Southern Sierran
The Green Gardener: Earth-friendly alternative lawn care

By Julia Jones Ufkes

I know this is a risky place to go, but I’m going to discuss that sacred cow of American gardening, the lawn. As a nation we have a love affair with our lawns.  We love the look and feel and smell of them. And though they do have their benefits, they also can be a detriment to the environment, and sometimes to you.

While lawns provide a cooling effect and consequent energy savings, the disadvantages are numerous. Lawns consume large amounts of water and landfill space (green waste is sometimes used as topper at the dump instead of being composted). Surprisingly, lawns are not very permeable and there is a high degree of (often polluted) runoff from them. Power tools used to maintain them pollute our air and consume four times as much oxygen as the lawn produces. So all in all, the costs greatly outweigh the benefits of traditional turf grass lawns.

There are many beautiful landscapes without lawns. It is possible to be “lawnless” and not even look out of place in a traditional neighborhood. I would concede there are times when a lawn can be an appropriate solution for your landscaping needs. One such situation would be when there are children or dogs that need a place to play, but I find that both gravitate more toward paths than lawns. An inappropriate application would be a large lawn just for looks. But if you choose turf, here are some steps you can take to minimize the negative impacts. 

• Water less (Try to cut watering time in half – I bet the lawn will still look great!  Repeat until it doesn’t.  Or even better, get a “smart” controller)
• Abstain from herbicides, pesticides and chemical fertilizers
• Avoid gas powered mowers (push mowers are best)
• Over-seed with flowering herbs such as chamomile to make frequent mowing unnecessary and give a meadow look between mowings
• Keep area of lawn to 30% of garden or less
• Replace with a less thirsty alternative

There are a number of alternatives to traditional turf grass lawns. Images of these alternatives can be found at the following websites. For a traditional looking lawn, High Country Gardens (http://www.highcountrygardens.com) offers a number of lawn substitutes including Buffalo Grass and Blue Grama. Las Pilitas Nursery (CA natives) in Escondido (www.laspilitas.com) recommends using Achillea millefolium (for a meadow look) or A. lanulosa (flatter), with the lumpy Carex praegacilis for the edges and Muhlenbergia behind. The yarrows (achilleas) are mowable and will probably require 50 to 70 percent less water than a traditional lawn.

If using plugs use a pre-emergent (organic forms are available). If starting by seeds be prepared to hand weed or lay a couple of inches decomposed granite and seed on top of that.Tree of Life Nursery (CA natives), in San Juan Capistrano (www.TreeofLifeNursery.com) suggests using low spreading perennials and groundcovers that look and act like a lawn but require less attention. Their idea of the ultimate in front or back yard habitat is to create a meadow with stumps and stones, winding path, mulch and some of the following plants: Yarrow, Columbine, Tufted Hair Grass, Wild Strawberry, Douglas Iris, Wild Rye, Blue Flax, Deergrass, Needlegrass, Evening Primrose, Beardtongue, Creeping Sage, Blue-Eyed Grass, and Goldenrod.

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