YES, PLEASE; HAVE YOUR WAY WITH MY LAWN, TOO; I hear you, Andre. As much as I basically like to mow, I don’t like it as much as the grass apparently liked to grow this wet, cool year. My 2009 lawn was a 1965 Tressy doll, but I couldn’t get the dial to turn the other way–to ungrow–you know? Are you all still in service to your turf (turf serfs, so to speak), too?
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.)
Not so much, and that’s probably why I haven’t ripped out the last of it. It’s green. Gets watered regularly (or as regularly as I am comfortable with in California). However, I haven’t mowed it in at least two months. I’m pretty sure I didn’t mow it in August and I know I haven’t mowed it in September. It just seems to have stopped growing. Must have heard me muttering under my breath the last time I did mow it, that I couldn’t wait for it to be gone, as well.
This year has been the worst year for our lawn. Weeds galore and bare areas.
Only in the last month or so it has begun to look decent. I’m not really sure what went wrong this year.
i think our grass must have been feed steroids by the previous owner
i just spent far too long sorting through search returns for ‘no-mow’ grasses, because i thought i remembered once–on a program that i was only half watching–someone mentioning something called something like ‘Korean grass’ that didn’t require mowing.
(also, andre never mows our grass. smirk.)
If you find no mow grass, please let us know Mrs. A. Meanwhile I might just print up a big version of Andre’s sign and stick it in the lawn(credit cited of course). I’m sick of mowing, and sick of neighbors unhappy with the way I mow.
Mr. & Mrs. Andre, I have a solution to your dilemma. Astro turf for the lawn, plastic and silk flowers, bushes, and trees. That would be “A Way to Garden”!!!!
Lol..my husband is having the lawn mowing blues here too… :^)
The Derailers – Who’s Gonna Mow Your Grass
Fred — this is *very* tempting! Thanks for making me laugh!!
I’m glad to see we’re not alone in our mowing mopes.
(also, i really came back to check if anyone had posted a no-mow grass suggestion. ha.)
i just look at the lawn when it needs mowing and say, not now, i have a headache…i won’t tell you where i learned that line…
I know I’m over mowing when I seriously consider hiring it out to a couple of the neighbor kids. Haven’t brought myself quite there yet…but it’s still a distinct possibility! Fortunately the season’s slowing down and it doesn’t require the twice weekly mow that June and July brought.
Quietly hoping for a week or two between not mowing and not raking leaves and just enjoying the garden!
Thanks for the chuckle and the commiseration Andre (Mr & Mrs)!
Oh my gosh, our grass here in La Follette, Tennessee, is thigh-high! We’ve had lots and lots of rain, and because my husband is on the road (he’s a truck driver), the mowing gets done infrequently, especially since our son left for the Navy. I do my best, but our 3/4 of an acre is very steep in places, and since we’ve only been here a year, we are still smoothing out the ruts in our very uneven yard. We are terracing some, and I have dreams of a vast terraced garden of lavender someday, but until then, we make do with our self-propelled lawn mower on those days dry enough to mow.
As for no-mow landscaping, here’s a recent article from Southern Living: http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/gardens/easy-yard-no-mowing-00400000054168/
(Hope it’s okay to put a link in a comment!)
Here’s a link to no mow grass –
http://www.nomowgrass.com/
Welcome, Sheila, and thank you for the link. Another topic I haven’t read up on lately, and there are so many advances in turfgrass that I need to. :)
I have been reading a lot on over seeding the pre existing lawn and was thinking of using an ecology mix called “Fleur de Lawn” just wondering if anybody here has had any experience with this grass. I really like the “idea” of a blooming lawn but I hate to trade the annoying weed problems we have for something worse.
It has taken me 20 years, but this year is our first official season with no grass. My 1/3 acre is stone walls, patios, gravel paths. Yes, there is upkeep. BUT NO MOWING! As people moaned at my husband’s work about having to mow twice a week, he just smiled. All of our backbreaking work (mostly mine, by the way) has paid off. Great drainage! Not one gas-powered piece of equipment in our garage. Blessed BE!
We only have one small rectangle of lawn remaining that my husband tends as his “project” and mows for exercise with a push mower. It takes him 20 minutes – if he dawdles. A la Woody Plant Girl, we (mostly me) put in hours of labor to replace the rest of the lawn with xeric natives and rock work. This summer with record drought/heat and water restrictions, those beds didn’t fry like grassy lawns did, plus birds/beasts are much happier (maybe a little too ?) with the various eats the plants provide.
That said, the Wildflower Center here is developing a grass seed blend that will be low to no mow and reduced water/chemical use for our area. Bound to be other horti centers doing the same?
It’s not “lay on the grass” … it’s “lie on the grass.”
Welcome, B. Sharp. We allow Andre to use his version of the King’s English, since he hails from the Motherland and speaks with the most charming accent. :)
Put in a small area (12 x15) of “no mow”, drought tolerant sod I bought at Broadmoor Landscape Supply in So. San Francisco 650-761-1515. It’s fluffy, long with hairlike blades, super soft and my dog loves it! It looks messy to those who want a tidy golf course looking lawn. I use a lightweight bamboo rake to tidy it up after my dog does her business.
Welcome, LucyLu. Great to hear that you are using a lawn alternative and that you (and the dog) are happy with it. Living in former farmland my “lawn” (except right around the house) is largely former pasture crops and who knows what. I’m jealous of your solution. :)