6 Steps to the Right Alternative-Lawn Plant

Apologies for this photoless post but after 2 days of server errors that prevent uploading photos at all (the dreaded “Error 500″) I’m giving up and publishing. Photos coming soon – I hope.

Lately I’m noticing more local gardeners looking for plant suggestions to replace their lawns, and some of the suggestions offered on gardening listservs include  the more drought-tolerant  native plants, like Prairie Dropseed, Rudbeckia and Carex.  Others write to tel us they’re trying creeping perennials that can be walked on a bit, especially the vigorous low sedums that do so well on green roofs.

But finding the right plants  for a particular landscape is tougher than you’d think.

1. How Tall is It?
First, a definition or two are in order.  All sorts of things are used to replace lawns – even patios and veg gardens -  so it’s fine to call them lawn replacements.  But let’s use the term “alternative lawn” for something that’s lawnlike – short, no taller than a foot.  It performs the lawnlike design function of keeping a space open.

Another great thing about short plants is the safety they provide for us humans.  Anything taller than 6-12 inches is a tick magnet that’s best not walked through or near.  Lyme disease is spread by deer and even more often, by rodents, and rodents just love tall grasses.  And there’s other wildlife to consider.  Once when I had a lawn I tried just stopping the mowing and a month later I was seeing snakes scamper as I walked through the stuff.  Goodbye tall grass!  (With apologies to snake-lovers reading this.  I have to be true to my comfort zone.)

And of course, plants 6″ and shorter don’t need to be mowed, ever!

2.  Is it Step-on-able?
If the space needs to walked on or through, the options are to have paths or to use plants that can be stepped on occasionally.   Plus, if you water by hand, the plants need to also withstand having the hose dragged over them.   This rules out woody plants that would break when stepped on, and the same for most perennials,  even short ones like Lamb’s ears, Geraniums and Coreopsis.

3. How Self-Sustaining is It?
What’s gotten us all looking for alternatives in the first place is the desire and need to use fewer resources, especially water in the turfgrass-ridiculous parts of the country.  (Arizona, what are you thinking?)  We also want plants that need no herbicides or pesticides, and only minimal (all natural) fertilizing.  And as mentioned above, no need for polluting mowers.

And the very key to plant sustainability is that it require very little of the resource known as maintenance – the gardener’s time and effort.

4.  Does it Fill in Quickly?
If you’ve ever removed turfgrass you know that the bare soil that results doesn’t stay bare for long because impressive numbers of weeds emerge from the soil and arrive by air.  Bare ground also causes erosion, and however virtuous we may feel about removing turfgrass, we’re better not let its removal add to the degradation of our waterways as a result.  (Yes, I’ve seen that happen.)

So to cover the soil – completely – you could just plant very closely and achieve instant coverage.   That’s great if your space is small enough or budget large enough.   For a more modest budget, you could still cover a sizable area within a season or two by using plants that spread quickly and vigorously.  Like the turfgrasses they replace, they fill in quickly to do the job of weed suppression and protection from hard rains.

5. Does it Look Good All Year?
And most homeowners want these prominent spaces to be covered with plants that look good in the winter.   That’s especially important in front yards, for the enjoyment of the homeowners and for good neighborly relations.   Most sedums look good enough in winter, for example, and so does Prairie Dropseed, despite its dead foliage.  For evergreen grasses, the Carex family is bountiful.

6. What’s it Got for the Pollinators and other Wildlife?
And we’re all more aware these days of the need to provide for pollinators, something that the turfgrass monocultures fail at miserably.  Clover, a self-fertilizing import, is wonderful in this regard, feeding honeybees and native pollinators alike.  Creeping sedums are also great for pollinators, and it’s safe to assume any regionally native plant is, too.  And the greater the number of different plants, the better, though if more than one plant is used they have to co-exist well over time.   That last point is a lesson I’ve learned through failures in both my front and back alternative lawns (more about that coming soon).

There may be more than these six, but I honestly hope not.   The choice is complicated enough.