Lawn Alternatives
The EcoGarden has recently recorded a great increase in questions from people in the community concerning alternatives to conventional lawns. We feel a conventional lawn is an unsustainable option which consumes an excessive amount of water, fossil fuels/hydro power for mowing, and time and labour to maintain.
Some would believe the battle between the lawn and the wild will never be won, in spite of the ever-expanding arsenal of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. We can no longer claim ignorance of the harm caused by these chemical compounds produced for lawn care. Their effect on human health, on non-target species, on the degradation of soils and waters is well-documented and knowledge of these facts becomes more widespread daily.
At the EcoGarden, we aim to support the Fernie community in its move toward pesticide- free lawns. We have designed and planted a new garden (located around the greenhouse) to assist those searching for more sustainable options for their lawn & gardens. The Lawn Alternatives garden offers a demonstration area where you can view the alternatives to the conventional lawn, like clover, no-mow grasses and ground covers. Along with an informational brochure available at the EcoGarden, we hope that this garden will give Fernie property owners some options for beautiful landscaping while moving toward being pesticide free.
The Wildsight Elk Valley Branch and the Community EcoGarden gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Columbia Basin Trust, a regional corporation created to deliver social, economic and environmental benefits to the residents of the Columbia Basin.
The green of a lawn is usually grass, but does not necessarily need to be. Lawns can be made of almost any plant that spreads fairly rapidly to cover the ground. Modern lawn grasses have remarkable recuperative powers, and are ideal for sports and children’s play areas, but there could be areas around your home that are not used for play and can host other plants. Reducing the size of your lawn can benefit the environment while saving you time, energy and expense.
The world of ‘lawn alternatives’ presents an opportunity to explore new plants and gardening techniques while saving you time and energy. Many plants categorized as ‘lawn alternatives’ are known as ground covers. This horticultural term, tells us what a plant can do. Basically it is any plant inclined to by its habit and rate of growth to cover the ground. These include plants like white clover, and some varieties of native plants, herbs, as well as ornamental grasses.
No more mowing
Ground covers are good for hard to mow areas and under trees. Consider using ground covers to surround trees or shrubs and create an island bed that is a breeze to mow around. This will reduce time spent trimming and edging around tree/shrubs.
Use less water
During the first year, new plantings require weeding and mulching, but once established, little care is usually needed. Once established good round covers need far less car then most other garden plants. Once established they need little water, as most are tough and vigorous.
Save time
These plants spread horizontally across the ground but do not grow tall, so most require no cutting. Areas planted in groundcover need much less maintenance than a conventional lawn.
Less weeding
Groundcovers are usually chosen for texture, density and how well they spread and choke out the weeds.
Less feeding
An annual topdressing of compost will eliminate the need to fertilize. They enhance the soil by acting as a mulch, and some groundcovers are even nitrogen-fixing.
When choosing your ‘lawn alternative’ be sure to:
- match the plant to the site conditions (type of soil, shade/sun requirements)
- look at other gardens to determine other plants that could work well in your yard
- prepare your soil - eliminate the competition (remove weeds), improve soil (add compost)
- consider how you will water your garden, even drought hardy plants need water to get established
- consider the foliage, speed of spreading and how tall when deciding what to plant
- consider the amount of traffic the plants will need to endure. Light traffic means the plants will be stepped on once or twice a week. Moderate traffic is once a day. And heavy traffic is similar to walking on your lawn several times a day.
- Sometimes, the best option for covering the ground isn’t a ground cover at all. For sitting areas, on walkways, and in areas where the conditions are too difficult to get plants established, hardscaping may be the best alternative, such as bricks, pavers, stone, gravel , or decking. Stepping stones help protect the plants by keeping the brunt of the traffic off the soil and away from the plant crowns, as plants are happiest when walked on as little as possible.
- Some groundcovers need an edge barrier to contain them. A low brick or wood edging, or any lawn edging which cuts down a few inches into the soil will usually be sufficient.
- Giving the plants a good start helps them put down roots and gets them growing quickly. It also helps reduce competition from weeds, and shortens the amount of time it takes for plants to become established and cover the ground.
- When establishing your ground cover use mulch to cover bare soil until plants have grown so close together that the soil is no longer visible.
- And remember, be wary of aggressive and invasive plants (eg. goutweed, some ornamental grasses are running rather than clumping).
great resources
http://www.sustainable-gardening.com/plants/ground-covers
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww...
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/groundcover/commo...
http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/groundcoverthymes.htm