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Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Actually, my lawn is smaller now because I placed a 8'x12' greenhouse on it. Not to get rid of lawn, nor for aesthetics, it is the only place that gets significant sun with the two-story house and several old-growth fir or cedar trees shading much of the yard. Several of our neighbors have also put a greenhouse, (some much bigger) in their front yard on part of the lawn.
The OP isn't talking about a garden though, he's talking about replacing his lawn with a messy mish mash of wild plants that he wants to ignore and neglect, do no work on and can let it grow naturally and eventually be taken over by weeds and harmful pests that can take over his yard space around his house.
A lawn isn't a garden, a garden is no substitute for a lawn and a garden doesn't imitate nature. A garden is a domestic thing, a human construct not a natural construct, it's planned, organized and needs to be cultivated and cared for daily if it's going to survive. Nature is wild, it doesn't do any of that, it's strictly a dog-eat-dog survival of the fittest and most aggressive plants kind of situation.
The picture of the English Garden is beautiful but those types of gardens need daily caretakers, they require a few hours of work be done on them every single day. They are suitable for retired homeowners who are plant enthusiasts and love to spend all day puttering around in the garden tending to the plants. That kind of defeats the purpose for the OP who wants something wild he can neglect.
He may as well just settle for a yard full of interesting rocks and artfully placed pieces of driftwood instead of living, breathing things that need to be nurtured.
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Lawns are a waste of space. At least with a wildflowers, there's beauty, color, butterflies, etc?
For my front lawn, I replacing 80-90% of the grass with evergreen shrubs. HOA requires I keep "some " grass in the front. In the back yard, I'm removing 100% of the grass, and replacing with hardscape or planting beds designed after...an English Cottage garden.
I grew up with a Scott’s lawn. Wonderful to walk on and perfect in every way a lawn should be. It took fertilizing, herbicides, pesticides, and watering along with mowing, thatching, and reseeding/weeding to achieve that look and a lot of hard work from Dad and us as kids. Now lawn services are used more often.
I live in FL now where growing good looking grass is even more dependent on chemicals, water and work. For me it isn’t worth it. With so many areas being developed, wildlife have lost their habitats to sterile yards comprised of lawn and non-native plants that provide very little for wildlife.
Anyone can make their yard a wildlife habitat, no matter how small their lot, by providing food, water, cover and space. Diversity in planting will attract more types of wildlife to a yard. This isn’t done overnight by ripping sod out, but by putting thought into the end result and making changes over time.
This is the direction we’ve chosen for our half acre: trees, understory trees, shrubs, grasses and wildflowers, most are natives. I have birdbaths, nesting boxes, snags and a brush pile. I also have areas of lawn, open space is needed too for wildlife and for our activities. Grass isn’t bad in itself, but making it a monoculture and the main feature of a yard is using it incorrectly.
Changing over one yard at a time is the answer to stopping the decline in wildlife. I have birds, bees, butterflies and so much more wildlife activity in my yard that wasn’t there when I moved in seven years ago. This happened by planting more native plants and using less chemicals. I’d rather see an overgrown unkempt yard than a perfect lawn now, but somewhere in between would be even better: a bit of lawn surrounded with wildlife habitats.
(1) Wild plants are constantly in competition with manicured grass. Folks hate that constant competition. But get this: If you do away with the manicured grass, then you'll do away with the competition that you hate so much!
(2) Wild plants are rarely given the chance to grow to their full potential, so most folks don't even know what they look like when they're grown. Do you know what a tree looks like when it begins to grow naturally? It looks like something that you'd want to grab hold of and yank out of the ground. But it's a naturally growing tree, most likely a native that matches your soil type very well, and will look great once it's a tree!
(3) Folks are control freaks. What could be more threatening than not knowing what nature is going to grow for you and where it's going to stick it? Scary!
The grand alternative to obsessively maintained grass will likely require dividing the total available area up into two subareas, a garden area (with or without patio furniture) and a play area. The play area could be either mowed (mowed natural grass or mowed weeds or both, in other words, whatever grows getting mowed) or paved (gravel or otherwise).
