In the continental U.S., a significant amount of the land area has been disturbed to varying degrees by urbanization, suburbanization, agriculture, roadway construction, invasive species, and resource extraction. Notably, approximately 50,000 square miles have been replaced with asphalt and concrete, and a 2005 NASA study estimated that 63,000 square miles—an area almost as large as Florida—have been replaced with the non-native turfgrasses that surround homes and businesses and occupy parks, roadsides, school and college campuses, cemeteries, and golf courses.

Turfgrass maintenance as we understand it today is traceable to England in the 17th century, when a manicured lawn signaled wealth and aristocratic social status. Today, lawn maintenance remains ingrained in society, despite grave ecological and economic consequences. This includes the fertilizers, water, and gasoline and equipment required to maintain lawns, and these can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and loss of precious groundwater, as well as high expenses for those sustaining the lawns—expenses that end up being higher in the long run when compared with establishing and maintaining a native habitat,