Lawn. I'm so over it.

[Trudie]

Avid gardener here.  I'm currently reading "Lawn Gone" by Pam Penick.  I've had an epiphany as of late that I want my next dwelling to be xeriscaped with minimal lawn.  I live in the Upper Midwest --  a place where we're really into grass.  But most of the time it looks crummy and we spend lots of money, time, and energy maintaining it.  I've already put lots of landscape beds and structures in my yard.  I'm busy thinking about if there's more that I can do.  I'd rather prune shrubs once a year than mow two times a week.  I prefer a tidy look, but I still don't think a yard has to have lots of turf to look tidy.

I'm struck by how much mowing the grass is getting on my nerves.  I won't go into a long holier-than-thou speech about petrochemicals, fertilizers, hearing damage from mowers -- I've been guilty of such sins.  As I write this my neighbor is out mowing and weedeating.  It's 9 PM.  Grr...

Anyone else tearing up their lawn?

[pbkmaine]

I have done it in a stealth way everywhere I've lived. I made the beds bigger, added shrubs, added island beds, and the lawn kept getting smaller. I lived in a suburb in NJ where lawns were very important. I put in a big butterfly and herb garden. All the neighborhood kids would come over to look at the butterflies, so no objections from the parents.

[Thinkum]

If we end up stay here, I plan on doing this as well. Half the front lawn is just that, a wasteland of green, ick. The other smaller side has a big oak, the acorns have acidified the soil and the oak is thirsty, so nothing really grows. We put a metal edging around it and made a bed compost and Asian Jasmine. If we stay, I would do like PBK, add in island beds and shrubs for butterflies and bees, etc. Grass is so boring, yet so many areas enforce it because "that's how its always been done".

[mrpercentage]

They have battery lawn mowers now that are real quiet. I live in a hot dry brown place and pick lawn over crushed hot inhospitable rock that you can't lay on to look at the planes pass or walk on bare footed.

I just spent another $700 at Home Depot today. Paint and new porch light, track lights, and hall light ect. All LED. I get the maintenance part. Property and hous maintenance is expensive

[geekette]

We totally got rid of the lawn - and the mower, of course.  Small suburban yard, now with just trees, shrubs, some pretty perennials, a mulch path, more shrubs.  Lots of Encore azaleas and Knock Out roses (low needs, once established).  So much happier.

The d@#% beavers took down a redbud, a weigela, and 18 loropetalums this spring, even after we started wrapping them in chicken wire (apparently, beavers are taller than we thought).  They'll recover.  I hope.  Friggin' beavers.

[Trudie]

We totally got rid of the lawn - and the mower, of course.  Small suburban yard, now with just trees, shrubs, some pretty perennials, a mulch path, more shrubs.  Lots of Encore azaleas and Knock Out roses (low needs, once established).  So much happier.

The d@#% beavers took down a redbud, a weigela, and 18 loropetalums this spring, even after we started wrapping them in chicken wire (apparently, beavers are taller than we thought).  They'll recover.  I hope.  Friggin' beavers.

For us, it's deer... And moles (and every other burrowing kind of creature.

[Miss Piggy]

I have mixed feelings about this. Neighbor passed away 5 years ago from ALS, and we take care of the 75 year old widow's lawn as well as our own. Honestly, sometimes it's hard to make time for both lawns. But she's a good friend, and we promised the (now-deceased) husband we would do this for them. On the other hand, it's sometimes the only exercise I get for the week, so I'm appreciative of the "requirement."  That said, I do wish we could get rid of (read: plant a garden there) one especially treacherous slope. Then things would be much easier.

[Trudie]

I have done it in a stealth way everywhere I've lived. I made the beds bigger, added shrubs, added island beds, and the lawn kept getting smaller. I lived in a suburb in NJ where lawns were very important. I put in a big butterfly and herb garden. All the neighborhood kids would come over to look at the butterflies, so no objections from the parents.

I've been gradually doing it in a stealth way also, and that meets no objections from the neighbors.  As the trees grow we widen the mulched areas around them.  We've paid for help with the hardscaping stuff, but do most of the rest ourselves.

We've been looking at land for our ER home... even though we've built twice and I'm fully aware of HOA rules I find myself getting annoyed about rules specifying sod in the front and side yards.  I've determined that before we even buy I would request a variance and have a heavily landscaped front yard.  (I would draw up plans and present them.)  If they can't do it, then we won't buy the land.  We may end up buying an existing home closer to the urban core where the rules aren't as strict. 

