succession

“Succession” has been in the news, more so in England than the United States, when last week (October 28) the rules for succession to the British throne were amended to ensure that the first born of any future monarch, whether male or female will inherit the crown. However, though related, this is not the succession I have in mind when I look at my yard, which previously was regularly scalped by a lawn mower, now transforming itself into an impenetrable mass of “weeds”.

When we selected a house in the suburbs of Atlanta I wisely ensured there were no neighborhood covenants requiring all houses conform to a manicured appearance. I guess my priorities are different from most homeowners who stress curbside appearance by which is meant that the house should look good to passersby. For me this entails a loss of privacy – I would rather my dwelling be obscured to passing traffic. So I displaced the rolling lawn between the house and the street with many tree plantings. There still is some lawn and, yes I do mow it, especially when the weeds are about to seed since it would be unfair for my neighbors’ yards to become infested with my “weeds”. These changes did not pass without comment from the subdivision and I became aware of the common sentiment when a visiting teenager said she loved the wildflowers and I should not be influenced by what everyone was saying about my yard (up till that time I didn’t know that anyone was saying anything). I heard more directly when, at a neighborly New Year’s party, after some quaffing of the spirits, and when everyone was encouraged to make a new year wish, someone said they hoped Disney would use our yard as their site for the next Tarzan movie – the guffaws, in which I participated, showed that most everyone knew about our yard.

Succession doesn’t really work in a suburban setting because at some point the local authorities will become involved as complaints escalate. But it is great for my rural property. Basically, succession means stepping back and doing nothing and letting nature take over the yard. The grasses which used to be mowed are taken over by more aggressive annuals (pioneer plants) which thrive in an untended natural setting. In time the annuals will be shaded out and displaced by larger perennials, which in turn, some years later, will be displaced by natural seeded trees (in my case pine trees and tulip poplars). Succession is a natural process and maintaining an immaculate lawn is an unnatural process i.e. we are going against nature, which is why so much effort and dollars are expended on herbicides (pre-emergent, post-emergent), pesticides, fertilizer, mowing, spiking, irrigating and leaf clearing operations – we are trying to hold the lawn at an early stage of development while nature is trying to progress matters (my neighbors will quibble with the word “progress”).

So I am allowing succession to occur on my rural property in the areas where I am not growing food. Actually, in some cases I am doing accelerated succession, which means that in addition to allowing the pines and poplars, maples et al. to seed and grow, I visit the woods and extricate white and red oak seedlings and plant them amidst the growing host. Oaks are very difficult to transplant – they send down long tap roots and success is only possible if you select a seedling which means some trial and error since what may appear to be a small oak seedling could be a specimen which has been waiting in the understory for 5 or more years and has a 4 ft taproot. However success is possible.

Perhaps my succession is not that different from the new rules for the British monarchy – whoever arrives first rules (for the time being).