Page 16 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • July 28, 2010 skilled trades and later for the arts and literary pursuits. Cultivated grass crops filled the bellies of all the tribes that developed into nations. The others weren’t stupid. They were overburdened due to lack of grass-based protein crops as a stable food source. The trouble is that cultivating grass crops for food mandates that the grass crops grow through a full cycle. Lawns don’t do that. The grass is deliberately shorn off before it can seed itself, produces very little food for wildlife and none at all for humans, and in the process wastes a lot of water and a lot of petroleum or electricity to power the lawnmowers and a lot of space in the recycling area. Lawns make sense if you own a horse or a flock of sheep – but then you don’t have to mow, and the sheep will keep them fertilized, though the horse may require some on-site maintenance or very patient neighbors. Note that the water companies can generally palliate a drought by telling people to water their lawns less often, or to stop entirely – even when they make exceptions to allow the watering of flowers and shrubs by hand-held hose or watering can. So if people were to stop growing and watering lawns, the summer drought syndrome would probably disappear by itself. Cooking, washing, the swimming pools, and the car washes would be safe and sound. Municipal governments that are into the “green” concept have been telling people to let the mown grass lie where it falls, or to compost it right on their own property. Some people do this. A better way to deal with the problem is to eliminate lawns entirely unless the family needs them for play space for children or pets. A few months ago, members of some local gardening clubs attended a lecture by Dr. Doug Tallamy, a professor and chairman of the entomology and wildlife ecology department of the University of Delaware. Dr. Tallamy was down on cut-grass lawns, big time, and pointed out that they were a major problem for the quadrant of the environment he specializes in: insects, the birds that feed on those insects, and the plants that provide food for insects and birds. The removal of half the nation’s forests has had drastic consequences for the nation in terms of air quality, flood control, and temperatures, he said, but the proliferation of lawns where trees and shrubs used to be, right here in Northwest Bergen County, had had drastic consequences for insect life and for the songbirds and other wildlife that feed on the insects and on natural native plants that produce berries and visible seeds. One-third of the bird population is already in trouble, and the situation could get worse if something isn’t done on an individual -- and on a collective -- basis. What Dr. Tallamy suggested was to cut back the cutgrass lawn space on housing lots to one third of lot coverage and to turn the two-thirds remaining into plantings of native trees and shrubs, which provide insects, and ultimately birds and small mammals, with the food sources they need. We should recreate the food web, he said. An oak tree may bring in 530 caterpillars edible to many bird species, while an imported tulip tree might bring in only 13 – and require more care and outside watering. To best feed songbirds, he said we should be planting the following: oaks, willows, cherries, pines, birches, maples, poplars, hickories, elms, and blackberry and crabapple trees. Besides producing more food for birds, these trees, because they are mostly native to this region, would be easier to maintain and more resistant to the extremes of temperature in northern New Jersey. Independent websites sponsored by the Audubon Society and other groups can also provide lists of the types of shrubs that are especially attractive to birds and to butterflies. Some of my wife’s favorites were on the list: we just acquired some cornflowers from a July 4 visit to my son’s house in western New Jersey, and while she laments that cornflowers seem to thrive in poor soil, the specimens we got are doing all right with water left over from the kitchen, rather than from the lawn sprinkler, which we haven’t used in years. Sunflowers also attract many birds. Black-eyed Susans are perennials that are drought-resistant, reseed freely, and provide food for the birds. For those who enjoy defiance, try replanting the rest of the lawn with sweet woodruff or white clover. The bees will love it, and both of these low-growing green plants with white flowers are much better for the soil, the groundwater, and the streams, rivers, and lakes than turf that won’t grow without phosphates. A couple of years ago, my son took us on an excursion to the Bronx Zoo, and the tickets he purchased offered a free admission to the butterfly garden. Nobody wanted to miss the Congo, Wild Asia, or the other high-tech viewing sites, but we all voted to see what the butterfly garden looked like. It was at once mundane and charming. The enclosed area was simply planted with the kinds of shrubs and flowers that attract butterflies and, even in the Bronx, the butterflies showed up in ample numbers to delight tourists from all over the world. The only other attractions were some painted panels where kids could poke their faces through and be photographed as merry insects. I speak no ill of the Bronx, but I bet we can do better in Bergen County. Face it, New Jersey: Uunless you have horses, cows, or sheep, big grassy lawns are an anachronism. Anything from a rock garden to a vegetable garden to a butterfly garden is a better choice. Considering the recurring water restrictions, these gardens may be the only choice. People are apt to be a little dazed in hot weather, and nowhere more than in Northwest Bergen County, where in the first weeks of July we saw watering regulations go from Stage Whatever on July 4 to Stage IV on July 6 and then back to Stage III by the middle of the month. America may have had a great time celebrating its independence, but Northwest Bergen County’s dependence on tighter control of limited water resources became abundantly obvious. When I asked some public officials about the sudden imposition of the ban, I was told “Maybe everybody took four showers that day.” For those who live outside the sector of the Ridgewood Water Company, Stage IV is generally taken to mean no outdoor watering at all. This year’s Stage IV was altered to allow the use of a hand-held watering can, but not with any sprinkler or even a hose. Stage III meant that you got to water for two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening based on an odd/even system. Residents with an odd-numbered address could water on odd-numbered days of the month, and those with even-numbered addresses could water on even-numbered days of the month. You could set automatic sprinklers for four hours overnight. The shift from no restrictions to Stage IV and Stage III was punctuated by multiple telephone calls, not to mention people walking around telling residents to stop watering. All this cost money, not to mention the wear and tear on the residents and on the Ridgewood Water Company employees. Most other local communities adopted restrictions somewhat similar to the ones in Glen Rock, Midland Park, Wyckoff, and Ridgewood, and for the same reasons: the water tanks that service the faucets and the fire hydrants were almost empty. This is news, but it isn’t new. It happens just about every year and has since the last decade of the 20th century. Given the fact that the annual watering restrictions are the product of summer heat and of the response to that summer heat, most people assume that the nuisance is inevitable or can only be cured by angry telephone calls or extensive construction of more water tanks. But there is a better way: We can stop mowing lawns. As a historian, I have nothing against grass. Most of the staple crops that enabled Europe and Asia to develop highly organized cultures with large numbers of people freed from the land were fed by grass. Wheat, rye, barley, corn, and even rice are forms of grass. Dr. Jared Diamond has noted that only those cultures that could depend on grass crops as a labor-convenient form of protein and carbohydrate generally developed higher cultures that first produced potters, then blacksmiths and builders, and finally artists and artisans. Cultures that depend on hunting and fishing alone, such as the Inuits, most Melanesian and Polynesian groups, and many tribal African groups, had to contribute so much manpower to hunting or to harvesting low-protein crops like manioc that they didn’t have anyone to spare for the This time next year let’s be ready for it CAA seeks support from community Companion Animal Advocates recently announced that it will begin monthly pet food deliveries to the Social Service Association of Ridgewood and Vicinity, Inc. which serves Glen Rock, Ho-Ho-Kus, Midland Park, Ridgewood, Waldwick, and Wyckoff. In addition to these regular donations, Companion Animal Advocates will also be feeding one client’s seeing-eye dog. This special dog requires a premium dog food. CAA asks local residents to help by sending a donation to defray this added expense. Please contact CAA with any questions at Christine@CompanionAnimalAdvocates.org or by calling (201) 706-7666. Visit the website at www.CompanionAnimalAdvocates.org.