Super Eco

Photo credit: jude on flickr

I positively love the idea of a weekend without mowing!

We have a particularly ticklish lawn to mow, lots of levels and slopes and even an abandoned mill-race thrown in for good measure. It is only one half an acre but oh what a half an acre, it takes about two and one half hour at a good clip--no pun intended--to mow! With a no-mow lawn and newly established hedgerow that's two and one half hours of spending time with my sweetie!

No-mow lawns have many benefits: they reduce the need for watering, they need no chemical maintenance, they help reduce the effects of pollution and trap windblown allergens.

No-mow lawns have been around for about a decade or so. In the early years, they were originally sold to parks departments and to landscape contractors for corporate campuses.  

Here are some potential alternatives:

1. Over-seed your existing lawn with low-mow seed. Depending on the type of grass being over-seeded, it can take about a season for No Mow Grass to crowd out other grasses.
2. Plant low-growing fescue to create a very low maintenance lawn, by buying a formula which includes micro clover you assure that your lawn will always have enough nitrogen and will need no extra feeding.
3. Plant an area of your property with walkable creeping thyme, this makes a wonderful low growing alternative to conventional lawns.
4. Prairie Nursery has a no-mow blend, which is a mix of cool-season grasses appropriate for the Northeast, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, which has a "flowing, wavy look.". The grasses naturally grow to about 4 to 6 inches and they keep most weeds out. Mowing actually encourages dandelions and other weeds.
5. Or if your fancy runs towards wildflowers, try planting Hobbs & Hopkins' Fleur de Lawn mix which was developed as a low-maintenance alternative for people who do not want or need a traditional, chemically dependent typical greensward. Their mix contains perennial ryegrass, low-growing strawberry clover, yarrow and little English daisies, which bloom through the spring and fall. 

Making the switch to a low or no-mow lawn takes a bit of planning and work but it is worth the effort in the long run when you count up the hours of precious living-time you will be saving. Optimizing weeds and diversifying your green-space is good for the environment and the insects and wildlife and as it turns out it is also good for you! You will have time to plant a vegetable garden, or pick your own at a local organic farm, pack a lunch, make your own baby food, take the kids for a bike ride, read a good book.

See you over the hedgerow!