Cut Your Lawn Down to Size

by Monica Brandies

Are you tired of mowing grass or paying someone else to mow it?

Lawns in the United States cover more land than any single crop — more than corn, beans or wheat. We have an area roughly the size of Pennsylvania in turf grass. If people spent half the money, time and fuss on their gardens that they spend on their lawns, they could grow most of their family’s food and be surrounded by flowers. What plant, other than grass, would anyone plant if they knew it had to be pruned every week?

There are many very attractive yards in Florida today where there is no grass at all. We had almost a half acre of lawn when we moved here, and we paid our children to spend hours mowing it. “Be sure you get rid of this lawn before the kids move away,” my husband David said. I started right away, plowing up our lawn with my Troybilt while all the neighbors were manicuring theirs.

We had a lawn man for awhile who didn’t cost any more than we had been paying our offspring. He didn’t complain, didn’t let the grass grow too tall and didn’t ask to use our car on the weekend. And he was very careful about harming my other plants. But when we got the mowing down to 15 minutes every two weeks, we took it over again.

If your homeowners’ association insists you have some lawn, you can still shrink it down to a reasonable size by extending the borders of your other plantings. Use ground covers or just mulch around shrubs and trees. I find ornamental peanut (Arachis glabrata) great for sunny areas, and there are lists of low ground covers for shade, including mondo grass, Asiatic jasmine, bugle-weed, Swedish ivy and wandering Jew.

A quick and easy way to get rid of turf is with newspapers and mulch. Just spread sections of newspaper over the grass. Overlap them so weeds can’t creep through the cracks. Water well and cover. The ideal cover would be six to eight inches of good imported soil, but for most of us that is not practical. It is easier and cheaper to simply cover the newspaper with a thick layer of mulch. Leaves and grass clippings are free and work fine. Spread the papers over a little plot at a time, then the mulch. Water it all well.

You can plant the same day if you wish. To plant from small pots (4 to 6 inches), just pull the mulch back to the paper, remove the plant from the pot, set it in place and cover the root ball with the best soil you have. For a small planting, it would pay to buy good planting soil for this, or you can use compost or worm castings if you have them. Water well and pull the mulch up around the plant.

For large plants, dig down through the paper to make a hole as large as needed, insert the plant and replace the soil and mulch around it. For seeds, pull the mulch back and spread a row or a round of good soil. Plant the seeds and don’t pull the mulch back until the seedlings are tall enough to not be smothered.

The sod will rot away and add humus to the soil. The roots will penetrate the newspaper, which will also rot away as long as it is covered. Meanwhile, it tends to keep the moisture and nutrients at root level and slow down their leaching through. It also tends to discourage nematodes.

When planting your new space, keep some very low areas to maintain the feeling of a lawn, without all the problems. This will set off the other plantings and keep some vistas open from your windows. I found out the hard way that many large shrubs, even with paths between, give the place a jungle look. Use large shrubs where you want privacy, but even in a large yard, remember how much your plants are going to spread. Plant them well back from paths that should stay wide enough for a wheelbarrow.

Never infringe on driveway, parking or turn-around space. This can be a matter of life or death if you live on a busy street. Leave a margin of just mulch along the driveway. And don’t plant anything that will grow large enough to block your view of oncoming traffic and vice versa.

Most of us want some green, grassy areas. It is ideal for children’s play areas. Be sure that all of the grass areas that remain are connected so you can get to them easily with the mower.

Florida homeowners are already much wiser than many I see up north who spend up to eight hours a week on a mower in the summer. But we can learn to live happily and graciously with much less lawn or none at all. And it will be better for the environment. The pollution of our rivers and lakes, as well as our air, is largely due to the chemicals that are used to keep lawns looking good. American lawns have long used more gasoline, fertilizer and pesticides than India uses for food crops! We don’t need to be that greedy. And during dry times, the most important step you can take to save water in the landscape is to reduce the size of your lawn.

Ornamental peanut is an excellent low ground cover for sunny to partial shade areas. It multiplies easily from runners or cuttings. One pot will make a big patch, and eventually you will need to edge so it doesn’t climb the shrubs and perennials. The yellow or orange flowers are edible. The patch can be mowed, but doesn’t need it unless there are weeds or grasses mixed in. It holds up well under foot traffic, but does back a bit in the winter. I sometimes plant rye grass seed over it, which gives me a green and nearly velvet lawn for the winter months and satisfies any lawn yearning I still have. The rye dies out in the spring and the ornamental peanut begins to spread again.

 © 2014 Monica Brandies. Originally published in Florida Gardening, Apr / May 2014. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.