3 Sustainable Lawn Alternatives (for Cold Climates)
3 Sustainable Lawn Alternatives (for Cold Climates)
It’s no secret we’re not huge lawn fans at Epic Gardening – I don’t have one in my yard, @jacquesinthegarden doesn’t in his, and Chris DOES have a lawn…that she created herself and that includes NO turf grass, while providing all of the traditional benefits of a lawn space. In this video she’ll go over 3 different alternatives for those of you in colder climates.
IN THIS VIDEO
→ GardenStraw: https://growepic.co/3D6owIh
Available from many seed providers:
→ Buckwheat
→ Borage
→ Sweet alyssum
→ Winter field peas
→ Native wildflower seeds (buy from a local source)
→ Clover (Microclover, Red clover, Crimson clover, White Dutch clover)
→ Self heal
→ Chamomile
→ Yarrow
Perennial ground covers available from most garden centres:
→ Lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina)
→ Mediterranean creeping thyme (Thymus longicaulis)
→ Creeping thyme, multiple species and varieties of Thymus praecox and Thymus serpyllum
→ Wooly thyme (Thymus praecox subs. britannicus)
→ Alpine Strawberry (Fragaria vesca)
→ Bugleweed (Ajuga reptans)
→ Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens)
→ Redwood sorrel (Oxalis oregana)
→Wild ginger (Asarum canadense)
→ Bulbs: Crocus, Galanthus (snowdrops), Fritillaria, Narcissus (daffodil)
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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – Intro
01:08 – Benefits Of Covering The Ground
01:53 – 1. Cover Crop
03:43 – 2. Low-growing Perennials
07:13 – 3. Turfgrass Lawn Alternative
10:35 – Outro
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What about for hot climates
4:57 @hoe_math
I live at the edge of town by a lake. I pick seeds from native low growing medicinals and prairie purple love grass for my "herbal lawn"
I have just bout house that has a square front yard bed of 3 by 3 meters.. I would love to do a herb and native plants garden, but not sure if it is big enough. I live in Portugal
My clover was very thick and rich last year but did not come back this year at all !
So i don’t have to research each plant does anyone know which ones of these are native to Ohio?
I tried the Creeping Thyme, but since every other house on my block has a grass lawn, every rabbit in the neighborhood converged on my little front yard. Not a bit of the Thyme survived. Now I’m just sticking with the native groundcovers, like Pussytoes and Blue-eyed Grass, among others.
whrer is your area?
If that is her yard, it looks a mess.
Full list of all of Chris’ lawn alternative suggestions:
→ GardenStraw: https://bit.ly/3O4XlS1
Available from many seed providers:
→ Buckwheat
→ Borage
→ Sweet alyssum
→ Winter field peas
→ Native wildflower seeds (buy from a local source)
→ Clover (Microclover, Red clover, Crimson clover, White Dutch clover)
→ Self heal
→ Chamomile
→ Yarrow
Perennial ground covers available from most garden centres:
→ Lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina)
→ Mediterranean creeping thyme (Thymus longicaulis)
→ Creeping thyme, multiple species and varieties of Thymus praecox and Thymus serpyllum
→ Wooly thyme (Thymus praecox subs. britannicus)
→ Alpine Strawberry (Fragaria vesca)
→ Bugleweed (Ajuga reptans)
→ Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens)
→ Redwood sorrel (Oxalis oregana)
→Wild ginger (Asarum canadense)
→ Bulbs: Crocus, Galanthus (snowdrops), Fritillaria, Narcissus (daffodil)
Cover crops? Seems like she gave up and just let her garden become overgrown with weeds
Is that gout weed
Love this. These are beautiful, but we have an active dog who needs running room – except for the clover additions, she would tear these options up. One option, we kept mowing, but let our “moss problem” take over. It’s beautiful & very little work.
These are nitrogen builders
Does clover tolerate a lawn mower over it? I want to plant it but I need to use some of the area to take my lawn mower across this lawn? I have an area to mow but it can only be accessed thru this (future clover) lawn.
The fact that you consider vancouver cold climate while im up in alberta. 😔
@fluent.garden Chris, what is the hedge around your garden?
The squirrels don’t let the ground cover to stay in my garden. I have try different ways but the next day is completely remove and destroyed. Any solutions ?
Green manure crops is what you are referring to.
Thank you, Chris! i live in the same city, and i learn something every time you post!
where do i start
Will convert my bare-ish backyard for next spring. Will leave grass in the front. Cost of cutting will go down 50 percebt.
In Northern California I’m using a combo of native lippia, Roman chamomile, native short white yarrow and….I love it!
