“It’s raining; its pouring. The old man is snoring. He went to bed and bumped his head and wouldn’t get up in the morning.” I grew up listening to that little chirpy nursery rhyme in Dublin, Ireland. Now that we are seeing rain again here over the past few weeks, it kind of reminds me of all those rainy days growing up in Ireland. The Emerald Isle, they call it. It is gloriously lush, with “forty shades of green,” as the saying goes.

Nobody waters their lawns in Ireland. They simply don’t need to. If they did, they’d surely be arrested by the men in the white coats. On the rare occasion when blistering temperatures above 60 degrees grace the island in the summertime, some lawns take on a crispy brown hue. No matter. September will come soon, bringing with it cool rain, and the island will be fair and green once again.

Boy, it’s a different situation here in Marco. What are we to do? We water our lawns both in the winter and in the summer.

his sandy, free-draining soil here has virtually no ability to hold onto moisture, unlike the heavy clays where I’m from. This, coupled with the facts that the temperature is much warmer here and there is much less frequent rainfall, leaves us with a dilemma.

It seems everyone we speak with at the moment has some opinion or other on “green” issues. We’ve all become very familiar with the pressures we are putting on our natural environment. This is definitely good and welcome news, but what can we do about every day issues like keeping our lawns green?

My grandfather used to collect rainwater in big, enormous rain barrels some 30 years ago in Dublin, which he would use to grow delights in his greenhouse. It was my grandfather who got me into gardening, and I’ve had cabbages growing behind my ears ever since.

We are damaging our local environment by spilling so many pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, chemical fertilizers and chemical compounds of alarming proportion onto our lawns in an effort to keep them green. This occurs in the form of runoff. Much of the chemicals we use on our grassy patches get washed out from the top layer of the soil during periods of heavy rainfall and into our natural water courses and sources.

Not only are we contaminating our drinking water, but we are upsetting fragile ecosystems in rivers and lakes, as well as spilling into our brackish waters leading to the Gulf. As levels of nitrates build up in these bodies of water as a result of this runoff, algae multiply in numbers, fish die, oxygen becomes depleted and the whole fragile system is now under attack and at risk.

I’m not pointing the finger, mind you. I also have a patch of lawn, and put glasses of drinking water among its leafy blades. County regulation dictates that I have a strip of lawn close to the street, so as the walking doggies can poop in comfort, and the two right wheels of the mail man’s wagon have a nice, cushiony place on which to park as he drops the water bill in the mail box. So, I comply.

Now, the uplifting advice. There are alternatives to old-fashioned lawns. We can take simple steps that the environment will be happier about, because these lawn alternatives consume fewer precious resources to maintain and cost considerably less to maintain than traditional lawns do. We can choose from a variety of better choices, including wildflower meadows, butterfly gardens, native plantings, water gardens, vegetable gardens and shrub and perennial borders. They offer us more opportunity to interact with nature, while we embrace the holistic, sensory and therapeutic elements of these nature gardens and nature’s elements within.

Many of these gardens can be installed inexpensively and are low-maintenance in their design and function. We have the option to keep these gardens healthy, vibrant and lush by using drip irrigation systems that are conservative because they deliver water at or below the root zone, were the plant needs it most. Conventional systems, which use spray heads, are wasteful because they deliver water at higher pressure, the particles of which are light and blow away, plus the spray is directed into the air, covering foliage with wasted water that subsequently evaporates. Drip irrigation measures water usage in gallons per hour versus conventional systems that measure water in gallons per minute.

So, next time you consider installing a lawn, think first and consider a better choice. Enjoy the rainy afternoons.

Naples resident Brendan Moran the garden artist, of Gardens By Brendan designs gardens, writes and lectures internationally. Visit GardensByBrendan.com, e-mail brendan@gardensby brendan.com or call 687-9337.

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