1. There
are over 45 million acres of turfgrass in the US of all types from recreational
to utilitarian. Home lawns to soccer fields, golf courses, roadsides, buffer
strips and everything in between.
2. There
are over 10,000 different types of grass in the world.
3.
The
US turfgrass industry is worth an estimated 45 billion dollars ($45,000,000,000)
and employees 500,000 people.
4.
A
2,500 square foot area of turfgrass produces enough oxygen for a family of 4 and
a golf course produces enough oxygen for 7,000 people.
5. Just
8 home lawns have the same cooling effect as 70 tons of air conditioning. The
temperature of a lawn can be 30 degrees cooler than a paved surface and 15
degrees cooler than bare soil.
6. Turfgrass
prevents erosion. It is the most effective erosion prevention method trapping
12 million tons of dirt & dust from our atmosphere annually. It also traps
silt and sediment from water run-off protecting water sources.
7. Turfgrass
also protects water by filtering water as it passes through the soil. 90% of the
weight of a grass plant is in its roots.
8. There
are 8.5 million plants on the average lawn and many more on a typical golf putting green.
9.
Grass
clippings are a good source of nutrients that can be re-used by the plants. If clippings
were a fertilizer for sale at your local store it would have a 4-1-2 analysis.
(4% Nitrogen, 1% Phosphorus & 2% Potassium)
10.
There
are about 280,000 seeds in a pound of Perennial Ryegrass and about 6,000,000
seeds in a pound of creeping Bentgrass.
