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Parched patch in New Zealand crowned world's ugliest lawn
The Guardian
|January 11, 2025
A sun-scorched patch of lawn near Christchurch, New Zealand, has been crowned the ugliest in the world.
Now in its second year, the World's Ugliest Lawn competition rewards homeowners for not watering their parched yellow grass and patchy flowerbeds.
The winning lawn in the settlement of Birdlings Flat belongs to Leisa Elliott and is kept closely cropped by harsh coastal winds and little rainfall.
"I live in a small coastal community," Elliott said. "Our drinking water is pumped from a well in nearby Kaitorete Spit. In my mind, drinking water is drinking water, not watering-the-lawn water."
This story is from the January 11, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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