The grass is always browner: Swedish neighbours vie for ‘ugliest lawn’ title

Really lousy' garden wins contest on island of Gotland that aims to promote water conservation

Residents of Sweden's largest island have been competing to determine which of them has the ugliest lawn.

The competition is an effort by the municipality of Gotland to promote water conservation. After the island, located in the middle of the Baltic Sea, received a record-breaking number of visitors and residents last summer, its politicians realised that it needed to make drastic changes to save its water supplies. Gotland's population doubles during the summer months and this places a heavy demand on water reserves and limited groundwater supplies.