New exhibit celebrates the suburbs' grass addiction
Lawn Nation's gentler, kinder attempt to persuade suburbanites to dig up part of their iconic grass lawns opened Friday.
Artists created the exhibit at The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago, which includes a croquet game kids can play, "Wanted Posters" for lawn-care scofflaws, and video game-style lessons.
Everyone agrees the suburbs -- which grew up after World War II at the same time herbicides and mowing technologies were developed -- are responsible for the United States' obsession with turf or bluegrass lawns.
And is that bad?
Grass is all right in its place, said Jill Riddell, vice president of exhibits and strategic initiatives at the museum. Especially if you reduce your use of water, fertilizer and pesticides, of course.
"You wouldn't want to play Frisbee on a gravel parking lot or a pick-up game of softball in a prairie," said Riddell.
But grass is the default home landscaping, and she wants us to think about other things we could plant around our homes -- especially native plants that grow to be rather self-sufficient.
Here are some of the highlights:
Think pink
The iconic pink yard flamingo becomes a rain-catching watering can, thanks to a hole in its back and a clip of the beak -- proving even tacky plastic can be changed into something sustainable.
Water hogs
The 1,600 empty water bottles attached to a wall represent the 250 gallons of treated water that the typical lawn sprinkler spews in an hour.
Tricycle mower
The Van Grasmaaier Tricycle is Erik Peterson's version of a missing link in lawn mower history. The artifact is a rusty tricycle with a push-mower for rear wheels.
Pet grass
Thirty-five Chicago youngsters of all ages carried 8-pound, 1-by-2-foot pieces of turf around with them for a week or so and photographed their "pets" in clever places.
These include the railing of a balcony on a high rise, a tree, over a ballet barre, beside a fake grass door mat, in Millennium Park and dressed up like Mr. Potato Head.
Under arrest
The wanted posters are fake, but the crimes are real. Anna Hutel, an architecture student, found stories about people in trouble for real transgressions such as not watering grass in Utah, growing native plants in New York or building really ugly yard art in Pennsylvania.
Lawn Nation
Facts from "Lawn Nation: Art and Science of the American Lawn."
• If every lawn in the United States were sewn together, it would create a lawn blanket big enough to cover Kentucky.
• Lawn-mower racing got its start in 1992 in Grayslake.
• Kentucky bluegrass is not native to Kentucky or North America. However, Illinois can boast 851 plants native to our prairies.
• A gas-powered leaf blower emits as many hydrocarbons in 30 minutes as a car driven round trip from Maine to California at 30 miles per hour.
If you go
What: "Lawn Nation: Art and Science of the American Lawn"
Where: The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, just west of Lake Shore Drive at Fullerton in Chicago's Lincoln Park.
When: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends through Sept. 7.
Admission: Free with entrance to the museum, $9 adults, $6 children ages 3-12 and $7 seniors and students.
Details: www.naturemuseum.org or call (773) 755-5100.