Park Hill Garden Walk: Making a Lawn Story Short
(Or, This Too Shall Grass)
by Micki Amick
For the GPHN
No matter what level gardener one may be, a major challenge is likely to be grass. That is, how much lawn — if any — to encourage, manage, and invest with time and money.
Four of the seven gardeners on this year’s June 9 Park Hill Garden Walk have reimagined lawns in ways and for reasons many readers may appreciate. Jackie Berardini has a goal many gardeners share: for something always to be in bloom in her yard from spring through fall with minimal water usage. Her garden incorporates low-water flower gardens designed for sunny areas and shady areas, and one specifically to support butterflies.
In her backyard, Berardini has reduced the lawn area by expanding the perimeter gardens to include shrubs and trees like a Japanese lilac and an espaliered apple with four varieties grafted on it. In addition, she built raised beds that are self-watering via a reservoir at the bottom of the bed.
The surprise alternative, though, is the lawn area of low-water grass that grows sideways. “I wanted grass, but an alternative to Kentucky bluegrass,” Berardini says. She found it in Tahoma 31 Bermuda Grass. Developed in Oklahoma specifically for cold and drought, it comes in sod-form, and uses up to 75 percent less water than bluegrass. Berardini says while expensive in the short run, she waters it no more than once a week, and only had to mow three times last summer. “And it is so nice to walk on,” she says.
Gardener Virginia Leavitt also did not want the mowing and watering required for grass. Two years ago, she replaced areas of her front lawn with a dry bed using river rock and xeric plants. Her backyard also boasts a deep shrub and tree-filled perimeter garden designed around a semi-circle of yard planted with white Dutch micro-clover. Although Leavitt thinks it took as much water as grass to establish, she now has a low-water “lawn” with a lovely yellow-green hue that supports pollinators. She has only had to mow it three times in two years.
Gardeners Paula Marinelli and Jim Milton also wanted to minimize watering and mowing the large yard in front of their setback house, and “little project by little project” have utilized alternatives. Swaths of grass have been replaced by gardens, raised beds, yard art, small patios and sitting areas, with wood chips in high traffic areas.
“[Our] yard bakes in the afternoon,” says Marinelli, “so we need something sun tolerant that we don’t need to spend a lot of time or water on.”
White Dutch micro-clover, ordered from a nursery specializing in western plants, is seeded yearly into the lawn. Opportunistic plants, like yarrow and wild violets, have also been allowed to grow. “I want a green background for the garden,” laughs Marinelli, “but I don’t care about grass.”
Gardeners Sarah Scott and Erin Mills had the classic grass problem: No grass where they might have wanted a yard, and a lawn where they wanted a garden. The couple is committed to regenerative gardening practices. They’ve spent five years restoring life and diversity to their yard, including vegetable gardens, native plants and a white Dutch micro-clover yard.
The front, originally a grass lawn and bank, now supports an array of plants, many of them native, for medicinal, edible, or artistic purposes.
To create the garden area in the front, Scott and Mills used “lasagna” gardening to remove the grass. In the fall, a layer of cardboard was laid on the grass, wetted down and covered with a layer of compost, a layer of straw, another layer of compost, and a layer of mulch.
“By spring,” says Scott, “your soil is perfect. You’ve killed the grass, but you’ve fed your soil. Much easier than ripping grass out. It’s beautiful!”
The method was also cost-effective. The gardeners gathered cardboard all summer, used two bales of straw, purchased a load of compost, and ordered a free load of mulch from ChipDrop, an organization that recycles cuttings from arborists. Like most gardens, theirs remains a work in progress as they extend their passion for healthy soil and conscious planting all the way to the street.
These Park Hill gardeners will be available during the 24th Annual GPHC Garden Walk, and look forward to providing more information about their plants and processes. If you would like to volunteer at the event, contact Megan Swaim at msmcquinn@gmail.com.
Check out parkhillgardenwalk.org for ticket information and other details.