A lush lawn has gotten to be such a fixture of te American dream hat the hum of lawnmowers and the soft hiss ofsprinklers have becomenostalgic harbingers of summer. But there's more to landscapes than just blades of grass and garden gnomes. Here are some facts you may not know about your yard.

 

• 20 acres of lawn in the U.S., in millions-more land than any single crop takes up

• 30 percentage of water consumed on the East Coast goes towards watering lawns

• 60 percentage of water consumed in Western states goes towards watering lawns and lymphoma

• 10 approximate percentage of bugs in a typical yard actually interfere with lawn growth

• 100 number of miles a late model car would have to drive to produce as much pollution as a lawnmower emits in 1 hour

• 32 gallons of water used per capita on lawns daily in the U.S.

• 20 gallons of water used during an average shower in the U.S.

• 3 estimated pounds of pesticides per application for an acre of farmland

• 7 estimated pounds of pesticides per application for an acre of lawn

• 40 percent pf chemicals from ChemLawn's consumer product line-up are baned in other countries

• 19 commonly used lawn pesticides are known to be carcinogens

• 75 number of human studies document a connection between pesticide exposure

• 373 number of calories a 150 pound person would burn using a push mower for one hour

• 1830 is the year that Edwin Budding invented the lawnmower

• 1855 is the year that Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass was published-

• 1962 was the year that Rachel carson's Silent Spring was published

• 1984 was the year the U.S use of synthetic fertilizer on lawns surpassed the amount used on all of India's food crops.