Here is a list of all the things I miss about a lawn:
Technically, I believe this is xeriscape although really it's just unmolested. A field of non-native monoculture living on a diet of overwatering and chemicals would not look this good. IIRC xeriscape is more of an arid area thing, I'm not sure how it works where you have to fight off the foliage.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I'm getting a strong "do not wander around here" vibe from your yard Keith. Very prickly.
In reply to clutchsmoke :
You have to pay a little attention, but that's okay. They were here first.
Keith Tanner said:Here is a list of all the things I miss about a lawn:
haha. Well played.
To your point though... in the SE, what is the alternative? If you leave it alone, something is going to grow. Eventually forest (which isnt so bad, except everything is constantly coated with falling leaves/sticks. But in the meantime, tall weeds, ivy, mosquito breeding grounds, etc.
Oh, it's definitely more of a challenge in places where things grow without your help :) Ottawa looks like a jungle to my eyes now. I guess the solution there is to find something that will choke out everything else but won't need constant maintenance or applications of products from Big Lawn. I hear kudzu is effective...
I don't really feel that leaves need to be picked up as that's totally natural and they serve a role in the way the local environment works, but not everyone in my household agreed with me on that point ;D Some people in my household will rake between the cacti.
Florida? I thought the problem there was just trying to keep the alligators to a minimum until the next hurricane blew them away.
RE: leaves its more that they clog gutters, or if they sit somewhere on your house they encourage mold growth.
There's a fellow in our town who is an industrial design professor. He built himself a low labour content house and then covered the entire lot in crushed stone. He told me "If it's green I kill it". It's also pretty handy for guest parking when he has a party.
I'm firmly in the 'can't keep stuff from growing' area, and our lawn is patchy (big areas where there is almost no daily sun). I'm trying to promote the moss growth in that area because I think that would be cool. but basically I want anything that can cut down on the time I spend mowing.
Also, I think an interesting perspective on lawns (and homeowner suburban land in general) is I wonder what maximizes the carbon uptake? Like if we take the low maintenance idea and combine it with plants that use a lot of carbon, I think we could have a big winner both commercially and environmentally. Seems like it would sell especially well with millennials too. I've heard that trees are the best for that, but my property is already carrying just about as many big trees as is realistic.
DeadSkunk (Warren) said:There's a fellow in our town who is an industrial design professor. He built himself a low labour content house and then covered the entire lot in crushed stone. He told me "If it's green I kill it". It's also pretty handy for guest parking when he has a party.
I don't like that look. If I wanted to live like that I'd get an apartment/condo in a city.
Edit: I should add that I'm really interested in low labor content home ideas. But honestly the average american house is pretty low on labor needed. It's the yards we spend our time working on.
In reply to mulch, if you are going to use it, cedar is the way. It keeps away the bugs. It's all I use around the pool, better than the pest control guy.
So there is a name for my jungle of a yard? Because of tall trees, grass doesn't really grow, its all native weeds and other flora. I consider it a mess, now I can call it something trendy!
Well, it's been a thing for 30+ years, but sure :)
And here's what I'm thinking about as far as a yard. This is house near us. I always stop and just look at it.
David, Just keep adding yard art... this is a house in Tallahassee that I passed a year or so ago.
Bonus points if the yard art is made of car parts. There's a dolphin near my work made out of old license plates. At night, all the renewal stickers reflect your headlights so you get this pointillistic 3D dolphin effect.
David, I like your exemplar house. I expect there's some upkeep involved in keeping undesired plants out, but it's gotta be less work than mowing.
Keith Tanner said:Bonus points if the yard art is made of car parts. There's a dolphin near my work made out of old license plates. At night, all the renewal stickers reflect your headlights so you get this pointillistic 3D dolphin effect.
David, I like your exemplar house. I expect there's some upkeep involved in keeping undesired plants out, but it's gotta be less work than mowing.
Nothings easier than a big square of grasss. Any speck of dirt in Fl is a place for things to grow that you do not want. That yard looks like a retirees full time job to me.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I'm fine with upkeep. I just think it looks great and works with the native plants. But to make it a reality.... (I'm guessing we'd need an adult's help to get it started.)
Big square of grass is not easy around here. Our last place had big square of grass and beds around the house with wood chips and selected plants. The grass needed irrigation and mowing once a week (like Frenchy, I chose to outsource), the wood chip beds needed occasional weeding. The gravel edges of the lot (with fabric underneath) needed semi-annual herbicide applications.
Maybe talk to your local university, there might be some keen youths who want to take on a xeriscape yard design project with your money.
I see a yard that has had frequent tree work to keep the canopy that high, that is weeded constantly, has had the oak leaves blown out less than a week ago (yet still has oak leaves completely covering the ground), has irrigation, has lots of plant in pots that are probably individually cared for, vines that are encouraged to grow on a trellis (meaning maintained to keep from taking over all surrounding plants), etc. It is a lawn of someone who is passionate about having a cool lawn. I like the look a lot, but it is time consuming to maintain.
Tonight I talked to the owner of the cool yard. It's work, but it looks cool. And it's not forcing grass to grow where grass doesn't want to grow.
I’m working towards some form of xeriscaping here, there’s lots of rock in small pieces here naturally. I’ve named this photo Why does my front yard look like a gravel pit?
That’s a pile of sifted material and the rocks are all excavated here by me and my friends shovel, pick, and iron bar.
David S. Wallens said:And here's what I'm thinking about as far as a yard. This is house near us. I always stop and just look at it.
You won't find those rocks in FL. We get some AWESOME boulders and rocks, but that's straight out of the mountains. Looks like the stuff I collected in WV out of a shut down mine for an aquarium.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
I guess my yard should be called Orchard style or Gypsy Rose Lee. My goal was to revel my home slowly with a lot of Fan Fare. The house is hidden behind showy Apple trees that in the spring are a riot of pink and white. Later in the fall are loaded with apples.
Turning up the driveway you begin to see some of the house
The same as you enter the house. It's slow to revel it's treasures just like a great strip tease artist is slow and enticing to revel her secrets. You enter a modest door and go up a winding staircase into a cozy breakfast nook. Only then do you get to see the great room revel itself while the kitchen distracts you from fully taking in all of the treasures the great room has to revel.
In reply to frenchyd :
In reply to frenchyd :
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