HE READ IT IN MY DECEMBER CHORES LIST: Make the last mowing before winter a short cut, way down low. And even though the snow fell before he got to that task, the guy in the doodle (is that you, Andre Jordan?) didn’t want to skip a single to-do I’d suggested, apparently. Poor sod. (Get it? Sorry; I watch far too much BBC programming.)
THE LECTURE that he’s been giving for a number of years is not-so-subtly called “Kill Your Lawn.” Ecological horticulturist Dan Jaffe Wilder knows that starting over and creating an entire native habitat instead of a lawn isn’t for everyone. But Dan just wants to grab our attention and get us to start to make some changes at least in the way we care for the turfgrass we do want in our landscapes. And maybe give up a little square footage of it to some other kind of more diverse planting, too, like the wild strawberries (Fragaria virginiana, inset). Alternative, more eco-focused styles of lawn care, along with some lawn alternatives is what he and I talked about on the podcast. Dan is Director of Applied Ecology at Norcross Wildlife Foundation in Wales, Massachusetts, and its 8,000-acre sanctuary. He’s also co-author with Mark Richardson of the book “Native Plants for New England Gardens.”
(Stream it below, read the illustrated transcript or subscribe free.)
Oh, Andre! Glad to see you again, but wish it were under better circumstances. If you add a whipping wind to that cartoon, it would look like our yard this morning! (Except I am NOT mowing the grass!!!)
Love it Andre, this is how I feel almost every year (you might add loud cursing)! “If I just could’ve gotten in one more mow!”. Not this year…beat the snow by a scant week! Thank you Margaret for the Dec chore list.
following Margaret’s ‘December chores’ we mowed half the lawn one day and planned to do the rest over the weekend but then the snow came.
Eh. Who’s to know til Spring. =]
My husband is definitely not as devoted a mower. He gave up the first of october! Come visit me, leave a comment and you could win Right Rose Right Place by Peter Schneider. You probably don’t need this, Margaret, but your readers have til midnight. The drawing is Saturday morning. We love andre’s doodles.