Homeowner sounds off after winning World's Ugliest Lawn award: 'I've never watered it'

Australian groundskeeper Jarno Coone won the World's Ugliest Lawn award for 2025, according to The Guardian.

"I leave it to nature," he said, per the publication. "I've never watered it."

The lawn in question is a tangled mass of straw-yellow strands with occasional sprigs of green, all of them different lengths. Some areas are flat and matted; others stand up in wild bunches. It's unclear how many species of grass are involved, though there are several, not to mention the weeds. Trees, bushes, and rocks are scattered throughout, emphasizing the lack of order in the yard.

The overgrown effect has taken 13 years to achieve since the day Coone moved in. He began long before the World's Ugliest Lawn competition, now in its third year, was established.

The professional groundskeeper and property manager didn't start this for the prize — a third-hand commemorative T-shirt — but because of his ideals, and to save on labor.

"It's a great idea, not only for water conservation, but conservation of resources in general and living with nature," he said. "... It stands to reason that if you let nature do what it wants to do with the grass and let it grow, and seed and fulfil its life cycle, then obviously it's going to provide more habitat than something that's cut down every weekend.

"… Instead of mowing your lawn, you're probably doing better by just going for a bush walk and observing and seeing what you see. That's probably a much better usage of time."

Thanks to his choices, Coone and his family get to enjoy beautiful butterflies and bats that are attracted to the natural space. You can also invite beneficial wildlife to your own yard, even if you only rewild a portion of it — and you could even be in the running for next year's World's Ugliest Lawn award.

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