Is it time to get rid of lawns?

omanomad

Reading all the threads on here about people trying to make there lawns look half decent has got my wondering why do we even bother with lawns? When you think of all the time, effort and money that goes into trying to make a lawn look good, I just don’t think it’s worth it. Those in a typical 3 bed semi -d who have small gardens would be better of just paving it and having trees/hedges/plants at the side and back, and maybe a feature tree in the middle of the garden. That way you have the greenery in your garden without the heartache of having to maintain a lawn. Lawns must be pretty bad for the environment too when you think of all the energy needed to power lawnmowers, all the weed killer/moss killers/seeds produced and packaged every year for gardens and all the tools/machinery needed for their upkeep. And let’s not forget all the diesel trucks driving all over the place to collect grass cuttings every week- madness when you think about it.

Xander10

I wouldn't do without grass space in my back garden. It really isn't that hard to maintain if tended to on a regular basis. Costs are actually low. Some might choose to spend a bit more, others won't be put off with a few weeds. The amount I spend on petrol is minor. Plus grass can be composted.

Ubbquittious

Get off ma dang lawn!

Allinall

And people are wondering how more and more houses are getting flooded?

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118819491#Comment_118819491

This.

In a word, gardens/lawns provide drainage. And soakage. (ok, that's two words!)

And if you're worried about petrol/diesel usage - get a push mower and compost the cuttings (which you should be doing anyway!)

Robxxx7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058238404/is-it-time-to-get-rid-of-lawns

ok Greta, just leave the lawn for us to enjoy

magicbastarder

people with kids like lawns, for good reason.

but yes, lawns are a waste of good garden.

looksee

An expanse of green can be very restful and sets off shrubs and trees. However I did say green - that can be anything from daisies, creeping buttercup, clover, and any amount of other 'weeds' that are mow-able but still create that restful space. At the same time the flowers are valuable to insects and other small wildlife. I would argue with myself about the buttercups - the dratted things also get into all the places where they are not wanted, like flower and vegetable beds, still that's what chooses to grow and its generally fine by me.

There is a place for paving in a garden, but there must be scope for drainage - as mentioned - gravel is ok, but concrete and cobblelock is just water repelling hard surface.

Brussels Sprout

From a Biodiversity point of view there is certainly an argument for getting rid of lawns but absolutely not if you are just going to instead pave over it. No, instead more people should consider leaving some of their garden grow wild. It's great for pollinators like bees and butterflies and all of the other insects that whose populations have been plummeting at alarming rates.

Dempo1

I've just much of an area not to have a lawn but as the years have gone by I find it's easier to maintain, normally a decent spread of evergreen 4in1 around now, rake away moss growth and hopefully catch those dreaded dandelions and Daisy's . Living rurally it's a yearly battle to fend off weed growth but impossible to avoid dandelions completely.

One mistake I've made was to cut to low , I tend now to cut at a higher level and less frequently during summer months .

BraveDonut

Also it's the dog's toilet

billyhead

I did away with my lawn when I brought my house in 2006. Its all paved in the back garden with a border going all the way around for plants and shrubs. I've no front garden just off street parking so I don't have a lawnmower.

You may end up digging your lawn to grow veg the way things are going.

I've a 4 acre field for the kids. Plus half acre for veg and fruit

E30M3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118820209#Comment_118820209

Do the kids take long to grow?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118820296#Comment_118820296

I've an 11 year old who is 5'9" and still no sign of stalling. The slurry going on every year is working 😂

Strumms

My folks when they built their new place 15 years ago decided to go full stone patio out the back, now they have a quote to get it totally redesigned, going back to about 80% grass, looks so much better, more of a relaxing homely feel…the stone landscape slabs lost their color and it looks like blandsville… just asked my Dad and they are going for artificial synthetic grass which will just need cleaning…and looks perfectly natural ..

looksee

I was 5' 10" when I was 13 but then I just stopped growing (thank god) and have been the same height since.

Edit, this is so far off topic I shouldn't have bothered...

Tree

I do love a bit of lawn as a mulitpurpose place to hang out, put out the lounger, sup on ginger beer, admire the borders. I'm (almost finished) getting part of my front driveway done (no one needs that much tarmac), and have irish wildflowers to put out. I wouldn't do the same out back just cause I like to lounge. But hard ground wise, I really only need enough patio for the table and chairs and bbq, and a bit out the front for one (1) car.

