Spring time is traditionally the best time of the year to plant, garden, lawn care, and generally do all sorts of home improvements.

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Plant your picnic blanket among the lunching office-workers on the Great Lawn, or swap people-watching for bird-watching along The Ramble, 37 cool acres of wooded paths and streams.

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But people plant lawns in those places anyways (see map, " United States Lawn Distribution"), and the results are predictable nasty.

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To that end, Voigt is experimenting on bacteria with plant-digesting genes, including those found in termites, sheep and bacteria that live on your lawn.

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