Lawn Substitutes

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One commenter to the previous post asked for a close-up of my ex-lawn and hey, I’m here to please.

And to answer some questions raised about it, I assume that the sedum can’t take much foot traffic.  I say "assume" because it’s never complained when I’ve walked on it.  Light foot traffic is certainly no problem.

About how long it takes for this stuff to fill in, Sedum acre spreads so fast it covered the whole area within three months, from small plugs spaced a foot apart.  Because this space is on an incline and erosion was just waiting to happen, I couldn’t wait around for slow-spreaders like thyme.

And about  my neighbors? Imagine a hippie commune of 16,000 people, and you have a sense of the politics and aesthetics in my town.  Here, the nasty looks from neighbors would come if a ChemLawn truck pulled up.

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Word of my no-mow ex-lawn is spreading up and down the street and I’ve noticed more than one neighbor, upon seeing this image in the flesh, running and screaming for their spouse to come see it, too.  It’s beautiful, I tell ya, but also practically free (just a couple of bucks for the clover).  Then there’s the fact that it requires no mowing, no watering and no fertilizing (activities I haven’t engaged in since I ripped out the lawn.)  But back to aesthetics:  neighbors are noticing exactly what I love about it - the way the plants undulate across the space at different heights (none more than 5 inches) is way more interesting than a mown turfgrass.

What is it?  A mix of sedum acre (which appeared here as a weed), red and white clover, crocus foliage, still blooming Star of Bethlehem, and a few wild strawberries I’ve allowed to stay (the uglier weeds have all been removed).  

What’s next?  Blooms!  That sedum especially and both the clovers.  And though insects love it already, when the sedum and clovers bloom this will be a swarm of pollinator frenzy.

Also blooming April 15 is Celandine poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum), below.  It’s native to Eastern North America.  Of course I have are daffodils in bloom but really, ho-hum.

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Apparently I can’t get ENOUGH of the subject of lawn substitutes - evidenced by my attending two talks on the subject in the last week.  Which I suppose tells us people want to know about it, and that’s a good thing.

So here are the lawn alternatives shown off by Chuck Hinkle, gardener at The Scott Arboretum, at their recent confab on this hot topic.  After seeing a slide show about various lawn alternatives, we followed Chuck on a tour of some real-life examples from around the campus and viewed the following:

Carex pensylvanica (photo above) is native to the Northeast and suitable for shade, part shade, and even tolerates full sun.  Deciduous, mounding, and semi-evergreen, according to sources (meaning evergreen if the winter is mild?).  It’s usually cut back in early spring, and Chuck suggests cutting it back again in July, especially if it’s in full sun.  He also says it’ll tolerate mowing.

Carex appalachia is native to dry woods in the eastern half of North America.   It’s deciduous and stays short. Suitable for shady areas.

Carex platyphylla (photo above) is native to woodland areas with "balanced moisture" from Maine to Alabama.  It’s evergreen where winters are milder, otherwise only partly so.  Chuck gives it a haircut in late winter.  If winter is mild, evergreen.  Part sun to light shade to shade.  Also available at Plant Delights.

Carex morrowii ‘Silk Tassel" (photo above) is a Japanese sedge that’s evergreen and happy in full sun or shade.  I’ve been growing the variety ‘Ice Dance’ for years with great success.

Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) (photo above) is native to prairies of the Midwest and eastward, so best in full sun.   Mounding, deciduous and VERY drought-tolerant.  Amazing thing: its bloom is fragrant.  Chuck cuts it back in spring (and says it’s a real pain to do, that burning is better but illegal). It’s also deer-resistant.  Zones 3-9.  I see that they cost $22 each, so wonder if it can be grown from seed or reproduced by division. 

Juncus tenuis (photo above) is also known as poverty rush, winegrass or slender rush.  It’s native to all of N. America.  Goes dormant in winter.  Likes full sun to part shade, and Chuck mentioned they paid $1/square foot for it.  Likes full sun to part shade.

Dwarf mondo (Ophiopogon japonicus) is Japanese (duh).  This short evergreen groundcover is slow to spread, so buy enough to fill up the area immediately (I notice on eBay they’re selling for $90 for 24 of them or 500 for $190) Chuck just divides them often.  Best in shade.

Hard fescue (festuca longifolia) (photo above) is a "no-mow" grass that looked scrumptuous in November.   It has good pest tolerance, can tolerate some shade, and doesn’t need fertilizer at all.  Chuck mows it once in the spring.  On the negative side, it doesn’t tolerate foot traffic and it’s slow to establish from seed.  I can’t find info on where hard fescue comes from, except that it’s listed on this compendium of weeds.