Still stihl waters 3

Hate lawns and the trouble people go to maintaining them it all just seems like so much wasted time for nothing, a few nice fruit trees or native plants are much more pleasing to the eye, although a nice small lawn in the right setting can really show off a garden

mcburns07

Definitely agree on big lawns, why anyone would want to spend a few hours on a ride on lawnmower mowing an acre of grass is beyond me.

If I had a large garden I’d definitely rewild some of it, leave grass grow long / redo as a wild flower meadow and just cut a strip the edges to make it look tidy 🙂. The local council have been doing that around here the last few years and it looks great.

magicbastarder

hopefully catch those dreaded dandelions and Daisy's . Living rurally it's a yearly battle to fend off weed growth but impossible to avoid dandelions completely.

why fight it so?

Tree

Dandelions are also a great excuse to stop mowing for the next few weeks as the bees emerge...

hamburgham

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118820201#Comment_118820201

I hate seeing gardens being paved over. ‘Low maintenance garden’, for me means nature has been killed off and as for the plastic grass, that should be banned.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118820050#Comment_118820050

& it's not just MY dog ...... the big devil next door uses it too!!!!!!!! Doesn't bother me though.....it used to irk me a decade ago but now I kinda enjoy his 'visits'..... could set your watch by that dog🤣

BraveDonut

Pick it up with a shovel and throw it back over the fence

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118820600#Comment_118820600

I use tractors with a mower on the back along with a bailer.

wildwillow

It is all very well letting a lawn go wild but it has to be cut at some stage, or even strimmed as grass will be too tall for lawnmower. A wild flower meadow is very difficult to maintain without the correct equipment.

There is no need to have a pristine green weedless space, just let whatever is there grow and cut regularly either manually or with machine.

I don't use weedkillers or fertilizer and have a small front lawn in a rural house. It is north facing and surrounded by a shelter belt of scented shrubs and trees. I use a small robot which cuts and mulches the grass. Because it is the coldest and noisiest part of the garden it gets the least attention.

Back garden is mainly shrubs and perennials in beds, fruit and vegetable garden. Patio is as small as practical to avoid interfering with drainage.

I can't see the point in cutting almost an acre as some of my neighbours do.

Jim_Hodge

I agree that all this talk of letting a lawn or garden go wild is over simplifying things. Successfully keeping an area of wild flowers and nature friendly flora is quite a bit of work.

I like having lawn and keep about 900 sq m in lawn but I have a little woodland area and wild meadow as well. The wild area takes up a lot of time every year. The lawn, after early season feeding and moss control is easily cut and maintained.

Ubbquittious

Look all of this sh1te was promoted massively in the USA during the post-war period. Everyone had their own little lawn and the resulting maintenance people had to do to it was a massive moneyspinner for the economy in those times. People chopped down their fruit trees because they could get everything from "the store". Society got about 70 years of benefit from the economic activity and keeping normal people occupied (and not protesting or pondering if the economic system was making a fool of them) with these silly little lawns. Now things have changed and we're subjected to a constant stream of sanctimonious propaganda about the environment and the lawn has to go now. After about 10 years of listening to said propaganda people are actually starting to believe lawns are bad now. It's hilarious I find that people actually fall for it. They'll run to the local garden centre now to re-plant the fruit trees their forefathers chopped down and they'll spend more money on it than said fruit will ever be worth

Fun fact: In large swathes of America you can get into significant trouble with the local council for not maintaining your lawn.

magicbastarder

they'll spend more money on it than said fruit will ever be worth

but it's the same with grass. at least you can eat the fruit, grass is worthless yet people still spend money on it.

Still stihl waters 3

Wild flowers are nice and all but 1 native tree is the same as 1/4 acre of Wild flowers to insects and birds, alder, hawthorn, fuchsia and any native fruit tree require little maintenance compared to a Wild flower meadow, nature was never intended to be maintained

looksee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118843084#Comment_118843084

There is a lot of very broad generalisation there, and so many holes in the argument (and the supposed history) that you could use it for a sprinkler system.

