Do you love your green grass, but wish you had less to maintain or something additional in the landscape to enjoy? Many homeowners have this feeling but are stuck in the rut of the traditional landscape that is dominated by turf. The good news is that you can have your cake and eat it too by being intentional about where the turf is and where something else could or should be.
Getting started with reducing the size of the lawn begins with getting out a simple sheet of graph paper and drawing in lines that outline the property. Next, draw in the hardscape that is unlikely to change such as the driveway, large trees, back patio, sidewalk and such. Then pull out a pencil and put on your thinking cap and “zoom out” and consider what would be great in a perfect world.
Once you’ve decided on what would be a great addition – maybe a small patch of strawberries, an exploration area for your kids/grandkids, a perennial bed, an herb garden or a sitting and refuge space – draw in circles that represent the change from turf to the new entity. In order to help you think about possibilities, ask friends and neighbors what they have in their landscapes or visit a teaching garden maintained by the Master Gardeners in Douglas and Sarpy Counties.
The new items are best placed on the side of the front or back yard, so that the remaining turf can still be a solid block of low growing plants that can be watered, aerated, fertilized and mowed according to their needs and the new plants are separated from the lawn and can be cared for differently. If the new landscape feature is placed in the middle of the turf, the likelihood of competition for water and nutrients becomes a strong limiting factor in the success and viability of each entity. The key to success is to separate turf from trees, veggies, flowers and other non-grass plants.
Most likely, making a less-lawn landscape won’t save you any time or money, as the new plants in their new space will still require maintenance and dollars to install, but the change will introduce new functionality and possibly enhanced beauty as well.
