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neat stuff you can grow in your lawn | (Read 848 times) |
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 4554
missoula montana
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June 02, 2009, 01:21:53 PM |
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After being asked the same questions over and over a few hundred times, I would like a change of pace.
I would like to come up with a rich list of great things to plant in an organic lawn. Stuff that would make it way cooler than anybody else's lawns. Stuff that would be okay with occasional mowing.
The first thing that pops into my head is flowers. Of course, there is the dandelion and clover and black medic - and while I like them plenty, I would like to focus more on slightly more interesting flowers. Crocuses for example. Easy to plant. Pop up in the spring before the grass starts to grow. So while the rest of the neighborhood looks all gray and bleak from winter still, your lawn is the very first sign of life! By the time for the first mow of the season comes around, the crocuses are all done and are dormant again.
So what might be another flower?
How about edibles?
Or medicinal herbs? Yarrow and roman chamomile come to mind.
Or .... anything interesting?
Who knows of some really fascinating things to plant in an organic yard that is mowed at 3 inches or higher?
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Cinebar
Posts: 33
Western Washington
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June 02, 2009, 04:14:42 PM |
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I think there are some varieties of thyme that are meant to be walked on. I don't know about mowing them, although if they're low-growing you wouldn't need to mow them anyway.
I'll see if I can come up with some specific names.
C.
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Cinebar
Posts: 33
Western Washington
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June 02, 2009, 05:39:05 PM |
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Are you talking about what to plant, in addition to grass, or instead of?
I need to be looking down the road to a time when I don't have kids at home anymore to help me with mowing (I have a disability which would make it pretty much impossible to mow my hillside myself).
At the moment, I'm trying to eliminate as much as possible the actual "yard" by planting edibles, such as blueberries, raspberries, other types of perennial edibles (including vegetables), and fruit trees. And, right now, I'm letting the goats take care of the grass.
Eventually, though, I think I might like to try something along these lines:
http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/groundcoverthymes.htm
Maybe not in the entire "yard," but certainly where mowing would be the most difficult. At most, my goal is to be left with a very small grassy area on the little bit of level ground that is my "yard."
C.
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 4554
missoula montana
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June 03, 2009, 07:07:49 AM |
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I was asking for "in addition", but I think "instead of" is a good topic too.
I think replacing lawn with edibles is a good strategy. At the same time, lawns do have some excellent function. Especially if you have kids. So rather than have a boring all-grass lawn, I think it could be worthwhile to figure out what a really excellent permaculture lawn would have in it.
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adunca
Posts: 36
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June 08, 2009, 12:33:11 PM |
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I have a small patch of this mix from Nichol's Garden Nursery in Albany, Oregon:
- Colonial Bentgrass
- Strawberry and Dutch White Clover
- Wild English Daisies
- Roman Chamomile
- Yarrow
- Baby Blue Eyes
Once it is established, it requires no care other than occasional weeding (if you want), and occasional mowing. The Bentgrass grows slower than standard lawn, so you mow much less often. And when I say "no care", I mean no care - no water, no fertilizer.
Pro-time has a similar mix: http://www.flickr.com/photos/13285080@N05/sets/72157613492592934/show/
- PR8820 Perennial Rye grass
- Strawberry Clover
- English Daisy
- Dwarf Yarrow
- Baby Blue Eyes
These seed mixes are more expensive per pound than regular grass seed, but the coverage is also better so the price per square foot is about the same.
There are a number of sites around the Portland area that use it if you want to see it in person.
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Jocelyn Campbell
Posts: 396
Western WA
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June 08, 2009, 11:03:52 PM |
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Awesome photos and links, adunca!
Near me there is a park where the lawn if full of the English daisies, or lawn daisies as I've called them (or bellis perennis). It makes a beautiful hillside.  I enjoy the simplicity of the daisies there - simple, single-petaled white with yellow centers. Not quite as fancy as the double and pink-edged ones in those photos!
I once took home some bellis perennis to plant in my own lawn, but it didn't make it. 
I'd also heard of the hardier, low-growing thymes, chamomile and yarrow in place or addition to grasses and always wanted to try it.
Ooo, and corsican mint is considered pretty amazing for ground cover, in damp-ish, (part shady?) areas like we have in the Pacific NW. It smells, sooo good!
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Paulie
Posts: 29
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June 23, 2009, 08:23:28 PM |
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Spouse planted some crocuses last year. I figure if I keep adding 50 or so every fall, I'll have an awesome pre-lawn before the first mowing.
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Jeremy Bunag
Posts: 185
Workin' Central IL converted farmland
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July 20, 2009, 11:24:34 AM |
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I've noticed my chives "going native" in my lawn. At first I'm thinking "wow, that is some thick grass!" then I notice that they're round and smell onion-y when I mow 'em. Kinda neat. Haven't had any trouble with them surviving mowing either!
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Joel Hollingsworth
Posts: 1115
zone 10: Oakland, CA
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August 19, 2009, 11:21:40 AM |
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- Colonial Bentgrass
- Strawberry and Dutch White Clover
- Wild English Daisies
- Roman Chamomile
- Yarrow
- Baby Blue Eyes
I'd like to steal that idea!