Charles Hinkle, Gardener, joined the staff full-time in 1998. Previously, he was a gardener at Friends Hospital in Philadelphia. He holds a B.S. in horticulture from Temple University, and has completed Longwood Gardens series I and II in Ornamental Plants. He is also an instructor at Temple University.

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Reader Serena Joyner sent me these AWESOME photos of her front yard and this note:

"There’s no supplemental watering except for the big pot of annuals in the middle.  Many of the plants are native species but to extend the flowering season and add interest, I’ve included some old standbys like Siberian iris, bearded iris, peonies, roses, Japanese anemone, alliums and self-seeding annuals like

"Since the yard is small and there’s so many different plants, it’s structured in layers.  As something flowers or looks past its prime, it’s cut back or cut down so the next plant can do its thing."

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I’m excited to announce that garden designer, television host and speaker Shirley Bovshow of Los Angeles has contributed 3 terrific lawn removal stories to the website, and oodles of photos.  Check out:

• "Front Garden Replaces Lawn and Lone Palm Tree"
• "Create a Neat Edible Front Knot Garden"
• And "Extreme Lawn Makeover…Low-Water Plants Take Over!"

I’d known Shirley a bit online but got to spend real-time with her in Portland last month.  Now if I can just finagle an invite to visit her in LA, maybe next February.  I’ll work on it.

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Did you know that: 

• More herbicides per acre are dumped on lawns than on the fields of agribusiness.
•  In the U.S. an estimated 7 million birds are killed yearly by lawn-care pesticides. 
• Phosphorus run-off from lawn fertilizer causes algae blooms that suck oxygen out of lakes, asphyxiating fish.
• A single golf course in Tampa, Florida uses 178,800 gallons of water every day, enough to meet the daily water needs of over 2,200 people.
• On average, 7,600 Americans are injured every year using lawn mowers, about the same number as  firearms.

I learned all that from American Green: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn by Ted Steinberg.  Reviewers have aptly compared it to Fast Food Nation - it’s that well written and that important.

Addicted to green

Who’s to blame for all this? The American love of lawns began with the upperclass emulating the landed gentry of England and spread to middle class neighborhoods after World War II, especially in new communities like Levittown, NY, where residents were encouraged to apply fertilizer a remarkable 5 to 6 times a year because super-green lawns "stamp inhabitants as good neighbors, desirable citizens".  The invention of the power mower and advertising for perfect lawns by industry giant Scotts sealed the new ethic of the American lawn for decades to come.  Proof of Scotts’ marketing power (and the malleability of the American consumer) is the fate of clover.  Where previously it had been routinely included in grass seed mixes for its nitrogen-fixing properties, when it was discovered that the new wonder-herbicide 2,4-D killed clover along with crabgrass, Scotts turned on a dime and declared it to be an undesirable weed, and public opinion quickly followed. 

Most worshipers at the Church of the Perfect Lawn are men, and Steinberg thinks it’s because compulsive lawn care gives them a feeling of control - a feeling so often missing on the job.  So ad agencies write copy like: "Show the world who’s boss" and "You’re the boss when you buy a Lawn-Boy," pitches that appeal to notions of manliness, and it works all too well.

[click to continue…]

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Here’s another of Takoma’s lawnless frontyards, one of my favorites.  The berm is brimming with rock garden plants of all sorts and even a petunia-filled treasure chest.  The owner/gardener, a local artist and art teacher, has an infectious sense of fun.

And speaking of fun, I promised you this shot of the beloved cow sculpture in the garden of local landscape designer Margaret Atwell.  You can’t tell from the photo, but it’s nearly life-size and adds the right touch to the pastoral feeling of her backyard.

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Here’s a delicious preview of tomorrow’s  house and garden tour here in town; I couldn’t wait till these lovely gardens are crawling with tour-goers in bright sun.  You all expect better than that and I’m just trying to please.

First up is a really cool example of house and garden colors working together.  And this professional landscape designer’s front garden is jam-packed with small trees, shrubs, and perennials.  Best I recall, her back garden holds a 6-foot cow sculpture, which you’d better believe I’ll be burning up the pixels over tomorrow on the tour.

The garden next door uses plants and color in the same way, and has this amazing bottle tree as a focal point.  I’m told this is a Southern tradition but it must be farther south than my native Central Virginia because it’s the first I’ve ever seen.  Here’s another one courtesy of the Worldwideweb.

And a tour through the Town of Takoma wouldn’t be complete without this popular political message, which preaches to the choir here but that’s okay; it’s nice to see.  It says "Don’t Legislate Discrimination" and refers to laws that prohibit gay marriage.

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