I'm sensitive to the flip side of the coin as well.  I've seen areas in my small town where people take over the front yard with chicken wire fences and recycled structures that aren't cohesive and look like the outlot of a farm yard.  It does degrade the value of the property around them, and it has created some hostility among the neighbors.  So I think some rules about the materials you can use are good.  I've become a big proponent of the "living fence" idea in urban areas.

[AllChoptUp]

We learned our lesson in our last rental home - 3.5 acres. Huge rolling lawn with many very large formal beds. Took 4 hours every weekend. Spring was a nightmare as the beds would erupt in weeds - big beds avoid grass but the annual mulching/weeding/pruning can be a serious time suck. Hard work, too.

After a year we promised ourselves that we'd never have a large property again. I do like to garden so what we have will be informal flower beds and veggie plots. Oh, and a chicken coop/run if we live in an area that permits them.

[deadlymonkey]

I would love to have a lawn.  We live in base housing (so only renting) but my backyard is dominated by a very large tree, that casts shadows over the lawn for 75% of the day.  When we moved in, the entire back yard was just mud with a few patches of grass.  I have successfully brought back patchy thin grass but hoping that by the end of summer I will have a stable yard.  Really I just want my kids to be able to play back there without getting super muddy every single day.

[Thinkum]

I would love to have a lawn.  We live in base housing (so only renting) but my backyard is dominated by a very large tree, that casts shadows over the lawn for 75% of the day.  When we moved in, the entire back yard was just mud with a few patches of grass.  I have successfully brought back patchy thin grass but hoping that by the end of summer I will have a stable yard.  Really I just want my kids to be able to play back there without getting super muddy every single day.

You can put some compost down, then some grass seed if needed or even some grass plugs. That should jump start your grass, and don't forget to water it. When we moved in, the grass under our oak was very spotty. I just spread mulch, dead leaves, and compost, then made sure to water. It's pretty cohesive now, except for one area close to a garden bed. I have plans for that though.

[DeltaBond]

There is a house around where I live, doesn't have a huge lot, maybe a quarter of an acre.  They have pavers and gravel - the decorative gravel, and some concrete planters.  NO GRASS

[Cassie]

When we lived in the Midwest it rained and our grass always looked good. We mowed it once/week. Now we live on West coast and have been in a drought for years.  xero-scaping is getting popular here for good reason. However, it makes your house hotter and I think it is butt ugly. So in the vein of saving water we bought very good quality astro-turf.

[acroy]

Screw that, I LOVE the lawn and enjoy taking care of it.

We have .027acre (edit 0.27 acre) so not a lot... and some of it is driveway, pool, deck.

What lawn there is though, what a lawn! Tif419 Bermuda. Gorgeous. Maintained via $75 Cragslist gas reel mower. Love it, it's a carpet. properly maintained viw Bermuda Bible, it's not a lot of water or fertilizer, and not wasted. Very worth it.

[jrhampt]

I also hate my lawn.  I do have lots of shrubbery beds and am encouraging some pachysandra and periwinkle to take hold in certain areas and hopefully lessen the lawn's total area.

[dougules]

I have a 0.4 acre lot and hate it.  It's nice to be able to have a big garden and fruit trees, but even those only take up a fraction of it.  The ridiculous zoning laws and building standards of 50 years ago make it hard to find something on less land around here.  Honestly when we get to FIRE I really want a very small lot or a condo. 

[Metric Mouse]

Screw that, I LOVE the lawn and enjoy taking care of it.

We have .027acre so not a lot... and some of it is driveway, pool, deck.

What lawn there is though, what a lawn! Tif419 Bermuda. Gorgeous. Maintained via $75 Cragslist gas reel mower. Love it, it's a carpet. properly maintained viw Bermuda Bible, it's not a lot of water or fertilizer, and not wasted. Very worth it.

Yes... a properly maintained lawn is something to behold. I love that carpet-ey feel, that perfect look of a smooth field of even green. Nothing better than a day of beer darts in the backyard with a group of friends. I'll mow every week over picking up leaves and plucking weeds from endless flower beds.

[Trudie]

I have a 0.4 acre lot and hate it.  It's nice to be able to have a big garden and fruit trees, but even those only take up a fraction of it.  The ridiculous zoning laws and building standards of 50 years ago make it hard to find something on less land around here.  Honestly when we get to FIRE I really want a very small lot or a condo.

