Going grass-free?

[Anonymous]

At least 5 of my neighbors are doing this. 2 of them have professional backhoes out there right now removing all of the sod, so they can start clean. The others are doing this on their own by covering the grass with weedblock and mulch. It seems to be a trendy thing especially because it's eco-friendly. Native plants are the thing to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At least 5 of my neighbors are doing this. 2 of them have professional backhoes out there right now removing all of the sod, so they can start clean. The others are doing this on their own by covering the grass with weedblock and mulch. It seems to be a trendy thing especially because it's eco-friendly. Native plants are the thing to do.

It looks horrid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Think when you try and sell your house, with NO lawn. While you may not want the work and cost associated with the lawn, once you have a lawn set up, it is actually fairly easy to care for.

Nothing worse than having to wait a year or 2 for a lawn to establish. It also hurt curb appeal and presents a bad view of the property from the street or lack of care.

An incredible invention: sod

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At least 5 of my neighbors are doing this. 2 of them have professional backhoes out there right now removing all of the sod, so they can start clean. The others are doing this on their own by covering the grass with weedblock and mulch. It seems to be a trendy thing especially because it's eco-friendly. Native plants are the thing to do.

It looks horrid.

You think so? I love the look of a cottage garden or a really tastefully landscaped no-grass yard. Plus it's soooooooo much better for the environment.

[Anonymous]

We just removed all the sod from our backyard and seeded Dutch white clover. It's beautiful and so much nicer than the patchy grass and muddy mess we had before. Clover is very low maintenance, hardy, and feels great underfoot. It's great for the environment and very low maintenance - mow it every so often to cut off the flowers if you dislike bees - or let it repopulate. It fixes nitrogen to the soil so if you hate it and want to do something different, at least you've improved your soil.

One caveat: If you use a broad leaf herbicide to kill your other weeds, it will kill you clover too (even though clover isn't really a weed, it's treated as such by grass lovers).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At least 5 of my neighbors are doing this. 2 of them have professional backhoes out there right now removing all of the sod, so they can start clean. The others are doing this on their own by covering the grass with weedblock and mulch. It seems to be a trendy thing especially because it's eco-friendly. Native plants are the thing to do.

It looks horrid.

You think so? I love the look of a cottage garden or a really tastefully landscaped no-grass yard. Plus it's soooooooo much better for the environment.

It looks great in gardening magazines. What looks terrible is when people try to do it who don't have the time to weed, water, fertilize, prune, etc. You can hire someone to take care of it for you to keep it looking nice.

I have a mulching electric mower and a small lot, so it takes 30 minutes for me to mow and the grass clippings fertilize the lawn. I fertilize everything (lawn and garden) once a year, and don't use any pesticides or weed killer. The garden requires mulch twice a year (transported from who knows where), and all the branches I prune off the roses and other things that don't compost well end up in yard waste bags for the trash truck to pick up. I water the garden when it's hot and dry, but leave the lawn to fend for itself most of the time. If you go the low-maintenance yard route and don't mind some weeds, I think it's on par with a garden for the environment.

[Anonymous]

Get it professionally done. Grass-free lawns look so beautiful when they're professionally landscaped (or done by someone with talent in that area). Martha Stewart Living has had several features about them over the years and I have seen a lot of them in the Midwest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just removed all the sod from our backyard and seeded Dutch white clover. It's beautiful and so much nicer than the patchy grass and muddy mess we had before. Clover is very low maintenance, hardy, and feels great underfoot. It's great for the environment and very low maintenance - mow it every so often to cut off the flowers if you dislike bees - or let it repopulate. It fixes nitrogen to the soil so if you hate it and want to do something different, at least you've improved your soil.

One caveat: If you use a broad leaf herbicide to kill your other weeds, it will kill you clover too (even though clover isn't really a weed, it's treated as such by grass lovers).

People who care for their yards have to spray this crap from their perimeter . Thanks a lot a hole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just removed all the sod from our backyard and seeded Dutch white clover. It's beautiful and so much nicer than the patchy grass and muddy mess we had before. Clover is very low maintenance, hardy, and feels great underfoot. It's great for the environment and very low maintenance - mow it every so often to cut off the flowers if you dislike bees - or let it repopulate. It fixes nitrogen to the soil so if you hate it and want to do something different, at least you've improved your soil.

One caveat: If you use a broad leaf herbicide to kill your other weeds, it will kill you clover too (even though clover isn't really a weed, it's treated as such by grass lovers).

People who care for their yards have to spray this crap from their perimeter . Thanks a lot a hole.

What does this mean?

[Anonymous]

"We live in DC and participated in the RiverSmart Homes program, in which the city subsidizes a certain amount of landscaping in order to achieve a more ecologically friendly yard. They did our front, and it entailed removing all our grass and replacing it with mulch and plants that are native to the Chesapeake Bay area.

I (mostly) love it, but I was shocked at how much upkeep it has actually been. We were kind of led to believe it would be less maintenance (no mowing!) but oh my gosh, the weeds! So many weeds. All the time. Everywhere. I would much rather push a mower than weed in mulch. FWIW, I am not a gardener. Working in the yard does not make me go to my happy place."

+2 My experience as well. Plus, it costs about $500 to mulch my front and back yard every year. I'm considering ripping out my beds and putting in sod.

[Anonymous]

I hope you all get some type of plant fungus that kills all your mulch and weeds. Get grass like everyone else cause it kills the property value of your neighborhood.#Facts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just removed all the sod from our backyard and seeded Dutch white clover. It's beautiful and so much nicer than the patchy grass and muddy mess we had before. Clover is very low maintenance, hardy, and feels great underfoot. It's great for the environment and very low maintenance - mow it every so often to cut off the flowers if you dislike bees - or let it repopulate. It fixes nitrogen to the soil so if you hate it and want to do something different, at least you've improved your soil.

One caveat: If you use a broad leaf herbicide to kill your other weeds, it will kill you clover too (even though clover isn't really a weed, it's treated as such by grass lovers).

People who care for their yards have to spray this crap from their perimeter . Thanks a lot a hole.

Wow, pretty hostile reaction to a beautiful, environmentally friendly, soil enriching, haven for pollinators. Not that my clover in any way interferes with your "perimeter." And if it does, you're welcome. I've done your lawn a favor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope you all get some type of plant fungus that kills all your mulch and weeds. Get grass like everyone else cause it kills the property value of your neighborhood.#Facts

Mulch is already dead. #Fact

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope you all get some type of plant fungus that kills all your mulch and weeds. Get grass like everyone else cause it kills the property value of your neighborhood.#Facts

"Get grass like everyone else?" Right. Because it's a good idea to base all of my decisions on "what everyone else" does.

[Anonymous]

I wish I could remember what gardening magazine did a test of supposedly no-maintenance plants. They planted groups of three of plants that supposedly require no care like sedum and black eyed susans. The author watered them for a couple months and then left them to fend for themselves. Only one plant out of the original 9 was alive by the end of the trial.