- As a gardener, I'm no fan of the American lawn.
You don't see it here on my property,
but you also don't see bare ground.
So in this video, we're going up to Chris in Vancouver BC
to show you three or four different alternatives
for a lawn that save you money while being just as good,
if not better.
- Hey, it's Chris, and I'm not a fan
of traditional turfgrass lawns
or bare soil in my garden either.
So if you are also looking to add lushness, interest,
and just to transform a blank slate area on your property,
then in this video, we will talk about some of the ways
and also some lawn alternatives that you can implement
into your garden to really boost the diversity
of the plants in your garden
and to also add a lot of beauty and interest
that you can enjoy throughout the seasons.
So in today's video, we will go over three fun options
to kind of help you reimagine how spaces can be used
to not only bring beauty to your home
but to save money, save time,
and also improve the interactions that we personally have
with the natural environment.
Before we dive into lawn alternatives,
let's first touch on why we want the ground covered
in the first place.
So by cover, I am referring to using lightweight mulches,
as well as growing a living ground cover.
So with these materials,
what we're doing is protecting the soil from erosion,
so let's say from the wind, heavy rains,
overhead watering, disturbance from our feet,
and also this layer protects the soil from evaporation,
as well as temperature fluctuations during the hotter months
and the colder months.
It's kind of hard to believe that less than six years ago,
this area in the front garden was nothing but horsetail,
annual weeds, and some really yucky soil.
So what I decided to do was to first hand pull
all of the large weeds and then sheet mulch
and cover crop quite intensively with a variety
of cover crop plants to help improve the friability
and the organic matter of the soil.
And if you are wondering what the term cover crop means,
it usually refers to plants that are quick growing,
and they grow for the season,
and they usually contribute some sort of benefit
to the soil that they're growing in.
So it could be to boost organic matter
or to loosen up hard soils.
So in my situation, I sheet mulched.
So I had the different layers.
In the top layer, I had about a few inches of compost
where I direct sowed a whole bunch of different cover crops.
And the ones that I chose provided
a nice long stretch of flowers,
not only for the pollinators but for myself to enjoy
since I didn't have much going on out here
the first little bit we moved in.
So I had crimson clover, buckwheat,
borage, and sweet alyssum.
So that was really pretty.
And then during the cooler months,
I had a nice thick layer of winter field peas,
which protected the soil from the freezing
and the heavy rains that we get in our area.
And then with the field peas,
what I really love is the ability to chop
and drop and lightly work in come spring.
And that actually helps boost the organic matter
in the soil.
Another seasonal or shorter-lived option,
especially if you don't want to go the cover crop route,
is to plant a lot of native wildflowers.
So with native wildflowers,
because these plants are adapted to your area,
they will likely germinate quite well.
They're probably going to be less fussy
than other plants that you're trying to introduce
into your garden.
So you're probably going to see a nice area filled out
if you plant those native wildflowers.
So I do want to say, with wildflower seeds,
refrain from buying those large bulk packets
that are just kind of generic.
They're probably mass produced,
and they may contain seeds that are overly aggressive
or possibly invasive for your area.
So your best bet is to shop from a local seed source.
But what if you are interested
in building out a longer-lived planting,
then perennial ground covers are the way to go.
So after the initial planting and some TLC
to help these low-growing plants get established,
these plants can help you save time and money.
By having a persistent living cover,
many of the annual weed seeds
will have a hard time accessing the soil to germinate.
So over time, you're gonna see fewer of those annual weeds.
And also, if you allow these plants to grow densely
and knit together tightly,
they will help smother out any of the perennial weeds
that are trying to poke their way out and reach the sun.
So with this smothering
and weed suppression action in place,
you will be spending less time in the garden weeding.
And with the money saving bit, here's how to do it.
You buy the plants once,
get them into the ground
so that they are happy and thriving,
and with many of these ground covers,
they spread quite readily.
So come spring and fall,
you can usually divide them quite easily.
And when you think about it that way,
you are actually making money
because with these new plants
that you are dividing from your patch,
you can then tuck them into different areas of your garden.
And this planting behind me is also saving me water,
with water being such a valuable resource
that we cannot afford to waste through excessive
and unnecessary watering.
What I've done here was select the right plants
for the right conditions.
So even though this is a full sunspot,
I don't have to hit it with any water
because I chose plants that thrive in hot sunny conditions.
So let me show you what I have growing right here
that is super low maintenance and low water.
With all of these plants here,
I guess I drew inspiration
from Mediterranean-esque plant communities.