Similar situation here.  We bought more lot than we needed but around here there isn't much choice.  We have a similar size lot and there's a woodland protection easement to the rear.  I'm all for trees -- properly planted and maintained -- but the trees behind our house are not by and large very attractive and many of them have died off and fallen over.  It creates a maintenance mess.  I'm not a fan of living near or in the woods.

[jim555]

So glad I am on the second floor of a condo, no lawn upkeep, no snow shovelling. 

[Cpa Cat]

I hate lawn. But our lawn is pretty big. I've gradually planted more trees and expanded the garden beds. I also have an extensive vegetable garden. Still, the lawn is enormous.

I'd love to have no lawn. But I'm at my limit of what I can maintain already with weeding my garden beds, keeping them mulched, etc.

I also have no real eye for design.

If I wanted to do a full conversion and make it look nice, I'd need have to professionally installed and designed. Then I'd probably need to budget some kind of annual help with mulching and weeding. It seems like a big undertaking when the lawn is just: Get the mower out and mow for two hours.

[dougules]

I have a 0.4 acre lot and hate it.  It's nice to be able to have a big garden and fruit trees, but even those only take up a fraction of it.  The ridiculous zoning laws and building standards of 50 years ago make it hard to find something on less land around here.  Honestly when we get to FIRE I really want a very small lot or a condo.

Similar situation here.  We bought more lot than we needed but around here there isn't much choice.  We have a similar size lot and there's a woodland protection easement to the rear.  I'm all for trees -- properly planted and maintained -- but the trees behind our house are not by and large very attractive and many of them have died off and fallen over.  It creates a maintenance mess.  I'm not a fan of living near or in the woods.

I hear you.  I just hate spending my precious time and energy on tending a piece of land, especially when it is that much less land somewhere else that could be growing somebody's food or preserving wild space.  Some people enjoy working in the yard, but not me. 

What makes it worse is that we basically live in the jungle here for half the year.  You can almost see the grass growing, and I'm constantly cutting tree saplings out of the fence row, the flower beds, and any other space not hit by the mower or weed whacker.  And all this has to happen in a puddle of sweat in August sauna conditions.  I've got better things to do with my time. 

[Trudie]

@dougules - I think we're living on parallel planes!  I live in Iowa and really - when you get down to it - we don't have many enjoyable days of gardening weather.  Our summers, although shorter, can be just as awfully humid and hot.  Basically by mid-summer our grass is brown and crunchy due to the weather and the fact that I refuse to waste time, money, and precious resources on watering it.  We're out of steps with many of our neighbors in that regard.  Basically the tidiest yards around here belong to retired farmers.  They move into town and treat the things like crops... they overseed, they water, they fertilize... nary a tree or perennial in site but dang if their lawns don't look good.

I think my awareness of natural resource issues and alternatives has increased over the last ten years or so.  I think a lot more about the choices we make, the futility of wasting resources on plants that don't provide food or habitat (for bees and other pollinators).... so I struggle more than I used to as well. 

[lthenderson]

We have .027acre so not a lot... and some of it is driveway, pool, deck.

Decimal in the wrong place? That is only a square of 34 feet on each side!

[lthenderson]

We do much of our landscaping in river rock and perennials so it is very low maintenance. I have thought about putting artificial grass down if I had a smaller lawn so you still get the look without the maintenance. I know a few people who have done this and it looks like a really well kept lawn. However, they have much smaller lawns than my two acres which would cost a fortune to do.

[Chris22]

Screw that, I LOVE the lawn and enjoy taking care of it.

We have .027acre so not a lot... and some of it is driveway, pool, deck.

What lawn there is though, what a lawn! Tif419 Bermuda. Gorgeous. Maintained via $75 Cragslist gas reel mower. Love it, it's a carpet. properly maintained viw Bermuda Bible, it's not a lot of water or fertilizer, and not wasted. Very worth it.

Yes... a properly maintained lawn is something to behold. I love that carpet-ey feel, that perfect look of a smooth field of even green. Nothing better than a day of beer darts in the backyard with a group of friends. I'll mow every week over picking up leaves and plucking weeds from endless flower beds.

This, x1000.  I enjoy mowing, I like keeping the yard nice, and I don't mind the maintenance of my small (~.2 acre) lot.  And agree, unless you're going (ugly-ass) gravel or synthetic, I can't see how anything else is LESS maintenance than a lawn, you'll be wedding and pruning and crap all the time. 

[acroy]

We have .027acre so not a lot... and some of it is driveway, pool, deck.

Decimal in the wrong place? That is only a square of 34 feet on each side!

Haha, right you are
0.27 acre!

