Mairzy doats and dozy doats
By Christa TerryI have a friend who grew up in the wilds of New York City and subsequently cannot stand grass. He feels that it is a useless indulgence and far more trouble than it’s worth. I can’t say I agree with him 100%, because there really is nothing as lovely as stepping out barefoot into a nice patch of fresh, springy grass. But now that I have a lawn of my own — a lawn that has grown steadily more sickly looking as winter has dragged on –I have come to appreciate his point.
While sipping iced tea and watching The Beard navigate our property with a push mower is indeed an entertaining diversion, he really ought to be lazing on the porch with yours truly. In thinking about this, I was forced to ask myself why we even have lawns. While I wouldn’t want to give over the entirely of my backyard space to herbs and creepers and flowers, my front yard doesn’t get much foot traffic. Here’s what I discovered:
Do you know where the American suburban obsession with lawn grass and big yards comes from? European royalty. Status. The idea of having a wide open space that you own but do nothing with except grow grass is part of value system that traces its roots to medevil feudalism, the whole concept of the King’s lands.
So what can one plant in lieu of the usual greenstuff? I found some wonderful suggestions at Hot Gardens and elsewhere:
- Ivy
- Chamomile
- Moss
- A hedge maze
- Lantana
- Mint (grown responsibly)
- Ryder or woolly thyme
- Clover
- Dichondra
- Ornamental grasses
- Alpine geranium
If none of these appeal to you, do a search for “treadable ground cover” or “grass alternatives” for even more pretty, easy-to-maintain ideas.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Or put down a winding path of flagstones or brick and plant a garden of low maintenance plants in between. That’s what I did and I’ve never been happier with my yard.
March 6th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Great suggestions.
Take a look at this forum tomorrow at the New York Public Library on precisely this topic.
http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/pep/pepdesc.cfm?id=3996
March 6th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Wonderful idea, bobbie-sue — I think that’s what we’re planning in the backyard.
And thanks for the tip, Mr. Henry!
March 6th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
My parents had a ‘lawn’ of adjuga(sp?). It was this lovely low-lying groundcover with glossy dark green leaves with a bit of violet in the middle. Darn stuff survived drought, snow, and goodness knows what all else. I think it was built to withstand napalm.
The really amusing thing was when my father planted some strawberries and we watched the two plants duke it out very slowly until they basically switched sides of the yard. That had to have been the funniest horticultural display I’ve ever seen. Plus we got gorgeous strawberries every summer. Yum.
March 7th, 2008 at 6:26 am
May I suggest herbs as well? Lavendar grows almost anywhere and is a lovely greyish green. Thyme can be planted between your flagstones, causing fragrance to follow wherever you walk. Lemon thyme, cinnamon thyme, chocolate mint, alyssum – many low growing, hardy, fragrant options…. I can’t wait for spring!
March 7th, 2008 at 10:33 am
I saw a lot of that in Holland when I visited. Very few of the homes had actual lawns. Instead, it was all lovely shrubs, flowers, gravel walking paths, and it was gardened and manicured to within an inch of its life. When we did see one house with just a lawn, it looked really out-of-place.
I love the low-maintenance groundcover. The Stonecutter and I have 4 acres, so we definitely don’t want it all to be lawn, or we’ll never be done mowing!
March 7th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
You mention growing mint responsibly.
How the hell does one grow mint responsibly? With a flamethrower and a tanker truck of Brush-B-Gon? It’s like that weird “dinosaur grass” my neighbor used to grow: first year, teeny sprouts; second year, nice show; third year, everywhere and eating small children and animals who get too close.
March 10th, 2008 at 8:57 am
The trick, Jo, is to create an under the soil/over the soil barrier that prevents it from taking over. You can’t do a giant lawn with mint, but small lawns can be mintified as long as there is a border of some kind that prevents it from sneaking its little tendrils into mint-free territory.
It would crack me up when my little potted spearmint would start sending out creepy tendrils looking for new soil to infest!
March 10th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Moss makes a fantastic garden or lawn and I’ve seen a few of them here on the Wet Coast where I live. The best interplay bricks and different kinds of moss for a multicoloured effect. Also: cheap!
Also also: Moss Graffiti:
http://www.heavypetal.ca/archives/2005/12/moss_graffiti.html
May 2nd, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Ok so my boyfriends birthday is coming up and I really need to get something good for him. I have to admit I am one of those people that likes to buy a present for someone that will benefit me lol! Yeah I know it sounds bad, but true. So here it goes, I love a man that smells great so does anyone know if that Fahrenheit 32 by Christian Dior is a good cologne?