More and more homeowners are considering alternatives to the standard grass lawns, which require loads of watering and need regular mowing. Here's some information you may want to consider on natural and conservation-smart alternatives to the typical putting-green yard.
Conventional Lawns: Time to Think Outside the Box
- Conventional Lawns can be time-consuming with upkeep and maintenance-- mowing, edging, weeding, etc.
- Grass lawns are not especially eco-friendly. They require large amounts of water -- a natural (and increasingly scarce) resource.
- Lawns can be chemical-dependent. The tendency is to use artificially produced fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. These can impact the environment in many ways that you may not be aware of and can cause harm to wildlife, pets and even your family.
- Lawns can be expensive to keep up -- with special equipment and tools required, most of which run on another resource that's increasingly scarce -- fossil fuel. Lawn mowers, lawn blowers, weed-eaters, grass seed, fertilizers and other chemical treatments, higher water bills. . .the list goes on and the money adds up.
- Turf can be temperamental. Soil quality can vary, rainfall is unpredictable. Even under ideal conditions--and even if you pour on the chemicals--you may have bad luck because of something that's beyond your control.
Lawn Alternatives
You may want to consider liberating yourself from the perpetual care of a traditional lawn and regain time with native and ornamental grasses and other grass-like plants. Not only are they simpler and less expensive to care for, they offer a more natural look that many people find pleasing. Here are a few things to consider:
- Think low maintenance. You water once a week and mow four times a year. Think of the time and energy saved!
- Think diversity. Part of your yard may be in the shade and part in full sun. By varying what you plant you can accommodate both.
- Think locally. Native grasses and sedges--i.e., species that are already native to your area--are practically self-sustaining. In addition, it's a more sound environmental practice to use naturally native species rather than introducing non-natives that can become invasive or problematic. (Just ask anybody who's had to battle kudzu or English ivy overtaking their yard. Neither is a North American native plant.) Talk with your agricultural extension or local native-plant society to get information on invasive plants and on natives that work well as ornamentals and ground cover.
Factors to Consider Before Selecting
- What part of the country do you live in and what grows well in your area.
- Will the area you're planting get foot traffic?
- Is it predominantly in the sun or shade?
- Think natives. Most areas of the country have sedge that grows naturally--a sign that ornamental grasses/sedge will do well in your yard.
Ornamental Grasses and Sedges
Following is a list of ornamental grasses that you may want to consider broken down by basic size and common attributes.
Evergreen grasses for a natural meadow:
- autumn moor grass (Sesleria autumnalis): sun.
- Berkeley sedge (Carex tumulicola): sun or shade.
- European meadow sedge (Carex remota): sun or shade.
- maires fescue (Festuca mairei): good choice for desert; sun.
- meadow moor grass (Sesleria heuffleriana): sun.
(All grow one to two feet tall and should not be mowed.)
Meadow grasses to walk on:
- buffalo grass (Buchloe dactyloides): dormant in winter, good in the desert; sun.
- California meadow sedge (Carex pansa): creeping evergreen grass; sun or shade.
- catlin sedge (Carex texensis): clumping evergreen grass; sun or shade.
- mosquito grass (Bouteloua gracilis): dormant in winter, good in the desert; sun.
- valley meadow sedge (Carex praegracilis): creeping evergreen grass; sun or shade.
(All grow 4 to 8 inches tall and can be left alone or mowed occasionally.)
Accent grasses for sunny meadows or borders:
- deer grass (Muhlenbergia rigens):): 3 to 4 feet tall.
- eulalla or Japanese silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis):): 5 to 6 feet tall.
- evergreen miscanthus (Miscanthus transmorrisonensis):): 3 feet tall; one of the best maiden grasses for small gardens.
- fountain grass (Pennisetum):): many varieties; 1 to 4 feet tall, depending on variety.
- giant feather grass (Stipa gigantea):): 2 to 3 feet tall (6 feet when in bloom).
- Mexican feather grass (Stipa tenuissima):): 1 to 2 feet tall.
Five Rules for Landscaping with Lawn Alternatives
1. Get to know your native grasses.
2. Go for color-variety. Aside from more typical "grass greens," ornamentals come in deeper greens, lime, burgundy and silver. According to John Greenlee, grasses are the "anchor" of your meadow, but then there are flowering plants as well.
3. Don't forget texture. Consider planting combinations of grasses and sedges to create a mosaic of texture as well as color.
4. Be ecologically minded. For every region across the country, there's a native sedge/grass to replace a thirsty lawn.
5. Plant an annual border of grasses.
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