It is flagrantly wasteful of drinking water and nonrenewable resources, irresponsibly destructive of our native plant and animal species, and dependent on the defiant and dishonest use of chemicals, which are far more threatening to human health than any weed pollen. One of the chief problems with conventional yards is that they just aren't very hospitable to wildlife. Increasingly, this is what migrating birds and butterflies encounter when they return to hereditary feeding and breeding sites. Moreover, when native animals confront a landscape full of exotic plants, they often react like toddlers faced with pureed carrots. Native plants, on the other hand, attract and nourish native birds, butterflies, and insects.
Water use is another problem with conventional lawns.
Ironically, these desert communities, which get a mere 4 to 12 inches of rainfall a year, are also where you find some of the lushest lawns in the country. On the other hand, a landscape of native plants, adapted to the local growing environment, doesn't require this profligate use of water. During that time, these indigenous plants had become perfectly adapted to their region's soils, temperatures, and annual rainfall, and had developed effective defenses against both predators and disease. So they imported seeds and saplings by the shipload, filling their gardens with cedar of Lebanon, English boxwood, hollyhocks, carnations, and sweet peas. Trouble was, summers in the colonies were hotter and drier than they had been at home, so the notion that gardens had to have regular watering became firmly fixed.