[Metric Mouse]

We have .027acre so not a lot... and some of it is driveway, pool, deck.

Decimal in the wrong place? That is only a square of 34 feet on each side!

Haha, right you are
0.27 acre!

I just figured you had a very mustachian pool...

[seattlecyclone]

We have .027acre so not a lot... and some of it is driveway, pool, deck.

Decimal in the wrong place? That is only a square of 34 feet on each side!

I live on a 30' x 100' lot in the city. Our backyard is then roughly that 34' square. I hate mowing even that small lawn. If we end up moving in the future I'd consider an even smaller lot, perhaps with no yard at all.

[dougules]

We have .027acre so not a lot... and some of it is driveway, pool, deck.

Decimal in the wrong place? That is only a square of 34 feet on each side!

I live on a 30' x 100' lot in the city. Our backyard is then roughly that 34' square. I hate mowing even that small lawn. If we end up moving in the future I'd consider an even smaller lot, perhaps with no yard at all.

That's the perfect size for a vegetable garden.  I didn't think I would enjoy gardening.  I started growing one because I wanted to try some exotic vegetables, and I've enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.  You might give it a try.   

[SweetTPi]

I would love to have a lawn.  We live in base housing (so only renting) but my backyard is dominated by a very large tree, that casts shadows over the lawn for 75% of the day.  When we moved in, the entire back yard was just mud with a few patches of grass.  I have successfully brought back patchy thin grass but hoping that by the end of summer I will have a stable yard.  Really I just want my kids to be able to play back there without getting super muddy every single day.

You can put some compost down, then some grass seed if needed or even some grass plugs. That should jump start your grass, and don't forget to water it. When we moved in, the grass under our oak was very spotty. I just spread mulch, dead leaves, and compost, then made sure to water. It's pretty cohesive now, except for one area close to a garden bed. I have plans for that though.

Have you thought about putting down moss?  It sounds strange, but I grew up in the woods, and the entire area around the house was moss instead of grass.  Grass would just not grow because of the shade, but moss loved it.  It's low maintenance once established, too- the main thing is that you have to keep leaves off of it.  When (if) it gets hot and dry, the moss just goes into a dormant stage, and will green right back up when it rains again.

[BlueMR2]

I have done it in a stealth way everywhere I've lived. I made the beds bigger, added shrubs, added island beds, and the lawn kept getting smaller. I lived in a suburb in NJ where lawns were very important. I put in a big butterfly and herb garden. All the neighborhood kids would come over to look at the butterflies, so no objections from the parents.

I'm doing the opposite.  As much as I dislike lawn care, it's still easier to maintain than having gardens and shrubs!  I hate my remaining shrubs with a passion.  Gardens are all long gone thankfully.

[Metric Mouse]

I would love to have a lawn.  We live in base housing (so only renting) but my backyard is dominated by a very large tree, that casts shadows over the lawn for 75% of the day.  When we moved in, the entire back yard was just mud with a few patches of grass.  I have successfully brought back patchy thin grass but hoping that by the end of summer I will have a stable yard.  Really I just want my kids to be able to play back there without getting super muddy every single day.

You can put some compost down, then some grass seed if needed or even some grass plugs. That should jump start your grass, and don't forget to water it. When we moved in, the grass under our oak was very spotty. I just spread mulch, dead leaves, and compost, then made sure to water. It's pretty cohesive now, except for one area close to a garden bed. I have plans for that though.

Have you thought about putting down moss?  It sounds strange, but I grew up in the woods, and the entire area around the house was moss instead of grass.  Grass would just not grow because of the shade, but moss loved it.  It's low maintenance once established, too- the main thing is that you have to keep leaves off of it.  When (if) it gets hot and dry, the moss just goes into a dormant stage, and will green right back up when it rains again.

I'm just imagining someone outside, watering their moss...

[FIreDrill]

We are looking at building a new deck in our backyard that would take up a good chunk of grassed area right now.  We also want to get into gardening but idk if that will happen this year.  Would be nice to have some fresh veggies though!

Sent from my klte using Tapatalk

[FIRE me]

Avid gardener here.  I'm currently reading "Lawn Gone" by Pam Penick.  I've had an epiphany as of late that I want my next dwelling to be xeriscaped with minimal lawn.  I live in the Upper Midwest --  a place where we're really into grass.  But most of the time it looks crummy and we spend lots of money, time, and energy maintaining it.  I've already put lots of landscape beds and structures in my yard.  I'm busy thinking about if there's more that I can do.  I'd rather prune shrubs once a year than mow two times a week.  I prefer a tidy look, but I still don't think a yard has to have lots of turf to look tidy.

