DESIGNING WITH A LAWN SUBSTITUTE
helping people plant right, water less and garden more
Here in California, reasons abound to consider removing or downsizing a traditional turf lawn. By now, we all know that turf is the biggest water hog in the landscape, so reducing the amount of lawn benefits both the environment and your water bill.
Less obvious is the impact of caring for your lawn. Fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides are carried by rain and irrigation run-off into storm drains that lead directly to the Bay. Lawn mowers contribute to air and noise pollution. And grass clippings, if bagged and removed, add to landfill waste.Finally, if you eliminate your grass altogether, weekly garden maintenance becomes a thing of the past. And which sounds better, a Saturday afternoon relaxing in a hammock or one spent mowing, edging and fertilizing?
Now that you know some advantages of ditching the grass, what do you do instead? Other posts in this series explore innovative design alternatives that eliminate the need for a lawn completely. But if your design calls for the look and feel of a lawn, then consider a lawn substitute.
When I create a landscape design with clients who are ready to abandon their traditional turf grass, we first determine whether the new “lawn” will be functional or ornamental.
Functional Lawn Substitutes
Will kids and dogs be playing on it? Will it need to tolerate heavy or light foot traffic? While nothing replicates the durability of turf grass, an option that is becoming increasingly popular is a “lawn” of native California sedges.
Carex pansa, also known as California meadow sedge, grows 4” to 12” tall and spreads by runners to form a dense green mat. Once established, watering approximately once a week will keep your sedge lawn green in summer. Leave unmowed for a soft meadow effect, or mow occasionally to create a lawn that can handle substantial foot traffic.
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Carex pansa lawn with lavender. Design and photo by Maureen Decombe.
For larger areas, Carex divulsa, Berkeley sedge, grows quickly to 2 - 2 ½ feet wide and about a foot tall, but is too tall and dense to easily walk on. Both sedges do well in light shade, an advantage over traditional turf grass lawns.
Carex divulsa in a full sun, low water, deer resistant front garden.
Ornamental Lawn Substitutes A swath of green turf running through the landscape is a classic way to unify a garden. If your design calls for this type of “negative space” to rest the eye, a lawn substitute is a good option.
Proving that everything old is new again, one species of Juniper, Juniperus procumbens, is making a comeback as an exceptional lawn substitute. Growing 1 -2’ high, this juniper forms a dense, drought tolerant blue-green carpet. J. procumbens likes the shade and competes well with tree roots, making it far superior to turf grass as an understory for trees.
Other options include , Ceanothus ‘Centennial’ and Myoporum parvifolium. These have the added advantage of summer flowers but are not tolerant of foot traffic.
Design Opportunities
Because of its high water and maintenance requirements, turf grass is easiest to care for when segregated by mow strips from the rest of the garden. In contrast, lawn substitutes mix well with other garden elements, opening up new design opportunities.
Incorporating boulders, for example, is a lovely way to show off their mounding and cascading effects.But don’t stop there. Instead of choosing one groundcover, why not create a tapestry? A mix of flowering thymes provides a low, walkable carpet, but is much more interesting than turf grass, particularly if you choose varieties with different foliage color. Or, a sweep of silvery Dymondia margaretae creates a spectacular foil for traditional green plants.
These lawn substitutes tolerate heavy clay soil but prefer good drainage, so amend with organic compost. It takes one to three years for most to fill in; they’ll depend on you to keep weeds at bay until they can take over the job.
While replacing a traditional lawn takes some design ingenuity and good old fashioned garden sweat to start, in no time at all you’ll be wondering why you ever bothered with turf in the first place.
Creeping thyme 10 months after installation.
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> DESIGN
Just getting started? The landscape Design Center has articles and advice on planning your garden, including lawn substitutes and alternatives, low water plant combinations, habitat gardening and more, plus authors' links to landscape design websites and blogs that specialize in sustainable design.
> INSTALL
Ready to turn your ideas into a garden? The Installation Center has information on irrigating your landscape and planting techniques.
> MAINTAIN
Now that the garden is in, how do you keep it looking its best? The Maintenance Center has articles on keeping your garden happy and healthy over time.
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