Invasives are NEVER better. Though some types of grasses are quite invasive.

Loris, I think your intuition is pretty good if I'm reading you right. I also agree w/ what April says.

I know this is the wrong forum to say this but, while not easy, I think you can have a lawn and still be environmentally responsible. Lawn ain't ideal but you can do it with minimal inputs and still have a decent lawn. I mow high, spot spray for weeds very infrequently, don't use any chemical fert or water just let it go dormant when it wants. There are better alternatives to lawn and I'm not promoting having one but if you feel you have to have one for whatever reason I believe it can be done with less impact than invasives.

Invasives, turf grasses or otherwise, get away and do tremendous damage.

Thanks for the answers. What has me concerned is how I'm seeing this information suggested as the greener alternative. This perturbs me whether you (and I for that matter) are right or these other sources of information are right since all are trying to take the most helpful action. I know IÂve seen this recommended elsewhere, although IÂm not finding them now (maybe some of the involved parties changed their recommendations).

Lori

I wouldn't look to the Union of Concerned Scientists for the most reliable information relating to native plants, invasive species and related issues. They are a very generalist advocacy organization with no specific knowledge in these areas. Seek the opinion of organizations that actually have specific knowledge of these issues.

In my opinion no one should ever plant an invasive species in their yard even if it seems to fit a landscaping need, because the damage the invasive plant will do is not in your garden but in native ecosystems which may be miles from your garden. I think that lawns are drastically overabundant and their overabundance represents a great loss of potential habitat for wildlife and native plants. However, for the most part lawn grasses aren't invasive weeds that take over natural areas (with a few exceptions in certain parts of the country). In much of the country one can have a decent-looking lawn without using any pesticides, fungidices, or herbicides at all, and by using only minimal fertilizer. If properly managed a lawn doesn't have to leak pesticides and fertilizers into the groundwater, and for playing and walking, a lawn really has no replacement. Rather than dogmatically think that all lawns are bad and anything else would be better, I think we all should try to minimize the area of lawn in our yards, limiting lawns only to places where they will actually be used for play or a lot of walking, and we should try to carefully limit the chemicals we apply. But if I had to choose, I'd prefer my neighbors have lawn rather than some invasive species that is going to try and take over the local woods.

Maybe a native can suit the same needs? Some native grasses can allegedly take the pounding that turf grasses do. Buffalo grass does not grow very tall (if I remember right) so should not need much mowing and the native red fescue is shade tolerant, etc. There are probably other alternatives I am forgetting. For areas that are not high traffic there are lots of alternatives.

Thank you all for the additional responses. As most people will probably notice, so far the opinions here are unanimous.

jayk, or anybody else,

I wonder what would be a good source for this type of information, that is fair and accurate. I guess part of the problem IÂm having with all this, is that in trying to help one problem, I'm making something else worse, and don't think I have the information to make as informed a choice as I'd like to. I know organizations will have different slants based on their focus, and so would prefer a source that takes a broader view which I think UCS as least aspires to. Since I know what a problem invasives are, it did strike me as off seeing this suggestion I the book, especially since this organization is fighting invasives also.

ladyslppr,

WeÂve been putting in more shrubs and perennials, but our lawn is still about half or two-thirds of our garden, especially in the front yard. In the same book I mentioned, in addition to all the possible negatives you mention about lawns, they also point out that some 5 HP lawn mowers produce as much pollution as a 200 HP car could. This of course could be avoided by using electrical, manual, or less polluting mowers, but I donÂt know how many people would be using the alternatives. At this point we're having somebody else do the mowing for us, and he is using a gas mower.

bob64,

I don't think buffalo grass is native here, and from the pictures I'm seeing, doesn't look like it would fit in well here. Red fescue looks like it might fit in better in some places in my yard, so I'll do some more reading on that one.

Finding native (or at least non-invasive) alternatives has become something of an obsession at this point. Next on my list to try is Paxistima canbyi which sounds promising. For climbing up a sunny fence to replace the English ivy there, IÂve had some success using Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper), Bignonia capreolata (cross-vine. Not native here, but I figure itÂs an improvement) and Lonicera sempervirens (trumpet honeysuckle). There are areas that Christmas fern works ok. I wouldnÂt call them total failures, but I havenÂt had very good results with Phlox Stolonifera (creeping phlox), Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (bearberry), Pachysandra procumbens (Allegheny spurge). I like the way moss looks, and it does show up in my yard, so I let it spread where it will. Those are actually the nicest looking parts of our lawn in my opinion, but I donÂt see it spreading everywhere, especially not out front where thereÂs more sun.

Lori

Lori,
My dear mom (who was born in North America but is herself of a European ecotype) recently gave me a book called 'Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants' from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. They also have a website: www.bbg.org/nativealternatives. That book or something similar might help. For instance, as a native alternative to vinca they suggested Waldsteinia fragarioides which is a native form of strawberry. I never would have thought of that. Another native groundcover they suggested is Bearberry.
I don't know off hand whether buffalo grass is native to your particular area. I have read that there was a time when buffalo grass covered an incredibly huge portion of North America but that doesn't mean it was ever native to your particular area. Your response highlights a decision that many native gardeners have to make as to just how native is native enough. I figure that a plant native to North America is better than a plant native to another continent but I'm sure there must be exceptions. Others require that their seed be from an ecotype within 50 miles of their garden. If I limited myself to that rule I wouldn't have all of the nice native flowers that I have now but I would be much more certain that I am not inadvertently doing harm. My working rule is that making things better (more native and less invasive) is preferred even if far from perfect. You'll have to puzzle out where you stand on these issues for yourself after you finish your research since you will continue to run across conflicting advice from experts. In any event, at least you care. That is a very good start.

Here is a link that might be useful: Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Thanks bob64,

ThatÂs an interesting link. I realized a while back that it does end up being more complicated than I would have thought. I actually donÂt feel that bad about planting something like Bignonia capreolata (cross-vine) here since I think it wonÂt be invasive since itÂs from a warmer climate and wonÂt be possibly polluting a local genotype.

The local genotype issue is really tough since I wonÂt go harvesting seeds from natural areas around here. I bought Lindera benzoin (spicebush) from a local nursery and saw the plant came from Pennsylvania. I have asked myself whether that was a good or a bad thing to do. In this case itÂs really hard to answer for myself since Pennsylvania is a neighboring state. Of course the tag just indicated where the supplier was from, and didnÂt let me know where the plant or the seed used to grow it came from originally.

Lori

I personally don't sweat the local genotype issue a lot but I felt obligated to mention it. Around here (suburbs of NYC), things are so far from pure that anything that is native to North America is an improvement over the rampant exotic invasives. NY has been getting invaded by exotic plants since colonial times. I think a PA spicebush is better than no spicebush. I do tend to plant species that are or were native to my particular area but if I have to get seed or plants of those species from PA or somewhere else I live with it.