I am from South Africa. I ordered creeping thyme and German chamomile to mix into the lawn. I am worried though about whether these flowers will attract bees and if I will still be able to walk barefoot on my lawn
"weeds" are only weeds because the ones who SELL you grass and weed killer TOLD you they were weeds.
So…um…WHICH of that massive list are the "three sustainable lawn alternatives?"
Planting dandelions is madness. Birdsfoot trefoil is another good clover type lawn sub thouth.
Love how quick and full of informatiin this is. Well done. Thank you!
Are there any grass altenatives that you can trim very low like grass and you can step on just like grass?
Hop Clover for some yellow!
Love it! definitely got some fun ideas to try out! thanks ♥
Isn’t clover blooming ? Wouldn’t want my dog to step on bumblebees….
I did not have to seed clover, it came all on it’s own
This is such a beautiful yard
Looks great. But I live with an HOA. I have to have ornamentals, bushes and shrubs. And it has to look nice and clean. What can I use instead of grass?
Unfortunately I’m surrounded by seriously uptight lawn worshipers with all of the noisy smelly tools that go with. But, I continue create my nature space and hope to inspire others to do the same.
Can’t wait to see my lawn change from grass to clover – I will see about adding some of the other seeds – luckily I already naturally have violets – Johnny jump ups – some clover – grape hyacinths – daffodils – sweet pea in the flower beds – hollyhocks – mock orange – the bad thing is creeping harebells are almost everywhere … thistles come in a couple spots -( invasive where I live ) some other plants I have to watch out for including too many salsify and dandelions – but I am really hoping I can plant clover and other low growing plants that can take over . I don’t live in a HOA but my next door neighbor acts like we do 🙁 – we live in a place that can get quite hot in August – but otherwise it’s not hot . He and his wife bug me about fire mitigation and I wonder if any of these clover lawns will be considered a fire danger if they dry up ? Any ideas are welcome .
Love the lippia and yarrow. I’ve got both .
This is so interesting. Thank you! I have 2 acres in the Midwest. I’d love to have a lot less grass!
We have consistently had great results with clover. We started our garden when we bought our house 7 years ago and we found that the areas we worked In and stored stuff we killed the grass and created a weed issue. We started adding clover and not only does it grow taller and more vigorously than grass it shades out weeds better and it’s great when I need to add some greens to my compost.
Thank you!
I LOVE this video especially right now.
I’ve been trying to keep my backyard more natural with native plants while trying to "keep the peace" by keeping the front yard more "suburban" (aka boring). I thought that would ve a fair compromise. Unfortunately, the new renter next door called code enforcement because my backyard had "a lot of WEEDS" and they want me to cut them all out/down. Mind you, these plants were all part of my efforts to bring more butterflies, native bees, dragonflies, ladybugs, walking sticks, mantises, and (most excited about) lightning bugs/fireflies! But all that person sees is "weeds" because it isn’t a lawn of crappy aristocratic grass. They see the native Tall Thistle (which have actually become a favorite of mine for their leaf color and flowers) but don’t understand how much the butterflies and bees LOVE it when it blooms. Or how the tall native grass helps the lightning bugs reproduce. Or any of the other benefits to the "weeds" in my yard.
It’s moments like this that really makes me want to give up, plaster my whole outside in pebbled stones with tarp under it, and say "screw everything". It’s horribly discouraging and I’m just about on the verge of tears after only cutting 1/4 of it out today.
So, thank you for this video. It helps to know that at least I’m not alone in loving the native plants and the benefits they bring.
We have a lot of goldenrod that takes over our field. Would love to keep it out. Any recommendations??
I love to have a daisy lawn: they have always green tiny leaves and let the gras look lush, they have lovely blossoms and butterflies love it. And insects like them but not honeybees. So you can run barefoot on it relatively safe. Clover is full of bees when it is blooming. From the look, the safetyness and the lushness it bring I prefer daisy-lawn most. It is very dry-resistant too! It aways looks beautiful and well cared.
Good stuff, but Vancouver is NOT a ‘cold’ climate 😂 It’s the warmest place in Canada by about 15C. If it hits freezing they declare an emergency🙄 It’s a lot harder getting this stuff to establish here on the prairies where it hits -50C in the winter, but I’m working on it.
When planning your yard space, I encourage a “use first” approach so you don’t end up later ripping out something you spent a bunch of time growing now.
Vancouver isn’t a cold climate lmao the average low isn’t even freezing in the dead of Winter.
I love creeping charlie.
I’m so high love this
That intro coulda/shoulda been cut by 75%.