Here’s the Lowdown on the Lazy Lawn Trend, According to Experts

[ad_1]

It’s no secret that the term “lazy lawn” goes against everything you might think about when you picture the quintessential, all-American lawn. You know, those luscious green yards that are perfectly trimmed and require a ton of care, watering, and maintenance! However, with droughts, budget restrictions, and an overall shift towards more “natural” gardening trends (like chaos gardening), there’s no time like the present to embrace the lazy lawn trend!

But before you do so, you probably want a lowdown on the lax lawn trend that’s overtaking yards across the country. To give you the gist, think low-maintenance ground cover plants and foregoing mowing to attract pollinators to your yard. But more on that later! With insights from Dani North, a lawn expert at West Coast Turf, here's everything you need to know about lazy lawns below.

What are lazy lawns? While the typical green lawns found across America are nice to look at, they require copious amounts of upkeep and water that isn't so good for the environment. That's where lazy lawns come in!

"Over the past 65 years, we've seen an upward, undulating trend towards the lazier lawn, and only in recent years we have put a name to it: the lazy lawn. When we're talking about the lazy lawn, we don't mean abandon the lawn completely," North explains. "Really, we mean loosen the reins a little bit: let the lawn go dormant in the winter, a little heat stress or browning in the summer is okay, unconventional lawn is okay."

And no, that doesn't just mean turf or artificial grass (although that can be a great option for commercial and residential pursuits). Instead, the lazy lawn trend follows a shift towards grass alternatives like moss and clover as well as architectural elements like gazebos, stone paths, and even an increase in flower and vegetable beds.

"The lazy lawn is the new thing, and it's here to stay," says North. “Even just for the eyes, it'll be a nice break to step away from that cookie-cutter lawn and see more diversity in our yard.”

How to create a lazy lawn: Working with your climate: It can be hard to say goodbye to that year-round green lawn, but North explains that there are plenty of options for those who are reluctant to make the jump towards lazy lawns.

In areas where lawns tend to go dormant in the winter, homeowners "Can overseed their lawn in October with a perennial rye grass—this is a cool season grass seed that they can put down—and ultimately, it's going to seed out and grow while their warm season grass is going dormant," says North. While you'll still need to water your lawn during the winter, this is a great option for year-round color, she says.

"When the warm months start to come during spring, you can gradually lower that mowing height, start reducing the water, and then your Bermuda or paspalum lawn—those are the two that typically get overseeded with perennial ryegrass—will start taking over, and that perennial ryegrass will start to die out when the heat comes," North continues.

Implementing ground cover plants: Lazy lawns may be a current trend, but it isn't new. In fact, ground cover plants have been used as grass alternatives for years! "My grandparents had a dichondra ground cover in their front lawn. Frog foot or tanglefoot was a ground cover lawn alternative used in the ‘50s and ‘60s, and we're seeing that mother plant come back hugely as a hybrid, known as kurapia, here in the West Coast," says North. "Clover, dandelion lawns are also being used to reduce mowing and increase the environmental impact."

Attracting pollinators: The most obvious way to attract pollinators to your yard is by reducing mowing and letting weeds like clover and dandelion grow freely. However, "You can still implement a garden that will bring in pollinators without making that step towards No Mow May, and that would be putting in your pollinator attractant plants into your planter beds or your pots, so that you're not pushing towards a weed infested lawn that you're reluctant to do," North continues.

How to care for a lazy lawn? The best way to care for a lazy lawn is by not caring for your lawn! (Or at least reducing the frequency of lawn care to attract pollinators). A study conducted by ScienceDirect on 16 houses in Springfield, Massachusetts found that "not mowing over a two week period supported the highest bee abundance, but at the same time it brought in the lowest bee richness, which means the variety of bee species," North explains.

"At three weeks, there was a lower bee abundance, so less bees, but it had the highest bee richness. That two to three week no-mow window, seems to be that sweet spot,” she says. So there you have it, in this case, less is more!