We have a lot of silvers from the lamb's ear,
I've got cardoon, as well as some other woolly thymes,
and also just different thymes to add different textures
and also flowering thymes.
And then with the alpine strawberries along the back,
I guess that's kind of the non-Mediterranean-esque plant,
but it seems to be doing really well under that apple tree.
One of my favorite areas of this bed
and possibly in my front garden is this strip
of creeping thyme.
So I've got three species and different cultivars here.
Back there, I've got the Mediterranean creeping thyme
or Thymus longicaulis,
which is just wrapping up its flowering.
Up next with flowers, we've got Thymus serpyllum
and then probably followed by Thymus praecox.
So all of this knitted together is holding onto the soil,
it's holding onto moisture,
and it's also suppressing a lot of those annual weeds
that I talked about earlier.
And it's also really nice and soft.
So if you like to step bare foot on this stuff,
it's really lovely
because it can handle some light foot traffic.
Now if you wanna grow this type of ground cover,
they are hardy down to Zone 4,
which is great if you live in a colder climate.
But if you're like me and you get wet winters,
you do have to make sure that your soil is well draining.
Otherwise these plants,
which are really susceptible to root rot,
will probably not make it through the winters.
For gardeners with shadier areas,
plants like ajuga, wintergreen, sorrels,
wild ginger, and clovers can work really well.
And actually, there are a lot of options
once you start researching.
And speaking of clover,
what you see behind me isn't all grass.
You may be surprised to learn
that most of this lushness comes from clover.
I have four types of clover that I seated
maybe three to four years ago right here,
and they've worked beautifully
and turned this into a nice mixed lawn planting.
And you may be surprised to hear
what else is working its magic right here.
So in addition to micro clover, red clover,
crimson clover, and white Dutch clover,
there is also self-heal, dandelion,
chamomile, and yarrow in this mix.
And I bet you, many people recognize
at least a couple of those plants
as traditional turfgrass weeds,
but all of these plants are wonderful additions
to any grassy areas because they are mowable,
they can handle foot traffic,
and they look really nice and green.
And if managed properly,
you can allow some of them to flower,
to add some pops of color
in an otherwise just kind of green area.
One of the best parts of this mixed clover lawn is that,
I really don't need to do anything during the summer months.
I don't water it,
I don't fertilize it,
and I also don't really mow it much.
I let it get to be about six inches tall.
Not only is that really pretty
when the rest of the grass is turning kind of golden
when I don't water it,
the extra height of this vegetation helps protect the soil
and also the plants' roots from heat
and also from the evaporation.
So really, over time,
you are building a stronger network of plants.
They become more resilient,
they don't need as much water,
and they just keep doing what they're doing.
So they're happy, healthy plants.
So I highly encourage you to welcome
and embrace many of the plants that could be living
in your lawn right now,
especially those that were always labeled
as turfgrass lawn weeds
like violets, narrow and broadleaf plantain,
ajuga, clover, black medic.
These are all beautiful additions
to your mixed lawn planting because they are mowable,
and they're very low maintenance.
And don't forget about adding bulbs.
Many of the springtime bulbs like crocus, snowdrops,
fritillaria, and daffodils are wonderful at naturalizing
in open spaces, such as lawns.
And they are such a welcome sight
after a long gloomy winter.
If you are wondering about non-living covers,
such as straw, leaves, bark mulch, wood chips, and stone,
they still have a place in our gardens.
Because for paths and areas with high traffic,
they just stand up a lot better compared to the toughest
of ground cover plants.
Or if you are trying to cover a lot of space
in a short amount of time,
using the non-living covers could be the most practical way
to get a lot of the ground covered.
And depending on the material,
it could be less expensive.
And with edible garden bed situations
where we want something lightweight to apply
and move around throughout the season,
something like straw
or chipped-up leaves make a lot of sense.
So with all of these materials
and methods that we talked about,
let's not try to overcomplicate it.
Choose something that works for you.
All we're trying to do here is cover
the soil with something,
whether it is living or not.
So with that in mind, let your imagination go wild
as you create your own beautiful, functional,
multipurpose, textured tapestry of ground cover
completely unique to your garden.
- There you have it.
Get out there, rip up your lawn.
In fact, check and see if you have a rebate.
Most of the time, the city will give you a rebate
for taking the sod off and replacing it
with something more sustainable,
both for the Earth and for your budget.
Until next time, good luck in the garden
and keep on growing.
(upbeat music)