May - Estates and Property Services

WHEN
12th of May
A Thursday
WHAT
Second
Investigation
WHO
Me
And
Other voices
Cart on lawn
Investigation begins
and some grasses are measuring 53.5 cm long
WHERE
Cherry tree
Triangle
Lawn
WEATHER
Blustery
And
Formidable
Shifting attention from lawns to thoroughfares
a people count
tallying up to
TOTAL PEOPLE
ACTIVITIES
20
W = Walking T = Talking S = Smoking i = iphone M = Mobile phone R = Reading
and other activities
LONE
MALE
LONE
FEMALE
MEN
WOMEN
W
T
S
i
M
R
Sitting
on a
bench
drinking
coffee
Driving
an
ecovan
5
7
10
10
17
9
4
0
2
1
2
1
all in all
too frenetic an activity
to sustain
need eyes in side of head
as well as front
or perhaps a clicker counter
even better – an assistant
Approached from behind
he said
what colour is it then if it’s not green?
to which I replied
Well, grass is green in colour, but it’s not “green”. Lawns aren’t environmentally friendly if
they’re nurtured and managed as monocultures.
he said
Oh yeh. I get it. And I’m studying environmental science. I should have got that!
This lawn is no longer a carpet of green
form and colour
shift and change
in flux
dandelions depleted
their yellow
replaced by
the yellow of buttercups
an altogether waxy hue
and
diddy dots of yellow
Black Medic (Medicago lupulina)
both common plants in pastures and meadows
Creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens)
Black medic (Medicago lupulina)
Focusing in on Black medic
I couldn’t help but notice a fly
a true fly: Diptera
the flesh fly: Sarcophaga bercaea
so called because they breed in dung, carrion, or rotting matter, including bodies and carcasses.
they will also breed in wounds
on the surface, not a very pleasant critter
but useful none-the-less
in the scheme of biodiverse life on earth
A blustery day
too windy for pressing flowers
too damp too
a good, dry, sunny day is required
for herbarium specimens
so pencil and crayons
and photo shots
will do for today
herbarium collecting another day
colouring in the yellows…
I hope you don’t mind me interrupting but I’m interested in what you’re doing
he was interested further when I said
letting the grass grow
Turns out he loves a bit of wild and unmanaged nature
…it’s aesthetically pleasing. I walk my dog in Childwall Woods in Liverpool. I love it there
because all they seem to manage are the paths. The rest is long grasses, wild flowers, trees, and
wildlife. I don’t live on campus, but, I would want to if the lawns were left to grow wild. I’d like to
live in halls overlooking un-mown lawns. And I’d explore them to find out who eats what; like
spiders eating flies, and ladybirds eating aphids. What a great thing to put on you-tube.
The nature aesthetic philosopher, Allen Carlson, argues that:
The more we know about something the more we learn to love it and find beauty in it. Nature
should not be viewed as a series of snap-shots or static picture postcard images, but instead, as a
movie that captures all the processes that contribute to life on earth: biodiversity. The process of
decomposition, when you understand its contribution, is as awe inspiring and as beautiful as any
other natural phenomena.
this in mind, it was interesting when a student - researching ecosystem services - pointed at the
mulch of cherry blossom petals and said:
Ugh, what’s that brown stuff? You should clear that away. It’s ugly.
a week ago
the brown
was
a pool of pink
ephemeral
then, as now
beneath the crusty surface
a process is in action
as
protozoa and bacteria
moulds and fungi
insects and mites
earthworms and their relatives
swing into action
turning
pink petals
to brownish mulch
and finally
into
fertile soil
supporting, amongst other things, the wild cherry trees
Smearing petal mulch over paper
extracting its pigment
exposing a beetle
he walked by
looking at me
eyes fixed
causing his head to rotate as he proceeded forward
he stopped
and read
what lies in lawns information board
then looked back at me
his thumbs up
It’s a good thing
Why?
Well, it’s diverse isn’t’ it. Look at him in his machine. He’s killing everything. And this - what
you’re doing - allows things to grow and live. And it looks beautiful!
thumbs up again, he nods an appreciative nod, and walks off.
His mowing done
he halts his machine
as near to me as permissible
a grounds-man on the grounds for some years
he tells a hidden history of the
cherry tree triangle lawn
below
some 10 – 15 ft
lies a decommissioned
forced water
heating system
hot water
piped through pipes
the by-product
under-soil heating
supporting out-of-season
grass growing
the grass here always grew long in the winter months
each lawn on campus is mown weekly
and on his rounds
around cherry tree triangle
he’s noticed a lot of people
stand and look on
your project is creating a lot of interest
The green is also pierced with blue
speedwells
the thyme leaved
and now the common
Common field speedwell Veronica persica
Veronica persica
aka: Common field speedwell, Persian speedwell, large field speedwell, winter speedwell and
bird's-eye.
I like this; it’s really pretty with the wild flowers. But, I wouldn’t sit on it. It’s too bumpy and
there’ll be insects in it. I’d like to sit on that [points to a mown lawn] and look at this
I asked her:
Do you think lawns are managed to look nice?
she said:
I guess not because this is prettier
I guess we manage lawns to be more useful for us.
The last conversation of the day
a brief word exchange
with an older gentleman
a locksmith
a local
he pointed at the mown grass
What’s that good for? Nothing! This is alive and it’s beautiful.
as he left
he turned back to me and said
So this is your turf hey. Good on ya girl!