I HAVE FINALLY CRACKED THE CODE of a no-mow lawn. How’s your piece of turf looking right now? Me, I’m thinking tundra is the new green. (And yes, that’s the backyard, with frogpond and giant Buddha statue on a two-tier stone wall…or is it?)
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.)
You will be mowing it in June, guaranteed.
Like Indiana, my yard is a flat expanse, currently all white. The dips in the backyard have been filled in, and there is a small mountain next to the patio that reminds me of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. What is your Buddha made of that it can withstand the elements?
We don’t always have snow cover in the winter here in Philadelphia.
The covered landscape gives my mind a rest from the constant designing that I do
from the window all winter long. I can take a break from the list that runs through my mind as I look out on the brown winter landscape – things to be moved, removed or pruned, beds to be expanded and those that need reducing. The questions I ask myself every day, What annuals will I need? Did I plant the bulbs in the right place? What will need dividing and where will the divisions go?
The snow acts as white noise for a while, and I welcome it.
My yard is buried in a blanket of snow. I have to say I like winter though, it’s my season for cross country skiing and watching all the trees have a rest. Something about the quiet peace and the cosy feeling of being in a warm house with some tea.
I was just in Las Vegas for a holiday and had to laugh at the locals complaining about the cold. We’d just smile and say “we’re from Canada” :)
I complained about mowing all summer, but you know mowing is sounding pretty good right now — kind of a dawdle really when compared to 3 hours of shlepping wet snow while silently repeating every and any mantra I could think of so as not to give up and lie down on the soggy frozen ground, beaten by this winter.
Lawns are somewhere between green and brown here in TX, but snow is predicted for tomorrow morning. No worries, though . . . I’m sure it will be ephemeral.
If you don’t get a free coupon to the chiropractor, here’s the next best thing: http://www.amazon.com/Trigger-Point-Therapy-Workbook-Self-Treatment/dp/1572243759 . . . DIY trigger point therapy. Works for me!
Only six more weeks of winter. Piece of cake! ; )
Charlie
Ringed in by the many Mt. Everests ringing the house after the roof was shoveled. Now when it rains on the snow…….it is aimed AT the house. Hmmmmmm.