My Beautiful, Dead Lawn

Ding Dong the lawn is dead--at least the grass is dead--the broadleaf weeds still have a flush of green. I missed a few spots, but all in all the glyphosate did what I thought it would--kill. I don't take this destruction lightly--I put plenty of thought into this decision. This was the lesser of two evils--the other being the evil of maintaining an unsustainable lawn. Not the greatest of evils in this world, but something I could do something about.

I'll wait now until spring before I do anything else. Come spring I'll spread compost over the surface, continue to spray the bindweed, and have the lawn core aerated. In June, I will either seed or sod with a warm season grass. After a year or two I will start introducing broadleaf perennials into the mix. The goal is to have a naturalized, grassy lawn that doesn't need irrigation, fertilization, or mowing.

I checked with my city, Lakewood, to find out what their zoning laws are concerning grass height. I will need to get an approval from the wildlife department after the grass has reached its mature height. The city just wants to ensure that I am not raising a crop of noxious weeds. I don't find their requirements onerous--certainly not like some of the examples I posted about a few weeks ago.

For some--like those I share the house with--this is a drastic step. For me its a slight move away from the conventional. I haven't changed the basic design of the landscape, I've just changed materials. I'll make some adjustments in the type of plants in my border garden to give it a more informal look, but the lawn will still serve as a contrasting relief to the busyness of the border design. The simple texture of the lawn is juxtaposed against the highly textured patterns of the border. But mostly this is a chance to put my money where my mouth is--evangelizing about the need to make landscapes more sustainable.