In addition to that, there's some unwarranted anti-grass sentiment in the article with sentences such as "Good things happen when you remove the choking thatch of grass and let the earth breathe.". Non-grass landscaping can be done just as badly with chemical fertilizers and pesticides and unnecessary amounts of water just as much as with grass. Well-done turf grass with good quality soil can be organically fertilized and when fully-established, requires less water and essentially no pesticides as the healthy grass crowds out weeds. It also handles foot traffic, resists erosion from rain, produces oxygen, and promotes a healthy soil ecosystem with earthworms, etc. The problem is not grass, it's badly-done grass.