cornell’s take on the native lawn, with todd bittner

REDUCING THE footprint of our lawns has been a key environmental message for gardeners in recent years, since lawns lack biodiversity and involve huge amounts of pollution between fertilizers, herbicides, and the gas used in mowing. But what to cultivate instead? That is the subject of a nearly 15-year native lawn research project at Cornell Botanic Gardens in Ithaca, New York, with some interesting insights.

Todd Bittner is a plant ecologist who, with his Cornell Botanic Gardens colleagues, began a quarter-acre research experiment back then known as the native lawn demonstration area.

“Please do walk on these plants,” a sign on a pedestal tells visitors, explaining that it’s a test of a mix of low-growing natives as an alternative to traditional lawn. In a conversation, he shared what they’ve learned along the way.

Read along as you listen to the Oct. 23, 2023 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).

cornell’s native lawn, with todd bittner

Margaret: Hi, Todd.  We caused a ruckus withthe “New York Times” story we worked on together [laughter], and we’ll talk about that in a minute, but when you tell people you want to take away their lawn or suggest it, boy, oh boy, you get some upset people. We’ll talk about that.

But I wanted to just get a background a little bit, a short background, kind of what’s in your lawn and how did it begin? How did this begin? Because it’s very different from some of the other possibilities I’ve heard before.

Todd: Yes, it is different. We want to credit our horticulturalist here at Cornell Botanic Gardens, Krissy Boys, for coming up