Swedish Island of Gotland Holds Second Annual Ugliest Lawn Contest, Seeks Entries for New Global Contest

On the Swedish island of Gotland, neighbors aren’t bothered by whose grass is greener. Instead, locals are competing for the second year in a row for the “ugliest” lawn, a competition that began in 2022 amid a ban that prevented irrigation for grassy yards.

Irrigations bans were first put in place in 2017 in Gotland to conserve water during the summer, as an influx of tourists in recent years has put more demand and strain on the local water supply. Further, Gotland’s government noted that there has been less rain and snow in previous years, leaving groundwater at record lows.

So last year, local residents decided to participate in a contest for the “ugliest” lawn, where the winner had a chance to learn from an expert gardener about planting native plants rather than a decorative grass lawn.

Last year’s winner, Marcus Norström, had a yard that was described by judges as “a really lousy lawn that lives up to all our expectations of Gotland’s ugliest lawn and has good conditions for a more sustainable improvement.”

The contest was popular enough to happen again this year, with Stina Östman taking the crown.

“It was the easiest competition to win, I didn’t have to do anything,” Östman told The Guardian. “It’s always nice to win, even if you are the worst.”

According to the competition judges, Östman’s yard was “a very ugly and in no way useful lawn — unless you’re a sparrow.”

Östman won a T-shirt and a certificate to display her victory. Local dogs were also big winners, as they’ve enjoyed digging in the barren lawns, The Guardian reported.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reported that water availability on Gotland could decrease another 13.3% from 2021 to 2050, while demand could increase 40% by 2045. Gotland isn’t alone — half of the global population could live in areas that experience water scarcity by 2025, according to UNICEF.

As such, residents of Gotland are encouraging people around the world to forgo their lawn maintenance and opt instead for a water-wise property.

“We wanted to make sustainability communication positive – it’s common to see negative headlines that make you feel bad,” said Johan Gustafsson, organizer for the ugly lawn contest and art director at Differ Agency. “This is the opposite — the competition made people smile and they didn’t have to do a thing to participate, they could just relax and have a cup of tea. We think that also made it a success.”

Interested participants can join in the global competition by sharing a photo of their lawn on Instagram using #worldsugliestlawn, or they can email the photo to uglylawn@gotland.se. A winner will be chosen this December.