Do you like grass? I love it. I love the green carpet in my garden that is soft on my feet and eye. There are approximately 11,400 species of grass which include wheat, barley, oats, rice, maize, sorghum and millet so grass provides nearly half of all human food and even more when you consider it as the food of the meat that we eat. Grass covers a quarter of the land surface. And it traps carbon dioxide, stabilises the soil preventing erosion, improves the soil keeping it cooler and moister, it helps clean the air and reduces noise pollution.

Lawns were only owned by the rich initially, using grazing sheep on the rolling pastures of Capability Brown, and highly paid sidesmen to scythe them short near the house. Lawn mowers were invented by the Victorians opening the way for any of us to have a lawn in our modest gardens. Yet we have not lost the image of the perfect lawn being a work of art with no weeds, no moss and no untidy edges. We sculpt nature by eliminating most of its natural components so that it looks nice, whereas not applying poisons, letting it grow longer and including the wild flowers that blow in is so much better for our environment.

Let us work with nature, with our lawns, and with our wild flowers aka weeds. And let us hold in our prayers and hopes the deliberations of the G7 summit meeting in Cornwall this week, from 11-13th June, as they are looking at how to build a greener future for our planet. Here is what they are doing:

The G7 Leaders’ Summit in 2021 is presided over by the UK and aims to unite leading democracies to help the world build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic and create a greener, more prosperous future. The UK Presidency of the G7 aims to build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic by:

• leading the global recovery from the coronavirus while strengthening resilience against future pandemics;
• promoting future prosperity by championing free and fair trade;
• tackling climate change and preserving the planet’s biodiversity; and
• championing global shared values.

Lawns

I don’t envy
lawns with stripes.

I like mine full
of flowers,
growing up again
each time I mow.

The buttercup and hawkbit
are tall and yellow,
the daisies short and white,
and hidden in the grass
are self-heal, clover
and the cushioning of moss.

My lawn isn’t just grass
it is ecosystem,
it is community.