Replacing lawn with groundcovers and low-growing herbs

plant.babies

17 years ago

I am looking for someone who has successfully replaced lawn with steppable ground cover and low-growing herbs.

We are considering doing this a bit at a time for our whole front lawn, with small patches of rock garden and paths.

thanks!

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Comments (5)

nitrous
17 years ago
i think it would be awesome. especially coming from someone who has to cut the grass :)
i really like it because it is something out of the ordindary. when i look around my neighborhood, atleast my street, everyone has just grass and i think it would be cool to make a whole rock garden with various green groundcover.

good luck with it!
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jannie
17 years ago
I'd love to get rid of my front lawn. Half of it died,anyway. I considered building a checkerboard yard,squares of herbs mixed with ,say,gravel or bricks. DH said no,but I may do it anyway. Those Steppables and thymes look (and smell) so nice.
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I have converted my entire front yard from mostly grass to lots of herbs plus some flowers and succulents and one area where I do some vegetables. I did keep the two trees. It took me a few years but I really wasn't in a hurry and to a certain degree it's still a work in progress. At one point at the end of September I was looking at my lawnmower and was grateful that I didn't use it at all last year. I'm not really sure how many herbs are going to stand up to foot traffic. You might want to consider getting some flagstone or otherwise making some pathways. Putting your plan to paper will be helpful. I've used creeping thyme, various other thymes, sage, tarragon, summer savory, winter savory, parsley which I'll be letting go to seed this year, oregano, strawberries, chicks and hens, feverfew, chives... Unless you have nasty infestation of bindweed or quack grass I would pass on the herbicides. For an indoor grow system really all you basicly need is plastic shelving and one or more T8 4 foot shop lights. Of course you could buy fancier/pricier if you want. This is how it looked late spring of 2012.
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Lacey's point is well made :-)) There really isn't any other type of groundcover more suited to this large expanse of real estate than turf grass nor would be as well-suited to play and traffic from kids and pets. Turf grasses - lawns - are really the ultimate in low maintenance and inexpensive GC's to cover large, mostly flat, open areas. I'd suggest you contact your local extension office as to what sort of grasses would work best for you - they could differ considerably depending on location and I am not familiar enough with your area and its climate to make specific suggestions. Most areas that tolerate or recommend cool season grasses recommend blends or mixes of various types of grasses that offer different characteristics at different times of the year. Cool season grasses - if appropriate to your area - offer the benefit of going dormant in summer so mowing frequency is reduced during that period. They also require less water during this period of dormancy as well, as long as a somewhat dried, browinsh look is tolerated. They green up again promptly with cooler temps and more rainfall in fall. But also start growing again as well :-) Sorry, but you cannot escape the need for frequent mowing unless you select some sort of meadow grass.
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Grass has it's downfalls for sure, but there are not a lot of plants that can hold up to the usage most homeowners want to use their yards for. I would guess that the majority of people looking for a low-maintenance solution still want to use their yard, so they go with something like clover, or thyme... Not too easy to toss a football on ground cover juniper! Slopes are where conifer ground cover shines. In my area, I see many houses that cover an entire front slope of their yard with ground cover juniper or Microbiota in shadier situations. It looks great, and functions well to stabilize the slope. Most just go with the big box store stuff, but you can set yours apart by mixing in pendulous conifers and different textures and mounding patterns. With your zone and lack of direct sun, you probably need to look beyond conifers for anything except green... maybe some thing like Berberis thunbergii 'Bagatelle' for red, and who knows, maybe it's enough the Juniperus horizontalis 'Mother Lode' would take on a nice chartreuse color. A few other conifer ideas: Pinus sylvestris 'Hillside Creeper' Abies Koreana 'Green Carpet' Thuja occidentalis 'Golden Tuffet' Tsuga canadensis 'Cole's Prostrate' Picea abies 'Reflexa'
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"No cat" is an overstatement. As I said before, I have seen cat poop on concrete. So, that proves that just because they can't try to bury their feces there, doesn't mean they 100% won't still go there. Cats go outside their litter boxes inside people’s homes and damage carpets all the time. So, it’s a myth that cats always bury their waste. And I know it wasn't from a dog because it was a location that requires hopping over a 6 foot fence to access. However, I will still consider it since I only saw that happen once in 10 years and maybe heavy river rock could be the best compromise between effectiveness and attractiveness vs something 100% effective, but an eyesore. Cat pee stinks worse and I don't know that rocks would do anything to prevent cats from peeing there. The other issue with rocks, is that there would need to be some method to keep the rocks from slowly sinking into the dirt and eventually becoming buried.
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makalu_gw
17 years ago
I'd love to have thyme but it doesn't suppress weeds too well so you end up pulling blades of grass everywhere. Ground Ivy (gill) might work - it's a bear to get rid of once planted and covers very well forming a 3-6 inch high mat and survives some foot traffic. It and virginia creeper are fighting it out in a corner of my yard and they've both easily overcome grass.
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gw:annie-lee
17 years ago
I would be very hesitant to do that. The previous owner of my house did that, and I had to replanted the grass. I also heard many of my neighbors not so favorable comment about my previous yard. Unless your yard is very small, having a whole yard of herb and ground covers may looks strange and uneasy. Nothing beat a nice well maintained green lwan for landscaping. A garden is beautiful only when it sits alongside a clean and neat green lawn. Besides, a herb/ground cover lwan can be a maintenance nightmare in adverse weather conditions such as extreme dry, cold or heat. And, ... can you imaginge taking your family to walk on top of herb and ground covers after dinner?
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tucker303
17 years ago
I like the idea. Living where it is hot and dry, I removed the grass along the street, and where a driveway was on the side of the house (the garage is in the alley so I did not need a driveway). All of that is slowing being coverted over to plants. I have lilac bushes, lots of lavendar etc. The part of the lawn closest to the house has has 40% of the lawn removed and plants added. I would like to finish it some day. I left this smaller portion grass cause my dog does like sitting under a tree when I work in front. Where I live in Denver (an older neigborhood built in the 1910's and 1920's), it is very acceptable to convert the front lawn to plantings. As I drive to work, I see more and more people doing it. I love the look of a nice green lawn. On the other hand...I prefer what I have....esp with drought and heat With 20 different irises lining the front I had people stopping to compliment my yard this year. I say go for it...esp if you are in a desert-ish region. Mulching and weed barriers can do wonders for conserving water. Planting plans with the area around is slightly lower helps to retan moisture. Do it!
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Replacing lawn with groundcovers and low-growing herbs

Comments (5)

nitrous

jannie

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