When the volcano Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, it leveled forests, destroyed crops, killed millions of fish, choked harbors with volcanic mud, left human casualties, coated the ground with ash, and turned day into night.
In the ensuing months, one of the most common symbols of new life after this destruction was depicted in the photographs of seeded grass as it grew out from the ash.
Such photos are just one dramatic testimony to the durability of grass, a persistent, diverse organism that has a way of populating even the most forbidden land.
Grass has been nicknamed "nature's bandage" because it mends the wounds left by man. As one writer put it, "Grass covers the scars of battlefields, the trails of conquerors, and the graves of the mighty and the lowly. It has eaten the cobblestone chariot paths of the old empires and obliterated the mistakes of centuries."
But grass goes even farther than just patching up damage done to the earth. It can help to prevent damage from occurring in the first place. And the prime demonstration of this skill is its ability to reduce soil erosion.
A thick vegetative cover of grass protects the soil from its major enemies-wind and water-in a way that cannot be duplicated by any other plant. Grass absorbs the impact of raindrops, which pound the land and break apart soil particles; and it slows down the flow of runoff water, which carries away loosened soil particles.
Smooth bromegrass: A grass that combines well with alfalfa or red clover and is fairly tolerant of wet soils.
