, ozone-depleting, gas-powered machine. With the self-mulching feature I won’t be creating more green waste. Buying it at Goodwill at least kept a small scrap of metal from the junk pile. Thus I rationalized the purchase.

When I’m done with the lawn mower, in a few months I hope, I’ll bring it back to Goodwill for the next person to use. Maybe a father will buy it for his 12-year-old-son, willing to mow neighborhood lawns for $1 apiece.

ASK RON

Question: How do I enter the Orange County California Friendly Garden contest?

Dan

Newport Beach

Answer: The California Friendly Garden contest is free to enter, and the grand prize is $2,500. It recognizes home gardeners who are working toward creating water-conserving, sustainable gardens in Orange County. Because of demand and so that gardens will be in full bloom, the entry deadline has been moved to April 13. Entry and details are at www.rogersgardens.com/gardencontest.

ASK RON your toughest gardening questions, and the expert nursery staff at Roger’s Gardens will come up with an answer. Please include your name, phone number and city, and limit queries to 30 words or fewer. E-mail [email protected], or write to Plant Talk at Roger’s Gardens, 2301 San Joaquin Hills Road, Corona del Mar, CA 92625.

RON VANDERHOFF is the Nursery Manager at Roger’s Gardens in Corona del Mar.