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Thoughts on lawns
Fractal's house is still in the process of reconfiguring itself, and one of the ways that I'd like to do that is by reworking the Traditional American Golf Course Lawn into something lower-maintenance, lower-impact, and still attractive. Since the implosion of our former lawn company, it's been understandably difficult to find someone willing to mow the half-acre behemoth for the old rate. We don't want it mowed every week to a maximum height of 1", either... we're not going for the Better Homes & Gardens award here, kids. But the city gets cranky if your greenery goes above 10".
Since the fence went up and the number of dogs doubled, the back yard has been more-or-less self-maintaining from four-footed traffic; it'll probably need to be mowed only once or twice a month going forward. However the front yard is in a low/well-irrigated place (our street has swales, not curbs) and grows at an absurd rate in the summer months. We might even have to get it mowed once more this year.
So the other night I started thinking about ways to lower the financial/environmental impact of the yard. Electric mowers have come way down in price (Earthwise has a good 20" cordless model, but![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
featherynscale reminded me that we had a lawnmower for a time, but no time to mow, and that hasn't really changed. I probably could do the front yard myself 3 out of 4 cycles and cut down on the cost of hiring the fellow down the street, but let's think outside the box a bit more). featherynscale then suggested supplanting the Bermuda grass with mint, but I think that might just make our neighbors kill us in our sleep when their lawns start to be invaded. Clover looks/smells lovely and covers well, but may not stand up well to foot traffic. Also, it spreads to a lesser extent than mint. Paving the yard, gravel, and other such extreme measures are out of the question, as is lots of landscaping (we'd like to do some, but planting a yard full of annuals will lead to bloodshed, and not the happy fun kind).
Buffalograss, though; this stuff is cool. Grows to an approximate maximum height of 6-8", a little higher than your suburban average but acceptable to our aesthetic. It's also well suited to the transition zone we live in, having been a native prairie grass before. Sounds like I need to visit the lawn & garden store before spring, and see what a changeover would entail.
Anybody else looked into this?
Since the fence went up and the number of dogs doubled, the back yard has been more-or-less self-maintaining from four-footed traffic; it'll probably need to be mowed only once or twice a month going forward. However the front yard is in a low/well-irrigated place (our street has swales, not curbs) and grows at an absurd rate in the summer months. We might even have to get it mowed once more this year.
So the other night I started thinking about ways to lower the financial/environmental impact of the yard. Electric mowers have come way down in price (Earthwise has a good 20" cordless model, but
featherynscale reminded me that we had a lawnmower for a time, but no time to mow, and that hasn't really changed. I probably could do the front yard myself 3 out of 4 cycles and cut down on the cost of hiring the fellow down the street, but let's think outside the box a bit more). featherynscale then suggested supplanting the Bermuda grass with mint, but I think that might just make our neighbors kill us in our sleep when their lawns start to be invaded. Clover looks/smells lovely and covers well, but may not stand up well to foot traffic. Also, it spreads to a lesser extent than mint. Paving the yard, gravel, and other such extreme measures are out of the question, as is lots of landscaping (we'd like to do some, but planting a yard full of annuals will lead to bloodshed, and not the happy fun kind).Buffalograss, though; this stuff is cool. Grows to an approximate maximum height of 6-8", a little higher than your suburban average but acceptable to our aesthetic. It's also well suited to the transition zone we live in, having been a native prairie grass before. Sounds like I need to visit the lawn & garden store before spring, and see what a changeover would entail.
Anybody else looked into this?