The home lawn is the dominant feature across the American landscape, from sea to shining sea. Exactly how did so many hundreds of thousands of acres of personal and public property get turned into lawn?
As with so many things related to gardening, we have England to thank for this infatuation. In 1260, Albert, Count of Bollstadt, wrote a treatise on
”pleasure-gardens.” In it he penned the following line: ”The sight is in no way so pleasantly refreshed as by fine and close grass kept short.” I wonder what he would have written could he have foreseen the sheer magnitude of the Saturday morning fury unleashed upon the world as millions and millions of lawn mowers are fired into action.
Are there places in the United States that approximate the typically English conditions so conducive to lawn growth? Darn few. Parts of the Northwest come closest (the fact that most of the grass seed for the nation is grown in the Northwest is a good tipoff), and, of course, the cooler parts of Kentucky-the area that made bluegrass famous the world over-are another, along with a few other cool coastal areas here and there. So where does that leave the rest of the country? Lavishing attention and energy on a plot of ground, trying to make a crop of grass thrive there even though it would be much happier growing somewhere else.
But now that changing weather patterns and environmental concerns confront the entire nation, not to mention the average homeowner`s time constraints, just about all of us will be asked to take a hard look at our lawns. Those people who do nothing and let nature take its course will deal with the consequences: a scruffy brown patch around their home at precisely the time they`d like to be outdoors enjoying the beauty of the garden. Meanwhile, of course, they fervently hope for the return of more normal conditions, whatever they were.
There`s nothing really surprising about this approach, though it`s a little like asking the bandleader on the Titantic to play a little louder while the ship slips into the inky deep.
If, however, you`re of a mind to actively meet some of the concerns facing lawn owners today, you need to know the characteristics of the Lawn brothers, the Mow-Mow boys and their cousins, Low-Mow and No-Mow.
The Mow-Mow clan
The Mow-Mow clan sticks to its roots. The lawn, they argue, has always been and always will be the most appropriate setting on which to place a house, have a picnic and play family football or croquet. The Mow-Mows are an aristocratic lot, defiantly flaunting their excessive needs in the face of what they assume will be temporary cutbacks. If you`re sticking with the Mow- Mow boys and their typically large-large lawns, here are a few pointers to help you get through some rough times:
– Consider making the lawn smaller. Reducing the size of your lawn won`t necessarily reduce its impact, especially if the newly widened borders are planted with an equally green but less demanding ground cover. In fact, the combination of textures-the fine lawn contrasted with a coarser ground cover of perhaps a different shade of green-actually may improve the looks of your garden.
– Let part of it go wild. Some of the most engaging gardens have been seemingly guileless creations of mown paths and openings in an otherwise unmown meadow of grass and wildflowers. This may not be appropriate for the front of your house, but it could work in the back. For a typically large back lawn, start by mowing an opening at one end with a 4-foot-wide path down the middle, leading to a ”secret,” smaller clearing at the opposite end. Seed or plant the sides with native or well-adapted annuals or perennials and just let the grass grow tall. An unexpected reward will be the number of butterflies and birds attracted to this modified meadow. If worst comes to worst, you can always mow the whole thing with little long-term damage to the lawn.
– Let the lawn turn brown when local ordinances demand reductions in water usage and then revive it the following year. Check with your local nursery or county extension service for specific instructions if you plan on taking this approach.
– Put a small lawn where it will do the most good visually. Do you have a window in the breakfast nook, family room or living room that has a nice view to the garden? Then put the lawn smack in the middle of the view and forget about it where it can`t be seen. Plant the edges with lower-maintenance plants and save yourself a lot of time and energy.
– Plant lawn in between pavers-a sort of cool patio. Grass planted in 2-inch spaces between large paving stones will give you the best of both worlds: a firm surface for outdoor living and the cool, comforting look of a lawn, with a lot less to care for.
For a new lawn, pay special attention to soil preparation before planting. Proper soil preparation for any size lawn will have a significant impact on the amount of water and care it demands in the future. If you skimp now, you`ll pay for years to come. Till the soil to a depth of at least 12 inches and incorporate plenty (9 inches or more) of organic matter in the process. Have the soil tested and adjust the soil pH to as near neutral (7.0 pH) as possible, and add whatever nutrients are lacking. Giving the grass the greatest possible root run enables it to withstand periods of drought and all the other vagaries a stressed lawn is vulnerable to.
The Low-Mows
The Low-Mows have adopted some deceitful characteristics in recent years. For one, they promise the look of a lawn without the maintenance. The look, maybe, but not the feel.
A true low-maintenance substitute for a grass lawn simply doesn`t exist in this country. Sure there`s dicondra (in the minuscule area of the country where it has adapted) and ivy and junipers and periwinkle, pachysandra and many, many other ground covers, not to mention the ground-hugging herbs such as chamomile and thyme, and the attractive Irish and Scotch mosses and baby`s tears (Soleirolia soleirolii). But in all honesty, no other plant looks as attractive as a grass lawn while being able to put up with the physical punishment of walking, sitting and rough-and-tumble playing.
Don`t get me wrong, the Low-Mows` alternatives are great, as long as you don`t expect them to be a true substitute for a grass lawn. Keep the following points in mind:
– Every part of the country has its favorite, if overused, ground-cover plants. Don`t resist the tide. If it grows readily, with few demands, plant it. Keep in mind this important fact of gardening: Any plant, no matter how common in its own neighborhood, will look great if it is well grown.
– Be prepared to give areas newly planted with ground covers plenty of attention (particularly in the weeding department) for the first couple of growing seasons. The Low-Mows` alternatives are not low maintenance until they have become established, usually somewhere around their third year.
– Realize that most ground-cover plants (the exception being extremely woody types, such as junipers) benefit from a once- or twice-a-year mowing. How low can you mow? It depends on the plant, but in general, don`t cut off more than half of its total height. The best time for this is in late fall or very early spring before new growth has started.
The No-Mows
The No-Mow clan-sticks and stones, bricks and concrete, asphalt, gravel and pavers-has been given a heavy load to bear. For years they have been described as common, boring and ungardenesque. To lighten their load, consider the following:
– Think natural. That is, take a look at the larger environment surrounding your garden and pick a natural partner. In the desert, use gravel or crushed stone. In a woodland environment, shredded bark, bark chips or pine needles are perfectly at home. At the seashore, wooden decking is appropriate, as is pea gravel. Stone terraces and walkways are naturals in mountainous regions.
– If you don`t want problems with drainage, prepare the subsurface carefully before laying bricks, pavers or gravel. Standard advice is to remove the top 6 inches of soil and replace it with a layer of packed sand.
– Walkways filled with any type of loose material such as gravel or bark should be edged either with brick, stones or wood. This will keep the material within bounds and the path from disappearing.
– If you choose a concrete surface, consider an exposed aggregate finish. Handy homeowners and concrete contractors can easily and inexpensively achieve this finish. Instead of the hard glare associated with concrete, an exposed aggregate finish will have a more stonelike look and complement the garden rather than stick out like a foreign intruder.
Though lawns never will lose their appeal or their rightful place in the garden, the Mow-Mow boys may lose some of their space. The best approach today is to invite the whole bunch-Mow-Mow, Low-Mow and No-Mow-into your garden. With the climatic and environmental concerns of your area in mind, simply give each the appropriate amount of space, and you just might achieve what gardens are really all about anyway: harmony with nature. –
