Instead, his Kansas City area home?EUR??,,????'???s front yard is a thicket of flowers, ornamental trees, leafy bushes, native grasses and a bramble of green tendrils rising up in suburban anarchy to the orderly lawns around it.

?EUR??,,????'??I don?EUR??,,????'???t like mowing, and I don?EUR??,,????'???t like spreading and spraying weed killer and grub control, so I turned my front yard into a garden, something I like to do,?EUR??,,????'?? said Crist, a horticulturalist and master gardener.

Consumers spend more than $11 billion a year on water, pesticides, fertilizers and gas to keep 30 million acres of lawn green and tidy, making grass America?EUR??,,????'???s largest irrigated crop. Yet, critics say, consumers get little practical value from this endless regimen.

Vivian Pine, owner of Floraculture, a local landscaping firm, thinks there is a middle ground. She embraces the idea of front-yard gardens because it promotes soil-friendly uses and conservation. Pine said plants with long roots hold water better than the short roots of most grasses.

Pine said that a front lawn that includes indigenous plants could be fairly low maintenance.

?EUR??,,????'??You might convert a third of your yard,?EUR??,,????'?? she suggests. ?EUR??,,????'??That is manageable, and it won?EUR??,,????'???t make you stand out in the neighborhood.?EUR??,,????'??

Still Pine does not expect many homeowners to tear out all their turf: ?EUR??,,????'??We love our lawns,?EUR??,,????'?? she said.

Source: McClatchy Newspapers