Neighbours might cast disapproving glances at Jarno Coone's wildly overgrown front yard, but the local ecosystem is thriving in this unconventional landscape. When Coone and his family moved into their Kyneton, Victoria home approximately thirteen years ago, the property featured a conventional, lush green lawn. Today, the grass stands so tall that neighbours have expressed concerns it could harbour snakes, and even the meter reader approaches with caution.
From Plush Green to Global Notoriety
"I'd 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," explains Coone, whose deliberately neglected front yard has been officially crowned the World's Ugliest Lawn for 2025. The global competition, which originated on the Swedish island of Gotland as a creative stunt to promote water conservation awareness, is now in its third successful year.
Judges in the international contest described Coone's horticultural achievement with vivid imagery, comparing the tangled display to "kids' hair after a lice treatment gone horribly wrong." When asked about his methodology for achieving such impressive imperfection, Coone's approach is refreshingly simple: "I leave it to nature. I've never watered it."
Southern Hemisphere Dominance in Unconventional Gardening
The competition has seen remarkable southern hemisphere dominance in recent years, with previous winners including parched, pock-marked displays from Sandford, Tasmania and Birdlings Flat in New Zealand. Coone's winning entry features a chaotic tangle of native grasses, various weeds, and scattered small trees that appear dry in some patches while maintaining surprising greenness in others.
As one competition judge wryly observed, the yard looks like "they've obviously not spent any money on it." This observation makes the background of the winner particularly intriguing, as Coone is actually a professional groundskeeper by trade. He spends his working days as a property manager tending to 1,100 acres of bushland surrounding the independent Candlebark and Alice Miller school.
Professional Groundskeeper with Unconventional Home Approach
Coone anticipates that students might find considerable amusement in learning that the person responsible for maintaining their school grounds also possesses the world's ugliest lawn. Despite potential ribbing, he feels quietly proud of his newly acquired notoriety. "It's a great idea, not only for water conservation, but conservation of resources in general and living with nature," he reflects on the competition's broader environmental message.
His prize—a third-hand commemorative T-shirt mailed across the Tasman Sea by last year's winner Leisa Elliott—will be worn proudly when he shares the news at the school's morning meeting. While human neighbours might view the yard with scepticism, local wildlife has embraced the unconventional landscape with enthusiasm.
Thriving Ecosystem in Unkempt Space
Butterflies, including painted ladies and yellow admirals, appear particularly fond of the long grass and nettles that have established themselves. Coone's family enjoys watching microbats at dusk as they flit around the yard, consuming insects in impressive quantities. "They're fun to watch in the evening, just flying around, catching insects," he observes with evident pleasure.
Urban ecologists confirm that wildlife generally prefers environments that maintain some natural disorder, with twigs, leaves, and bark providing essential habitat materials or construction resources for nest-building activities. Coone's approach aligns perfectly with this ecological understanding. "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," he explains.
Reconsidering Traditional Lawn Maintenance
The groundskeeper also highlights the considerable labour involved in maintaining conventional tidy lawns, suggesting there might be better uses for that time and energy. "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," he proposes, challenging conventional gardening wisdom.
This victory represents more than just an eccentric gardening achievement—it serves as a tangible demonstration of how embracing natural processes can benefit both water conservation efforts and local biodiversity. As global awareness grows about sustainable living practices, Coone's world-champion ugly lawn offers a compelling alternative perspective on what constitutes a successful and environmentally responsible garden space.
