When they moved in about 13 years ago, there was plush green lawn out the front. Nowadays the grass is so high that neighbours fear it could be harbouring snakes. Even the meter reader is a bit wary.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d love to have snakes in the front yard. But they need water. And so they stay down by the river, which is a couple of blocks away,\u201d says Jarno Coone, whose unkempt front yard in Kyneton, Victoria<\/a>, has been named the World\u2019s Ugliest Lawn 2025.<\/p>\n Judges in the global competition described Coone\u2019s work as \u201clike kids\u2019 hair after a lice treatment gone horribly wrong\u201d.<\/p>\n How did he achieve such imperfection? \u201cI leave it to nature. I\u2019ve never watered it.\u201d<\/p>\n Top class grass: Jarno Coone is very happy to have the world\u2019s ugliest lawn. Photograph: Ellen Smith\/The Guardian<\/p>\n The World\u2019s Ugliest Lawn competition, which began on the Swedish island of Gotland as a stunt to promote water conservation, is now in its third year.<\/p>\n So far, the southern hemisphere has dominated, with pock-marked and parched displays in Sandford, Tasmania<\/a> and Birdlings Flat in New Zealand<\/a> beating international rivals for the dubious honour.<\/p>\n The tangle of native grasses, weeds and scatter of small trees outside Coone\u2019s home is dry in patches, and green in others. It looks, as one of the judges commented, like \u201cthey\u2019ve obviously not spent any money on it\u201d.<\/p>\n So it\u2019s somewhat surprising to learn that the man responsible for this unsightly display is a professional groundskeeper. Coone spends his days as a property manager tending to 1,100 acres of bush surrounding the independent Candlebark and Alice Miller school.<\/p>\n He expects the students may find it amusing that the person responsible for the world\u2019s ugliest lawn is in charge of their school grounds. But he is quietly chuffed with the notoriety.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a great idea, not only for water conservation, but conservation of resources in general and living with nature.\u201d<\/p>\n Photograph: Ellen Smith\/The Guardian<\/p>\n He plans to wear his prize \u2013 a third-hand commemorative T-shirt posted across the Tasman by last year\u2019s winner Leisa Elliott \u2013 to the school\u2019s morning meeting when he tells them.<\/p>\n Neighbours might look askance, but local birds, bees and bats aren\u2019t bothered by the aesthetics. Butterflies \u2013 painted ladies and yellow admirals \u2013 seem to love the long grass and nettles, Coone says.<\/p>\n His family enjoy watching the microbats at dusk<\/a> as they flit around eating their fill from his front yard. \u201cThey\u2019re fun to watch in the evening, just flying around, catching insects.\u201d<\/p>\n