Here's an idea for the garden area:
What is the top reason that a garden is appealing? Is it the plants? Or is it actually the cozy little path that pleasantly winds its way through whatever grows?
So, picture a winding mowed path, about three or four feet wide, going through whatever is allowed to grow in the garden area. The mowed path has, at its center, twelve-inch square concrete stepping stones (say, the color of red brick) placed six inches apart in a single-row path. (A single row of stones six inches apart is perfectly suitable for comfortable walking and allows the path to curve very easily and to look great.) That's all you need. Around them, there is no mulch and no gravel. Just concrete stepping stones placed on top of the ground, with whatever grows growing around them and being nicely mowed when necessary by a string trimmer. The job of the stepping stones is primarily to designate the path, so you'll always know ^exactly^ where the path is and where to mow. Therefore, you won't need any "edging." (You'd mow between them, and one or one and a half feet on each side of them.) Since all you'll have to mow is this path, mowing is significantly reduced. The cost of such concrete stepping stones is low; the job is easily do-it-yourself; and labor is an absolute minimum. Mowing the growth around the stepping stones will cause the growth and the stones to be exactly the same height, so the stones can be placed right on top of the ground without any digging or other preparation or work.
The sides of this mowed path would be lined with colorful container plants, say, every three feet, alternating on each side of the path. Instead of using expensive containers, you could use alternatives that would offer better drainage: Half-size cinder blocks are square and therefore don't look like cinder blocks; they have large holes that can be filled with soil. Wooden apple baskets are inexpensive and can be used. And you can build your own custom containers that look just as good. Tie rope around them to dress them up. (Try half-inch twisted sisal.) Get the idea? This would mean that you can, in a controlled way, introduce significant interest into the garden, regardless of soil issues. And all you'll need to water is the container plants. . . .
The non-path areas of the garden can be either left to grow whatever nature gives you (gasp!) or covered with mulch or gravel. You just might be surprised what nature is able to give you. Your mowed path will provide the contrast that will show folks that nothing is being neglected. If you opt for mulch or gravel, forget about putting down liner beforehand to stop weed growth: If you want an area to have no growth, then just spray the area, whenever needed, with the 1 part water to 1 part bleach solution that I earlier told you about.
If you want a patio chair along the path, then put, say, half a dozen stepping stones one to two inches away from each other to form a spot to support the furniture. Ironically, one- to two-inch gaps between the stepping stones will actually make them look good, because the gaps will ^allow^ for any unevenness between the stones. Just spray the gaps with bleach solution to keep growth out of the gaps. If you want something big like a picnic table along the path, then use stepping stones to create just a perimeter for the table. Spray the area under the table to kill growth under the table, on the inside of the stepping-stone perimeter.
Voila! Easy garden area, limited mowing, limited watering, limited expense, no sprinkler system, looks great, and endures the test of time. The squirting of bleach solution is quicker, easier, and cheaper than you might think. Put evergreens in your containers for winter appeal!
Keep thinking how devastated my neighbors would be just of the thought of it.
people who exaggerate the difficulty of maintaining a lawn always have an ulterior motive for telling you why you shouldnt have a lawn. i dont go around telling people that they should have grass but they love manufacturing strange reasons why we shouldnt have grass. for some reason, its not enough for them to not have grass; they need to spread their religion to others.
Last edited by CaptainNJ; 03-11-2020 at 08:43 AM..
people who exaggerate the difficulty of maintaining a law always have an ulterior motive for telling you why you shouldnt have a lawn. i dont go around telling people that they should have grass but they love manufacturing strange reasons why we shouldnt have grass. for some reason, its not enough for them to not have grass; they need to spread their religion to others.
You know in many arid regions it is difficult outside of riparian zones and wetlands, right? In some cases, watering your lawn overly in a place like Nevada, Colorado or Arizona will even get you into trouble. So while I don't disagree with your point for more humid regions, it couldn't really apply to arid places like Phoenix, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City or Denver where xeriscaping is more viable and legal.
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