I do object to the description of people genuinely trying to do their best for the environment by diversification in their gardens as engaging in 'sanctimonious propaganda'. There has been very little reference to doing away with lawns, mostly it is suggested that the obsession with perfect, absolutely weed free grass and the spraying of chemicals to achieve it is not the way to go. I am not a great fan of flower meadows, but neither do I see any great value in totally monoculture grass; between the two is a reasonable balance.

Living Off The Splash

I have plenty of wildflowers in my garden borders. In my back garden I also have a lawn. I keep this mowed. In my front garden the lawn has been taken over by moss. I tried to eliminate this over many years....then I just gave up. I was defeated by it. Now I just embrace the moss and kind of like it now. I have 9 raised beds for vegetables and I keep a compost heap. It is possible to embrace a mix and match approach to our gardens.... rather than going totally Amish.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118820027#Comment_118820027

it has already been mentioned but dandelions are important for bees, especially this early in the season when most other plants are not yet flowering...

https://twitter.com/the_beeguy/status/1506647934481358853

Dempo1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118846098#Comment_118846098

I agree but I can assure you , I do more than enough for Bees, birds , hedgehogs , I've even got wild hare come visit, lots of flowering plants, shrubs etc , actually love the sight of Bees and actually noticed some really big bumble Bees already this year.

But, I'm afraid I have a pathological hatred of Dandelion , Moss and Daisies on my lawn, they destroy it 😏

looksee

😀 that bee needs a bit more landing practise! He was miles out!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118825175#Comment_118825175

Would it not try to bite you?

NSAman

What about us people who HAVE to cut lawns. City ordinance says you have to cut lawns and keep the area around the house kept.

i mow 8 acres once a week (luckily I enjoy this) but to off set the mowing I leave 7 acres grow wild for pollinators and wild life.

the simple thing: if you want to sell the house, is someone going to be put off by 3 foot high grass?

magicbastarder

are you in the US?

NSAman

Yep

youllbemine

That's not even an argument. Just cut the grass before you go to sell it.

Deflective rubbish altogether. If the reason someone doesn't buy a house because the grass hasn't been cut then they didn't want to buy the house in the first place.

whisky_galore

Intended to have a lawn at one time but let it grow wild instead. It was on the site of an old orchard but that had become a jungle, overgrown and diseased with 30/40 years of neglect. I would have liked to reinstate it but now there's a septic tank at the end that needs access for emptying.

Drives the older generation mad who are conditioned to want a neat lawn and concerned about 'what will the neighbours think'.

magicbastarder

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220426-should-people-get-rid-of-their-garden-lawns

sam t smith

We should all live joyless lives to save the environment.

secman

Wild gardens are manna from heaven for lazy people with gardens 🤣

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118843214#Comment_118843214

Could you explain this one a little bit?

As someone who has damp areas in my back garden, I was going to sow them with wildflowers etc and let it re-wild.

But how is a single tree good for insects, instead of hundreds of wildflowers?

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118997910#Comment_118997910

As an example: A single Birch tree can support up to 300+ species of insects and invertebrates, while these then support bird populations. In the UK research showed 2300 species were supported by Oak, 326 species depend on oak for survival and 229 are rarely found on trees other than oak. Willow attracts numerous pollinators and birds too. It's a matter of balance but the impact of trees shouldn't be lost in the rush to sow wildflower meadows. I see much greater diversity and numbers among my tree planting than in my wildflower areas. Indeed I'll have as many species using the more formal shrub and flower beds as the wildflower areas. This morning Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Robins and others are busy gathering worms etc from the lawns.

briany

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118820878#Comment_118820878

I have read that dandelions are almost entirely edible. Netlles, as well, can be used to make soup. There must be a number of Irish plants which are considered weeds but whose usefulness is, in fact, overlooked.

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118997984#Comment_118997984

Having had nettle soup many years ago, I wouldn't bother if I were you. Leave them for the butterflies.

briany

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118997997#Comment_118997997

Might be in the way it's prepared (like practically anything). This doesn't look too bad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIp_Euqb4l8

SuperBowserWorld

Yep, birch trees grow like crazy and are beautiful. Just need to make sure they don't get too big... Much nicer than a bland lawn. But you can have some lawn and some trees and wild parts. It's not all or nothing. We have a lilac tree and the smell at this time of the year is incredible. It's wrapped around some other tree and both are covered in ivy. The birds love it.

(Edit)

Lilac tree.