Better Lawns for Less!

Sometimes I feel as if the lawn is calling the shots in my yard, not the other way round. That’s particularly true when I am pushing a mower in ninety-five degree heat, or paying an exorbitant water bill after a season of irrigation. Now don’t get me wrong. As a landscape designer, I know that there’s nothing more attractive than a well-tended, well-proportioned lawn. No other feature of the landscape is as effective at linking together disparate elements of the yard than a flourishing piece of greensward. The problem lies in the “well-tended” and “well-proportioned” part. Despite the fact that we Americans spend billions of hours and dollars each year on lawn care, much of our effort is wasted.  Many, and in some areas, most of the lawns you see are brown, patchy, bumpy stretches of weeds, especially after the searing heat and extended drought of the last few years. As for proportion and scale, it’s a common sight all over America to see the lawn dominating the landscape, instead of complementing it. A landscape that is all grass (especially bad grass), is not landscape at all, merely bad lawn. How did we get into this fix, anyway?

Well, it’s a fascinating tale: Two hundred years ago, there were almost no lawns in American gardens. While our gardening forbearers did enjoy extremely ornate and elaborate landscapes, they were almost entirely without what we would nowadays call a lawn. Why? Because mown grass was extremely expensive and difficult to maintain. To get the flat, green look we so prize today, you either needed a small flock of sheep and someone to tend them (and to deal with their compost contributions) or a full time gardener with a scythe. Closely scything a lawn, I can assure you from personal experience (having foolishly attempted it once, almost cutting off my leg in the process) is an extremely difficult and time-consuming affair. Thus, only the richest of the rich had lawns, and then, only tiny areas of close-cropped grass suitable for outdoor games like boules (a form of bowling) which were then all the rage.

This grass-less landscape changed forever in 1830, when two enterprising (or fiendish, depending on your opinion of mowing grass) British gentlemen by the names of Edwin Budding and James Ferrabee came into the picture. Having seen the large-bladed machines used in mills to remove excess nap from woolen cloth, they decided that the same process could be adapted for cutting grass. Their invention instantly removed the main impediment to having a lawn – the lack of an easy, cost-efficient means of mowing it.  Suddenly, everyone from maid to minister could have their own perfect, green carpet with minimal labor, and lawns sprang up everywhere as the ultimate status symbol in the Victorian garden. Strangely enough, this sine qua non has remained the case every since, despite the fact any status associated with having a large lawn has long since disappeared. For better or for worse, the modern lawn has become an intractable part of the American landscape, and I doubt that anything short of a second American revolution would remove “a good lawn” from the wish list of most gardeners.

Since lawns do indeed seem have become a permanent feature in our gardens, at least we should do what we can to enhance them, especially when there are a number of ways we can make a considerable improvements to our grass, without making a commensurate dent to our pocket books.

• Assess the Amount of Lawn You Now Have, vs. How Much You REALLY Need. Take a look around your property. Unless you are hosting team soccer games or otherwise need extremely large play areas, if any one section of your yard (such as front, back or side) consists of 60% or more grass, consider re-landscaping to convert the lawn areas to other types of plantings. Let’s face it. Lawns, especially good lawns, require a lot of work, and today’s busy gardener needs to make every moment count. Huge expanses of grass are not only dull, but also time-consuming to maintain, and in many hot, dry areas of the country where water is an issue, environmentally unsound. Why not convert some of these areas to alternative groundcovers, shelter plantings or ornamental landscaping? In very large yards (of several acres or more) letting the grass revert to natural or woodland areas may be the way to go. Here in my garden over the last few years we have eliminated almost 2 acres of lawn along the property borders, allowing meadow to grow up in its place, which only has to be mown once a year. Not only are these naturalized areas far less work to maintain, but the return of many native species of birds, animals and butterflies has been a tremendous side-benefit. Plus, not having to tend these marginal sections has allowed me to concentrate my time and resources on the remaining lawn, with the result that I now have far better grass in the areas where it counts most.
  
  
• Sharpen Your Mower Blades. Sounds simple enough, but when was the last time you actually sharpened those blades? A survey by the International Turf Producers Foundation shows that only 38% of gardeners do so. Dull blades not only consume much more energy than sharp to cut the same grass, but the dullness also causes ragged cuts and gashes to the grass stems, which can lead to disease and stress. Turf professionals recommend sharpening the blades several times during the season. Simply take the mower to your local dealer or repair shop. (If you are mechanically handy, and know what you are doing, you can also sharpen them yourself.) The process takes minutes and costs only a few dollars, and will lead to a far healthier, better-looking lawn.
  
  
• Raise the Cutting Height of Your Mower as Summer Heat Increases. As the summer heat wears on, move up the cutting height on your lawn mower by several notches. By increasing the height, you increase the length of the grass blades. The more blade surface the grass has, the better it can produce its own energy from the sun, with the need for augmented alimentation.
  
  
• Don’t Fertilize or Use Pesticides During a Drought. Again, according to the International Turf Producers Foundation, many people try to fertilize their way out of brown summer lawns. During a drought, your grass is not growing vigorously, and will not absorb fertilizers. Pesticides can actually place stress on already weakened grass. Wait until normal rainfall and cooler weather returns to make any lawn treatments truly effective, both in terms of cost and benefit.
  
  
• Check Your Lawn for Thatch. Thatch is a deposit of dead grass that over time can accumulate on lawns. Not only is it unsightly, but a layer of thatch more than 1/2 thick effectively acts as a barrier to the soil, preventing the absorption of much-needed nutrients and water. Contrary to popular belief, excessive thatch is not caused by leaving normal amount of clippings on lawns from mulching mowers and the like. Instead, thatch is primarily composed of the tougher parts of the grass, stems, stolons and roots that have failed to decompose properly. Excessive thatch is a sign that something is wrong with your lawn care: excessive chemical treatments, cutting the grass too short, or over-watering are all potential causes. Remove excess thatch with a rake or a de-thatching tool, and amend your lawn care practices to prevent its return.

This is a revised, expanded and updated version of an article that orginally appeared in the print edition of Country Living Magazine.