A quest for a low-maintenance lawn
Posted on April 13th, 2009 – 8:46 AMBy Jaime Chismar
Here’s the scoop. I want less lawn, not more. I want yard of native grasses, not turf grass.
For the past six years, we’ve ignored our lawn. We mow, but we never water. In the spring, our grass kinda turns green. By summer, it is brown and crunchy with bare patches of dirt. Sometimes we pull the dandelions before they go to seed. Sometimes we don’t.
No, we’re not trying to be bad homeowners. Our neighbors ignore their lawns, too.
I thought that neglect was the most environmentally responsible path. Then I met Bob Mugaas, turf grass expert at the University of Minnesota.
Click here to listen to Connie’s interview with Bob Mugaas
For more information on low maintenance lawn care in Minnesota check out:
- U of M Extension Service: Lawn care information for homeowners
- U of M Extension Service: Low maintenance lawn care
- U of M Extension Service: Turfgrass Management
Interesting read about organic lawn care: The Organic Lawn Care Manual
You can learn more about the safe lawn movement here:
See, this past fall, I was accepted into the Master Gardener program with the University of Minnesota Extension Service. For a year, I will be an apprentice. In the middle of January, I was required to take two weeks of classes at the Arboretum. It was great to learn about plants in the middle of a cold snap. I was super psyched for the fruit and veggie classes, but dreading the turf class.
Who cares about turf? Bob Mugaas does. Since the 1980’s, he has worked to educate Minnesotans about how to achieve thick, lush lawns without first reaching for chemicals.
Remember the “Don’t bag it” campaign about lawn clippings? That was Mugaas’ research-based efforts. He discovered that leaving clippings on the lawn actually grows a thicker, healthier turf. Because of his efforts, the quantity of grass clippings in our landfills has dramatically decreased.
Could there be an environmentally responsibly way to maintain your lawn? Bob thinks so. Low maintenance lawn care is not about being a lazy gardener. It is about understanding the life cycle of your grass and caring for your lawn like you’d care for any other plant in your garden. Homeowners may have to give up green lawns in the middle of August, but it is a small price to pay for a healthier planet.
As it turns out, my good intentions were rather misguided. Our house is on a hill. My inaction wasn’t hurting my fellow homeowners, but it was hurting my future gardens. Without grass to anchor our top soil, it was washing away.
So this year, I’ve decided to take care of my lawn. If I can’t dig it all up, at least I can bring it back from the dead responsibly. My lawn renovation will start with a good de-thatching, a bag of corn gluten and some clover seed. I promise to keep you posted on my progress.
Do you have a high-maintenance or low-maintenance lawn? How have you kept your lawn healthy? If you could dig it all up, what you plant instead?
21 Responses to "A quest for a low-maintenance lawn"
I would really like to try adding clover this year too. Partially for the nitrogen-fixing, but also to give my huge population of wild rabbits something to eat besides my flowers.
How do you get clover going in an already-established lawn?
where is a good local store to get clover seed from?
Clover was an important part of lawn mixes in the 1930’s and 1940’s. In the 80’s clover suddenly became a “weed.” It doesn’t need as much water as turf grass and stays green in the heat of summer.
My understanding is that you add clover seed to your regular grass mix and seed your yard like you normally do.
The University of Minnesota used an interesting mix called “Fleur de Lawn.” I am so bummed that can’t find a good photo of it!
Laura,
I am looking into an organic lawn services to help me restore my yard. I don’t think the big box stores carry clover seed, but you should be able to find it at Bachmans or smaller neighborhood nurseries.
[…] Greengirls – […]
We have added big plots of native fowers within our yard between the grass. Purple coneflower, black eyed susan, fireweed, blue flag iris, blue woodland phlox, wild columbine and many others are dispersed throughout. The rewards of this native garden have been awesome! I started 7 years ago, and my gardens have expanded every year. I also have kept a journal documenting what plants are multiplying, what has died off and so on. The wildlife has been increased greatly. Monarchs, blue swallowtail, and many birds visit me.
Native plantings are the way to go!!
It is not local but I got my seed here: http://gurneys.com/product.asp?pn=09552 I did it last year so can not make any winter hardiness claims yet.
Regina - I love fire weed! Have you experimented with the native variety of blue lupine?
