Getting rid of the lawn

[John85]

A friend 'd like to get rid if his lawn as he is getting old and struggle to maintain it.
Most people here put a plastic fabric on the ground and cover it with pebbles but he 'd like a less mineral look.He tried creeping thyme but it was badly damaged by the winter weather as it was too wet,his soil beeing heavy.
I suggested cotoneaster damerii but he 'd prefer something less woody and that he can occasionlly walk on .
Surface is about 100 m2.
Any suggestions?

[Anthony Darby]

 Chamomile?

[Helen Johnstone]

There is a real movement in the US to get rid of water thristy lawns and there are now a couple of books on the subject.  Beautiful No Mow Lawns is good and provides all sort of alternatives.

Beautiful No Mow Lawns  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beautiful-No-Mow-Yards-Amazing-Alternatives/dp/1604692383/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374059955&sr=8-1&keywords=No+mow+lawns

[Tim Ingram]

I think to be realistic anything will take as much effort to maintain as much as a lawn, but the question is 'is there something else that you can make that you would like to maintain?' A sand bed or berm with alpines is something I would recommend, having had a lot of fun and not a great deal of work, and carpeting plants like the cotoneaster and, even periwinkles and more interesting forms of ivy, could cover the majority of the area with sandy/gravelled paths in between. A garden is boring without variety, even if you do nothing in it!

[Anthony Darby]

A friend of mine has a chamomile lawn and it requires no maintenance. The smell is amazing, and it rarely, if ever, flowers. Just a lovely scented cushion.

[pehe]

Leptinella?

Poul

[Maggi Young]

My In-laws have what they refer to as 'a chamomile lawn'- but, in fact, it is Cotula squalida - there is some grass and it does need mowing though.  Lovely and soft to walk on and smells quite nice. But not an anti-mowing solution.

When we lifted our grass and laid paving stones as a walkway with river gravel surround it it looked so fresh and neat - now , of course, we have the self sown plants that you can see in Ian's Bulb Log making free with the facilities! It took a long time to get to our stage of "freedom growing" however and I would certainly recommend a version of what ewe did.
Stepping stone path - easier on the feet than gravel - and some patches of planting here and there to add interest. These could be of easy care plants that would grow without needing much attention - some thyme for instance, near the stepping stones so you can wlak on and enjoy the scent, and some taller plants, decorative grasses, perennials that will add some height and scale to the landscape. It need not be a gravel desert.

The Grass can be upended  on the surface, having been dug up with a good depth of soil on the clods and we have found that "real weeds" have never made much of an impact on the area. If we hadn't allowed all the meconopsis, corydalis etc to seed we would still have pretty  clean gravel areas!

[John85]

I forgot to write that the climate here(mid west France) is hot and dry in summer,so some plants suggested would not be very happy here.
Maggi's idea of making island beds among the gravel seems the best as it'll look nice and yet have minimal maintenance.
What plants 'd you suggest.
Thyme struggles to come through the winter as the soil is too heavy.
I 'd choose sedums and helianthemums and some geraniums even if it can be a bit too dry for them in the summer.ButI would welcome some more suggestions.

[Maggi Young]

Depending on the size of the area, I might not even go so far as to have "island beds" but rather simple plantings, also among the gravel (no definition /edge to a bed as such).

This year we are  having "proper" summer weather  here but normally our summers are pretty cool and wet so I don't know what plants to suggest for a drier, hotter area - others will, I'm sure.

[Tim Ingram]

John - I could suggest quite a few because we are pretty hot and dry in summer. At the moment Gypsophila 'Rosy Veil' is a real picture and covers a good area; we have lots of pinks like Dianthus deltoides; I particularly like silvers such as Artemisia alba 'Canescens'; euphorbias like E. rigida are stunning in a dry garden and well behaved; what about Lilium candidum? This is not necessarily making for less maintainance but something far more interesting. And for scent you must have the little Corsican mint Mentha requienii somewhere around. I have written about all of these on the AGS Discussion pages under 'Gardens'. I am not convinced that in time a chamomile lawn for example will not be invaded by many weeds and need either replacing or a lot of upkeep. (We do have quite an extensive carpet of Leptinella full of Crocus speciosus, which works well, but even this needs quite regular weeding to remove grasses etc).

[Graham Catlow]

If he really liked the grass but is just concerned about the work then why not try artificial grass. There are many varied forms these days. So instead of putting a weed suppressant down and covering it with gravel just cover it with artificial grass. He will have the same effect as he has now with no maintenance.

I suspect many would now like to string me up for even suggesting such a thing



 

[Maggi Young]

...... just cover it with artificial grass........

Is it really that simple?  I've seen the work that went into laying an artificial pitch at the local primary school - amazing 'pfaff' to my mind.  And is artificial grass not very expensive?

[Graham Catlow]

Ok Maggi, my suggestion was perhaps described a little simplistically as I have no idea how it is laid. As for the cost - John didn't say his friend wanted a cheap option.
It's still a viable option to make his friends garden maintenance free.

[Gene Mirro]

What is so troublesome about a lawn?  Nearly every home in the USA has a lawn, and most of those people spend almost no time maintaining it.  If the lawn has a reasonably good depth of loamy soil which has a pH of around 6, all you have to do is mow it.  I fertilize my lawn once every 5 years roughly.  I don't water it in Summer, even though we get no rain here in Summer.  If it turns brown, I don't mind.  It greens up again in Fall.  If there were anything even less laborious, Americans would be using it.

[Margaret]

Some more suggestions for no maintenance plants for dry soil in sun with gravel mulch.  Centauria Bella, Silene maritima, Libertia ixiodes, Festuca glauca, (this seeds around a bit - a blue lawn maybe!!), Origanum laevigatum. Helianthemum, Euphorbia Black Pearl, lavender etc. It's a pity to deprive the bees of a few flowers and the more untidy it gets the better they''l like it!