In my adult life thus far, I’ve only lived in apartments, so I never had to make any decisions about what to put in that area between the building and the sidewalk or the lot behind. Someday in the future, however, I’d like to own a home.
The problem is I am not really that fond of lawns. I find them rather wasteful of water resources and mowing is such a hassle. I don’t really like plant maintenance in general because of allergies.
Are there any options for people who want to spend a minimum of time outdoors yet don’t want their neighbors complaining about what an “eyesore” their yards are? I’d be perfectly alright with an “ugly” yard (yay, woodchips and concrete!), but I don’t want everybody whining about their property values dropping. Suggestions? So far, this is all hypothetical, but I like to be prepared.
I’ve seen some nice rock garden set ups around in The OKC. Not totally rock, some shrubs, a tree or two, monkey grass around trees and borders… If done right it looks marvy fab.
Hypothetically, yeah, there are various kinds of ground covers and such, plus various sorts of shrubbery. What you planted would depend very much on whether you were going to want to use your yard at all, and if so, what for. If it was your intention never to set foot out there, that’s one thing – if you’d want a sitting area (patio, deck) but otherwise didn’t carre, that’s another; if you wanted a place for kids and/or pets to play, or a place to hang laundry, or whatever, that would be a third.
A co-worker hated his lawn so much, he made it one big concrete slab and painted it green. He lived in a townhouse and left the concrete sidewalk to his house the natural “concrete” color.
Now, THAT pissed off the neighbors. Great if you hate to cut, though!
I think featherlou is the local expert on non-lawns. Maybe she’ll pop by with some suggestions. I’ve seen some nice mossy ground covers that seem low maintenance, although I’m not sure how much water the require.
If/when I ever have a front yard, I’d plant it with wildflowers. It’d be pretty and low maintenance, but if you have allergies it might not be such a good plan.
In drought regions around here it is common to see quartz rock, lava rock, and painted concrete- usually in a decorative pattern with a few bushes here and there.
Well, if you buy a house, you’ve always gotta be thinking about eventually *selling *that house. you don’t want to do anything to the lawn that potential buyers would dislike. Since most people like to have at least some grass, I would recommend putting down a lawn of gravel.
Really, it’s quite possible to have a decent lawn with little maintenence other than mowing and trimming. Plant large beds with shrubs and flowering bushes, with a thick layer of weed-control matting, with mulch overtop. You’ll just have to trim them in the spring and mow twice or three times a month.
Rather too many trees and bushes. Lots of secret little green hidey places to sit and drink beer and do the crossword. Trees, shrubs, vines, creeping plants, ferns. Little or no order.
There are ground covers as mentioned above. Some of the most striking yards I have seen are carefully planted ground covers and other plants that are just allowed to grow.
There is the very real option now of putting down a synthetic lawn now. This isn’t your fathers AstroTurf. It is put down professionally and comes in several grass varieties to fit your area. It should be used for smaller lawns only but the only difference between you and your neighbors lawn will be that it looks like you are obsessed with lawn maintenance to the casual eye.
Thanks for the replies, y’all. So many things I had not thought of. I really like the rock ideas. Lissa, that’s a really good point about reselling. Anything too “unconventional” is best not to be permanent. Shagnasty, the synthetic lawns on that page look better than I would have expected. Certainly not the Bradys’ backyard! twickster, I’m planning on being a hermit and never leaving the house. Mwahahaha. Seriously, though, I’ve never been one to enjoy the outdoors. I’d have to rethink it if I had kids, though.
I’m not sure groundcover would be that much better than a turf lawn. You still need to water and maintain it and maintainence can be tougher than just mowing. Really, most lawns don’t need to be watered as long as you’re willing to accept that the grass may go dormant in the hot weather and green up again with the autumn rains. Likewise, getting rid of weeds in a lawn is easier than pulling them out from groundcover since you can use broadleaf herbicides that would kill the groundcover or even just mow them down if you care that little about it. Usually I see groundcovers used in places where you can’t grow a lawn due to shade or where trees and other landscape features would make mowing a nightmare.
You could get into stones and mulches and the like but I’d really just leave the lawn where it is, maybe call a lawn service if you don’t want to apply herbicides and fertilizers yourself and enjoy.
Not really – I was thinking periwinkle (aka myrtle, aka vinca) – glossy foliage, pretty purple flowers in the spring – looks a bit ratty during serious drought, but otherwise it pretty much takes care of itself. I don’t know why you’d water groundcover, and once it fills in, there’s no weeding.
Periwinkle (myrtle) is tough, and just very nice-looking, especially if you are able to mix up the blossom colors: pink, purple and white.
Campion smells good and you can walk on it.
Another idea: planting what normally would have been there, before lawns came to be.
Back in Denver some of our neighbors, rather than bluegrass, landscaped with native wildflowers, a shrub or two, and a few strategically placed small boulders.
That was it. They never had to do another thing with their yard. No watering.
During Denver’s recent droughts, the plants looked a bit peaked, but they always came back.
A large front portion of my front lawn is a wild flower garden. I decided after years of mowing, that if I could cut this particular corner off, it would shorten my mow time down considerably.
I now have a lovely flower garden & pumpkin patch.
However, starting such a thing is not cheap.
You need to rototill . If you don’t have one you have to either know someone or pay for it to be done. ( We know someone. He won’t do it anymore because our ground is too rocky and wrecks his tiller.)
You need to calculate the square footage to see how much you need in bulk seed. My math skills are horrid, but I kept coming up with 17k sq ft. I brought my husband into the matters and he came up with the same number. (YAY!)
You would want a variety of seeds ( periennals, annuals, bi’s) for quick color to long lasting year after year color. Seed is not cheap. I paid about $400 for more than I needed for this corner.
You need something to keep the seed from washing away and keeping the birds from eating it. Straw is about $2.50 and up a bale.
You will have to water regularly and have a permanent set up with a sprinkler to cover this section.
Add some bird feeders too.
It also helps that I live in the sticks and don’t have to be anal about Lawn Care.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the lawn. When you go shopping for your house, just make sure you don’t have a lot of trees. Depending on the size and type of trees, they can cause you much more work. They are always shedding something, and you generally have to clean it up.
A lawn, especially if you don’t water it, can be a relatively low maintenance choice. Periwinkle is nice, but can take some time to establish itself. It will also be a large job to prepare the ground & plant it.
Buy your house in the appropriate neighborhood. If everybody has emerald green lawns that look like carpets, you probably don’t want to live there.