Thanks for the tip Rowland!
A good lawn needs two things- sunshine and water. If you have a lot of trees and shade, don’t waste your time!
I keep my grass really long… it makes me cringe to see my neighbor’s lawns cut super-short - it looks good at first until it dries up and burns in the summer sun. Taller grass retains moisture better (I think I only watered about 4-5x last year when the yard was looking really thirsty)
The tallest setting on my lawnmower + corn gluten + leaving the grass clippings on the lawn was my formula for a beautiful lawn last year.
My amateurish lawn-care efforts amount to cutting infrequently, with the mower set high. I do not collect grass clippings. I generally do not water. Each spring I reseed areas where the dogs have burned out the grass. I usually put down peat moss with the seed to try to hold moisture & protect the seed from drying out before germinating. Usually I rake first, to open the dirt, but did not do so this year. I too am interested in more info on the clover option & other low effort measures I can take to keep the yard healthy without dedicating my summer to the task.
Many years ago when I worked at a nursery and garden shop I remember telling many customers to not bother with the de-thatching. Typically, the “thatch” was never significant enough to actually cause a problem and instead the power de-thatchers employed wreaked havoc on the very top layer of soil. Additionally, I always figured the buildup of thatch was more a condition of improper care than anything else. I’m curious what the point of de-thatching has when renovating and if thatch really is more of a problem here in MN than it was in IA. Would core aeration be a more suitable approach?
For anyone who has a pond adjacent to their property, check with the DNR to see if it’s possible to use it for irrigation. I asked the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District about taking water from the small lake in my backyard, and they in fact encouraged it. It’s a good source of nutrient-rich water for the grass (i.e. I don’t ever need to fertilize to get a thick lawn), and it helps “clean up” any water that runs back into the lake.
Try Dege’s Garden Center in St. Paul for the clover. Not sure if they have it, but they would be my grass headquarters. He is known as ‘Mr. Lawn’ and its more of a co-op store than anything else. They have products nobody else has, and great choices of seed.
I wouldn’t be so sure about grass needing full sun. My trees are trimmed up higher than normal, so there’s a lot of light under them. The grass stays greener with a little light shade than it does where the full sun burns it out.
I have lots of clover in my lawn, and I haven’t fertilized it in 20 years. It’s green in May, June, Sept., and Oct. And it suffers through July and Aug. pretty well. I’ve wanted to use corn gluten to kill the dandelions, but won’t it kill the clover too?
I have a huge lawn and don’t use any chemicals. It has two varieties of clover and I tend to only mow it once every 2 1/2 - 3 weeks when the weather gets really hot.
It stays green for the entire summer.
The one downfall is dandelions, but I just remind myself they are seasonal and only bad for a couple of weeks.
Call me crazy, but I love hand pulling dandelions. It is very satisfying after a stressful day.
The thistle is a constant battle. It knows that it is winning.
How do you all seed your lawn in the spring if you have a dog? We have huge yellow spots due to our dog, but I can just imagine seeding and then having the dog play around with it, or try to eat it. Do you have to fence it off, or what?
Jaime, I also love hand-pulling the dandelions! It’s so satisfying to dump them all in the compost.
We love a green, lush lawn—I know, very retrograde! We actually re-sodded areas of the garden five years ago, and it made the design prettier and easier to maintain.
Creeping charlie is my nemesis. We are having Green Gaurdian treat our lawn with some complicated organic process this year, in hopes of beating it back.
Carly, I’ve never had to deal with a dog, but yes, you will have to keep him off the grass until it’s very well established. If I did have a dog, I’d be using the dog parks!
@Regina - any pictures you can share with us??
I have 2 big dogs that ruin my little patch every winter. The person at Bachman told me to put wheat gluten down every spring. I am not unrealistic I am sure won’t have a green patch that I can roll on but it would be nice to have semi-decent grass so I can have picnics with my son and his imaginary friends. Any natural solutions?
Greengirls Connie Nelson, Robyn Dochterman and Jaime Chismar are dishin' the dirt from the backyard garden and beyond. Whether you're a greenthumb or greenhorn, they're eager to learn from your misshaps, mistakes -- and most importantly, your sweet successes -- all growing season long.
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