World’s Ugliest Lawn competition crowns woman who says ‘ex-husband left with lawnmower’

A yard in Australia took home the top prize in the first-ever World’s Ugliest Lawn competition.

After receiving entries of unattractive lawns from around the globe, Kathleen Murray’s in Sandford, Tasmania, was selected as the worst looking by a panel of international jurors.

“Kathleen Murray’s lawn boasts deep, dry divots created by three wild bandicoots (small marsupials endemic to Australia) and not one dust-covered decimeter is wasted on watering,” the competition’s website explained.

“For that, the planet, and its dwindling stockpiles of life-giving liquid, thanks you, Kathleen. As well as those naughty, naughty bandicoots pockmarking your property for the greater good.”

The contest was created by the Region Gotland in Sweden, a municipality that covers the entire Swedish island of Gotland, in a lighthearted effort to promote water conservation.

“It uses humor to shine a light on such a serious subject,” its site explains.

“And it awards those willing to proudly proclaim that theirs is the lawn which deserves disgusted glances from neighbors – and a round of applause from around the globe.”

The six jurors on the panel ranged from a garden designer in Ireland to an architect in New Zealand to an author and advertising copywriter in the U.S.

The group looked at entries from the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, France and Croatia.

“It’s pretty shock-and-awe,” Murray told The Guardian.

“The bandicoots love digging – that’s how they find their favorite food. Now my back yard looks like a real-life Hungry Hungry Hippo game. I also have an echidna that helps, and some chooks.”

Murray and her four teenage children live in an area that doesn’t have water mains, so the rainwater her property collects via tanks is too precious to use on the lawn.

If her family runs out of water in the summer, they can wait up to two weeks before getting a supply of water delivered to their home.

Her prize for winning the competition was a used t-shirt that stated ”Proud owner of The World’s Ugliest Lawn.”

She’s happy that she no longer has to worry about cutting her grass.

“I used to think the bandicoots were wildlife of mass destruction invading my lawn, but now I see that they’ve actually liberated me from ever having to mow it again,” Murray told the outlet.

“I’m all for guilt-free weekends, especially since my ex-husband left with the lawnmower back in 2016.”