Lawn Wars
The struggle for a New Lawn Ethic
by
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The fact that so many people are now awakening from the Cartesian dream, which drew such a radical boundary between us humans as “subject” and the natural world as “object,” tells me that it might not be too late. We are coming to realize that although now highly autonomous and differentiated, we are yet held lovingly in a universe that is juicy with meaning. We are beginning to feel in our bones, some of us, that creativity originates not with the human, but constitutes the very ocean in which our lives swim. We dwell within Anima Mundi, or World Soul. It throbs within us. . . . With this new way of being comes a more secure place for ourselves in the scheme of things. Out of that security grows a wedding of knowing and acting. From it flows gratitude, and I cannot think of a more perfect way to experience and express gratitude than through the practice of natural landscaping.
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About the Book
Like it or not, we're embedded in the natural world. We might as well learn to live more harmoniusly with it. Part memoir, part how-to, part problem-solving, Lawn Wars gives a historical context and resources for a new movement that is showing up across the nation. Difficulties encountered by aspiring natural landscapers are explored with wit and factual information. The rich rewards of making such a shift are described in lyrical prose as the author tells her own story of heartache and delight.
About the Author
About the Author Ostensibly retired, Lois B. Robbins chairs North Oakland Headwaters Land Conservancy’s Brandon Preservation Committee in Oakland County, Michigan. In 2003 she founded the Village of Ortonville’s Annual CreekFest, a celebration of her town’s trout stream. She coordinates public education for her Township’s Stormwater Management program and serves on the Design Committee of Ortonville’s Main Street program. In 2006 and 2007 Lois and her dirt-under-the-fingernails team installed three native landscape demonstration projects in Ortonville. Lois is the Recipient of the 2002 Ortonville VFW Medal for Citizenship, the North Oakland Headwaters Land Conservancy’s 2004 Thomas K. Bullen Achievement Award, the Ortonville Community Historical Society’s Certificate of Appreciation, and more recently, the 2008 Joe Leonardi Leadership Award from the Flint River Watershed Coalition. A retired adjunct professor from University of Detroit, Lois holds a Masters degree in Spirituality. She has published one book, Waking Up in the Age of Creativity and has authored several unpublished manuscripts. For five years she was editor of ECOlogic, the newsletter of the Upland Hills Ecological Awareness Center, and From 2002-2007 she wrote a nature column for the Oxford Eccentric. Lois lives in rural north Oakland County, Michigan with her two cats, a flock of itinerate wild turkeys, a gang of itinerate deer, and the usual back yard wildlife residents. On her small piece of property, designated by the National Wildlife Federation as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat, she practices casual natural landscaping on an as-needed basis. The rest, she leaves to nature to figure out. She has four grown children and five far-flung grandchildren.