I'm struck by how much mowing the grass is getting on my nerves.  I won't go into a long holier-than-thou speech about petrochemicals, fertilizers, hearing damage from mowers -- I've been guilty of such sins.  As I write this my neighbor is out mowing and weedeating.  It's 9 PM.  Grr...

Anyone else tearing up their lawn?

Pretty much the opposite for me. I have .32 acres of lawn, and as long as the outside temperature is under 90, I actually enjoy taking care of it and making it look nice. It is almost like a hobby.

I get a lot of compliments about it, and when I FIRE next year it will look even better.

[shelivesthedream]

I would love to have a lawn.  We live in base housing (so only renting) but my backyard is dominated by a very large tree, that casts shadows over the lawn for 75% of the day.  When we moved in, the entire back yard was just mud with a few patches of grass.  I have successfully brought back patchy thin grass but hoping that by the end of summer I will have a stable yard.  Really I just want my kids to be able to play back there without getting super muddy every single day.

You can put some compost down, then some grass seed if needed or even some grass plugs. That should jump start your grass, and don't forget to water it. When we moved in, the grass under our oak was very spotty. I just spread mulch, dead leaves, and compost, then made sure to water. It's pretty cohesive now, except for one area close to a garden bed. I have plans for that though.

Have you thought about putting down moss?  It sounds strange, but I grew up in the woods, and the entire area around the house was moss instead of grass.  Grass would just not grow because of the shade, but moss loved it.  It's low maintenance once established, too- the main thing is that you have to keep leaves off of it.  When (if) it gets hot and dry, the moss just goes into a dormant stage, and will green right back up when it rains again.

Yes! This is exactly what I was going to suggest I got interested in moss lawns during a Japanese garden design phase. My plan when we move somewhere with grass is to start on one side digging up turf and planting moss and on the other digging up turf and planting a creeping thyme lawn and see which one gets to the middle first. The intention is to dig up the turf in strips as and when the moss/thyme has filled up the previous strip so that we don't have a huge bit of bare ground at any point.

[smalllife]

I am also anti lawn - monoculture are so boring ;-)

The only downside is that wildflowers and a non lawn front yard aren't resale friendly ...so keep that in mind if you are starting from scratch!

[Carless]

We got sick of mowing, and so I suggested we try clover instead.  It's taking over nicely and choking out the grass.  Looks lush and green but doesn't get too tall.  We just scattered lots of clover seed before rainfalls.  Theoretically it should flower and attract bees but it hasn't yet.

[horsepoor]

We're in a 10-12" precipitation zone and don't have in-ground sprinklers, so keeping the grass watered is the bulk of the work.  I also like to have a range of flowering phenology at work to keep the pollinators happy.  When we moved in, our front yard was all nasty, neglected grass and a couple nasty, neglected trees.  Those are all gone now, and I'm working on a dry creek bed and have some nice natives and other low-water plants.  I'm in a heavy weeding period right now with the spring rains, but most of the year it is very low maintenance, just needing 1x per month watering in the summer and some fall cleanup.  We did put a patch of low water, low-mow fescue in the middle because there's a septic tank, so we needed to avoid anything with big woody roots. 

We do keep a larger patch of grass in the back for the dogs, but would like to replace it with the low mow mix.

[yuka]

I really sympathize with the treacherous slope. When I was in high school I mowed the lawn for an older woman in my neighborhood, and she had a steep slope that dropped onto a 5-foot brick wall that went to the sidewalk. I mowed it once or twice before deciding that I was going to hurt myself or the lawnmower quickly if I continued. I mentioned something, and she had it torn out and planted with some flowers. I don't know how anyone was cutting that hill...

I have mixed feelings about this. Neighbor passed away 5 years ago from ALS, and we take care of the 75 year old widow's lawn as well as our own. Honestly, sometimes it's hard to make time for both lawns. But she's a good friend, and we promised the (now-deceased) husband we would do this for them. On the other hand, it's sometimes the only exercise I get for the week, so I'm appreciative of the "requirement."  That said, I do wish we could get rid of (read: plant a garden there) one especially treacherous slope. Then things would be much easier.

[Metric Mouse]

I am also anti lawn - monoculture are so boring ;-)

The only downside is that wildflowers and a non lawn front yard aren't resale friendly ...so keep that in mind if you are starting from scratch!

