World's Ugliest Lawn 2024 competition won by Tasmanian woman helped by bandicoots and lack of a mower

[Judi Lynn]

Topic:Environmental Management
Thu 11 Jan 2024



Kathleen Murray's winning entry in the World's Ugliest Lawn competition. (Supplied: World's Ugliest Lawn)

In short:
A Tasmanian woman has won Sweden's World's Ugliest Lawn competition, which celebrates water conservation.Her dry, pockmarked lawn was helped along by bandicoots who turned it into "their own private Disneyland", she said.

What's next?

Kathleen Murray's prize is a pre-owned T-shirt with the text 'Proud owner of The World's Ugliest Lawn', kindly donated by last year's winner.

. . .

The international competition, which started on the island of Gotland in Sweden, is about "celebrating land owners who conserved water during drought by not watering their lawns".

The winner is chosen by an international jury panel made up of "a diverse group of experts".

. . .



The 2022 winner of the then-named Gotland's Ugliest Lawn competition, Marcus Norström. (Supplied: World's Ugliest Lawn)

More:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-12/tasmanian-woman-claims-worlds-ugliest-lawn-title/103312950



A Bandicoot. (endangered species.)

[eppur_se_muova]

1. I'd rather have bandicoots than a lawn anyway.

The notion of a "lawn" is a historically recent affectation. Working-class people used to have "yards", where they kept their goats, chickens, etc. Livestock grazed in pastures, putting growing grass to good use. No one kept lawns but the very rich; until the invention of the mechanical lawnmower in the 19th century, special herds of sheep were employed to trim the grass. It was up to the shepherd to keep them moving so they didn't overgraze. Serfs or servants were employed to scythe it in patches, using both large and hand scythes, as needed.

https://www.yourgreenpal.com/blog/every-wonder-about-the-history-of-lawns (Yeah, it's an ad for lawn services, but it's {accidentally?} informative.

Google "no mow" for various available seed mixtures to cover your lawn yard with short-growing perennials, in place of turf grass. Also Google "no mow May" to learn how NOT mowing your lawn is good for the environment in several ways, including keeping bird hatchlings fed, and bees pollinating.