I think I need something more drought-tolerant than bentgrass, though. I think I saw something appropriate as I drove by a car dealership yesterday...
I like the idea of creeping (elfin) thyme, if it will play well with the others listed. I'll keep an eye out for that and dwarf yarrow.
I also think mixing in some garlic chives would be good. They're a little shorter than regular chives, a little finer, and I like the flowers.
'The Camomile; The more it is trodden on, the faster it grows'. --Henry IV, part 1 [\quote]
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« Last Edit: August 20, 2009, 11:31:57 AM by polyparadigm »
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"the qualities of these bacteria, like the heat of the sun, electricity, or the qualities of metals, are part of the storehouse of knowledge of all men. They are manifestations of the laws of nature, free to all men and reserved exclusively to none." SCOTUS, Funk Bros. Seed Co. v. Kale Inoculant Co.
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Jennifer Smith "listenstohorses"
Posts: 514
Zone 5 South West Missouri
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August 27, 2009, 01:25:06 PM |
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I have plenty of "weeds" growing that I do not intend to kill such as several kinds of plantain, dock and chickweed.
www.richters.com has seed and a description of many of my lawn weeds.
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Jennifer Smith "listenstohorses"
Posts: 514
Zone 5 South West Missouri
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August 29, 2009, 11:43:18 AM |
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Well I had sure hoped this topic would take off better. I realize I am partly to blame...I should have not sent the un-link but instead started in on what we can grow easily that is edible.
Some of the things growing in my lawn, aka weeds, I am letting go to seed and plan to collect. My father says they do not grow where he lives so...I will be sending him weed weeds.
The link I sent was to a site that sells weed seeds such as common plantain. I have lots of it and I hear it is as good or better than spinach... I have several edible weeds that I hope to enjoy...anyone ever try Polk before??? i have a nice patch of that too.
http://www.kingdomplantae.net/commonPlantain.php would make that a link if I could. The following is taken from that site..is that plagerisum??? There is much more information there and I hope some of you will have a look and tell me what you think.
Plantain is edible. The very young leaves can be added to salads, or cooked as greens. Plantain is very high in beta carotene (A) and calcium. It also provides ascorbic acid (C). The seeds are said to have a nutty flavor and may be parched and added to a variety of foods or ground into flour. Medicinally, plantain is astringent, demulcent, emollient, cooling, vulnerary, expectorant, antimicrobial, antiviral, antitoxin, and diuretic. It effects blood sugar, usually lowering it.
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 4554
missoula montana
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August 31, 2009, 07:45:00 AM |
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I think there are lots of plants that some folks call "weeds" that won't do well with a mowed lawn. So I'm thinking it would be good to come up with those that do okay in a lawn that is mowed.
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lanemik
Posts: 8
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October 10, 2009, 03:21:55 AM |
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I'd love to find some neat things to add in with the lawn. I'm definitely interested in the wildflowers. I looked around and found some wildflower seeds that are native to the northeast. It doesn't seem like this is something you can just plant right in with your yard if you're planning on mowing. Am I right about that?
What about daffodils, irises and tulips. Not sure if these will work well in New England or if they are something that will come up early enough to avoid being mowed. Thoughts?
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Greta
Posts: 1
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November 28, 2009, 01:20:10 PM |
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I liked the idea of an edible lawn and was excited to see this website describing one and giving a list of possible plants: http://www.pfaf.org/leaflets/ediblawn.php
I tested yarrow and self-heal (prunella vulgaris). Here in North Carolina, the self-heal is producing a beautiful, lush green carpet but is spreading, overtaking grass, yarrow and clover. The deer graze it, and I use a little in medicinal teas. For some reason, the thought of eating something that is walked on is not so appealing afterall.
Growing a mix of plants in the lawn makes so much sense. I see our lawn as a berber carpet, full of texture and shades, that changes with the season.
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Joel Hollingsworth
Posts: 1115
zone 10: Oakland, CA
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February 28, 2010, 07:46:11 PM |
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At a party last night, a friend was singing the praises of cilantro's frost-hardiness.
I know some people plant crocus in their lawns to have something green in the early spring. Do you suppose something like cilantro (maybe not exactly that, but the seed is really cheap from the grocery store) might have a place in keeping the lawn green when the dominant grasses are dormant in the winter?
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"the qualities of these bacteria, like the heat of the sun, electricity, or the qualities of metals, are part of the storehouse of knowledge of all men. They are manifestations of the laws of nature, free to all men and reserved exclusively to none." SCOTUS, Funk Bros. Seed Co. v. Kale Inoculant Co.
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Plankl
Posts: 41
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March 11, 2010, 03:14:59 PM |
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Super good thread.
In our mowed lawn grow bunch of things - yarrow, daisy, plantain, dandelion, grasses, clover... the first ones to appear - they made us happy this year already - are Galanthus nivalis, Primula acaulis (super edible and beautiful, got plant more), crocuses. There is still a nice way to go before first mowing, it's not even spring.
I'm looking which plants to add. I will try with Thymus serpyllum.
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