Funny, I've found the previous owners of places have never asked my preferences on lawns, siding color, interior finishes or kitchen layouts. I haven't bought many homes, so I may be completely off base, but if you want a damn low-mow lawn, who cares what the next people think? One could run the numbers, but it could be worth it in re-sale dollars + mtce. savings to rip out and re-place when its sold.

[Fishindude]

We got sick of mowing, and so I suggested we try clover instead.  It's taking over nicely and choking out the grass.  Looks lush and green but doesn't get too tall.  We just scattered lots of clover seed before rainfalls.  Theoretically it should flower and attract bees but it hasn't yet.
Clover will go for a while after planting, but grass will eventually fill in and choke it out.  Clover produces nitrogen which grass craves, so it's a natural deal.  You can keep the grass controlled by spraying clethium (spelling?) which selectively kills the grass but not the broadleafs (clover).

Everyone has big lawns around here, unless you're in a metro area.   We live outdoors in the summer and enjoy our yards.
Ours is about 1.5 acres, spent about 5 hours on it last weekend, mowing, weed eating, spraying weeds, blowing things clean, etc.  I don't really consider that "work", pretty much enjoy it.
You do have to own and maintain good equipment and tools to care for things, which aren't cheap.  Nothing more miserable than fighting a junk lawn mower that is constantly giving you troubles.

[dougules]

We got sick of mowing, and so I suggested we try clover instead.  It's taking over nicely and choking out the grass.  Looks lush and green but doesn't get too tall.  We just scattered lots of clover seed before rainfalls.  Theoretically it should flower and attract bees but it hasn't yet.

I don't know where you are that clover gets you out of mowing, but here the clover would be 2 feet tall in a few weeks if you didn't mow.  Then the yard would be half-way to forest by fall. 

[Cactus Pants]

I just bought a house in a very dry city in drought-stricken CA.  My lawn is on the chopping block and shall soon be replace with sweet, water-conserving xeroscape. 

[Carless]

Attached are a couple images of the clover (banana for scale).  I really think it's choked out the grass, the only other thing there is dandelions (which are fine by us).  You can see it's leveled off at a few inches high.  Of course that depends on the variety, but this one seems very hardy.  Of course we had a late spring here in southern Ontario (Kingston) so it might grow a bit more but honestly I think this is about the height it maxed out at last year.

[dougules]

Attached are a couple images of the clover (banana for scale).  I really think it's choked out the grass, the only other thing there is dandelions (which are fine by us).  You can see it's leveled off at a few inches high.  Of course that depends on the variety, but this one seems very hardy.  Of course we had a late spring here in southern Ontario (Kingston) so it might grow a bit more but honestly I think this is about the height it maxed out at last year.

Yes, being 1000km south of you makes lawn maintenance a bit more of a challenge.  It's me vs the jungle.  My lawn is actually half clover, but if it didn't get mowed, it wouldn't stand a chance against everything else. 

[Prairie Gal]

I also hate taking care of the lawn (and shovelling in the winter). And I hate spending money on watering it. I look forward to the day that I retire to a condo or apartment and don't have to worry about it.

[SeaEhm]

I just pulled up about 40 sq. ft of grass and replaced it with drought tolerant succulents.

I will pull up about another 300 sq. ft of grass/plants and replace them them drought tolerant succulents and plants.  I plan to keep a small patch of grass so that my child can play on the grass.

The square footage doesn't sound like a lot but I live in an area that has a pretty high cost of living with very small lot sizes.

[Goldielocks]

We got sick of mowing, and so I suggested we try clover instead.  It's taking over nicely and choking out the grass.  Looks lush and green but doesn't get too tall.  We just scattered lots of clover seed before rainfalls.  Theoretically it should flower and attract bees but it hasn't yet.

Hey,  me too..  I have dug up 1/2 the front yard and seeded with micro clover.   It has only been about 2.5 weeks now, but starting to grow.   I wont' know what it looks like for a few more weeks yet, but fingers crossed.

[DeltaBond]

Hmm, "Lawn Gone"... I need to look at that.  We have an acre, though, so its hard to just get rid of an acre of grass.

[justajane]

I have a love/hate relationship with our lawn. Some years I go all gungho and try to kill the weeds and make my lawn look more like a golf course and then other years I embrace the clover and dandelions. This year is one of the latter.

Interestingly in our community, there's the reverse pressure to not use pesticides, since we're all crunchy around here. When my next door neighbor found out I used Roundup on this noxious and highly invasive plant that my mom had accidentally given me, she grimaced.