Comments on: Lawn Alternatives at The Scott Arboretum

By: Re-envisioning an American Tradition: the Turfgrass Lawn – The Scott Arboretum’s Garden Seeds

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:20:34 +0000

[...] Check out more about our program and the plants we are trailing in the Green Design brochure. Read what sustainable garden writer Susan Harris had to say about our program and plant [...]

By: Megan

Megan — Mon, 04 May 2009 21:59:17 +0000

Thanks Susan! That’s what we were afraid of. They we have a large enough yard that maybe they can get a section well established before letting the dog on it, but the dog really likes to sprint around the house repeatedly, and that does not help the situation.

By: susan harris

susan harris — Mon, 04 May 2009 19:00:58 +0000

Megan, I don’t know of any groundcover that can handle a very active dog as well as turfgrass can, especially when it’s just getting established. As we try to find replacements we’re reminded of some of the reasons that turfgrasses became so popular – they’re tough, and grass seed is cheap.

By: Megan

Megan — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:35:30 +0000

My parents have a very active dog and as much as we’d like to replace some or all of the grass with an alternative groundcover, we’re afraid the dog will rip up the new groundcover. The other fear is that the spaces between the groundcover as it grows together will become mud puddles. Is there a particular groundcover that’s really well suited for this situation?

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:40:21 +0000

Maybe it’s just me, but in some of the photos shown here and in other installations I’ve seen, few of these alternatives really replicate the look and feel of grass. Grass has a thickness and density of blade-per-square foot that’s flat and even and uniform, and many of these alternatives, even after many years, still look like artfully, or not so artfully, arranged plugs and remind me of a really bad bald man’s hair transplant. I garden on a 7,500 square foot plot in suburban Maryland, and of that only about a 500 square foot area is devoted to lawn; the rest are planting beds and mulched pathways. But my 500 foot oval of lawn is just big enough to spread out a blanket and lay in the sun or frolic in bare feet in the grass or play a little round of croquet, something I can’t imagine doing with any of these alternatives – because it’s kept small, my little patch of lawn can be easily mowed using an non-electric push reel mower, and without chemical feeding I only have to mow it about 12 to 13 times a year, and it’s good, brief excerise. Small plots are easy to weed by hand when necessary. I think many homeowners should consider drastically reducing the amount of lawn they have but there’s nothing wrong with keeping a small patch that can be easily sustained using non-chemical non-pollutiong reel mowing practices. I think larger areas covered in these alterantives looking a bit boring and lumpy.

By: Mr. McGregor's Daughter

Mr. McGregor's Daughter — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:25:12 +0000

Okay, now I’m kicking myself for yanking & composting the Prairiedropseed seedlings that pop up in my garden & in my brick walkway. $15 a plant I’ve been throwing away. Makes me want to cry.