I’m not one of THOSE guys.
I am not a LAWN guy by any stretch of the imagination.
I have never followed the Scott’s 4 step plan and I could care less if I have clover in the lawn (in fact, I welcome it spreading into any open spots). Many of my guy friends who reluctantly read this blog (you know who you are), will see me and say “I have a garden question for you ONG. My lawn … blah blah blah.” I’ve already tuned them out.
All I know is that I cut my lawn at the highest setting, I leave the clippings on the lawn and I never water. When it’s freshly cut, it looks great and green. The kids can play on it and it looks good as a back drop against all of my trees, shrubs and perennials. But I have too damn much of it.
My property is a little over two acres and a lot of that is lawn. It takes me just under two hours to cut it and trim. With time being such a prized commodity, it makes no sense to waste it sitting on a mower like a big dope. While I’ve cut away at the lawn over the years as I’ve created new garden beds or increased the size of others, there is still a lot of work to do.
With this new garden renovation promised for 2013, I will be focusing on lawn removal quite a bit. I’m imagining paths to interesting destinations (fire pit anyone?) and I’m imagining new large planting areas that will hopefully transition into the wildness/woods at the back of my property.
I’ll make the time investment now knowing it will be a huge time saver in the future.
P.S – I’m under 600 days now and I’m scared to death. There is a lot to do and I don’t know what to do next. Help!
John
Got a friend with a tractor? Have him bring over his disc and disc up that pesky lawn…then sew wildflowers. In the winter plant something like winter rye, disc in in the spring and sew the wild flower seeds. Two acres can be beautiful filled with wildflowers…one year in Arizona the rain came at the right time and there were acres and acres of bright yellow California Poppies…a treat for the eyes. Or maybe red clover would be a good choice or field corn or wheat! OR let the wilderness around you infringe on the lawn OR rent 3 or 4 goats they’ll eat the grass, roots and all (however if they get loose they’ll eat your flower and shrubs and the roots (well there’s always a downside)…endless possibilities for doing away with grass that has to be cut all the time.
A daunting task, to be sure…but I’m so jealous of all that space…oh, the possibilities!
I can’t wait to watch a master at work as the grass disappears. I do notice though, the pretty pattern in the second picture. I do the same thing. Criss cross and then on the diag. I pretend I’m cutting the grass at Wrigley Field.
Remember any huge undertaking is like eating an elephant. It can only be accomplished one bite at a time. You’ve got the winter to plan, make the most of your downtime, and set an agenda, what you hope to accomplish each month. You may not do it all, but at least you’ll be chewing away at the pachyderm.
I say go ahead an mark off a path or garden area, we use spray paint. Then get your cardboard, newspapers, mulch, leaves…whatever and layer it to start smothering the grass. It will be ready to plant come spring and the worms will be plentiful.
1] Start with a master plan that answers the question: “What do I want my garden to look like when its done?”
2] Draw a scale blueprint of the property and sketch in the outline and details of the hypothetical garden.
3] Do a costing of the hypothetical garden to make sure that it is doable.
Easiest method? Stockpile newspapers. Once you know where you want your beds to be outline them with spray paint, put down the newspapers, wet them good, and cover with mulch. You may have some grass poke through during the growing season, but that can be pulled out. I have used this method with much success. Biggest expense is the mulch but if you can buy it by the truckload you’ll be in good shape.
If we could eliminate any more of our lawn we would. But we have NO lawn in front of our house and just a bit in the back now. A fire pit sounds great, we enjoy ours.
I love lawns.
Here in Ireland we have lovely green green grass but unfortunately that is because of all the many many days of rain!
My husband looks after the lawns here but we haven’t too many flower beds or path areas out the back as the would probably require lots of maintenance and maybe when we are both retired that will happen.
Wishing you the very best of luck with yours and your blog is lovely.
Fiona (in wet wet Ireland)!
Fire Pits are great….we put one in a couple of years ago and have really enjoyed it
I am fully behind you on getting rid of the lawn. We have close to 3 acres and previous owners had the place laid out like a golf course. Lawn cutting is an excruciating exercise, I can’t imagine why people prefer it to gardening. While I have no date set for its extinction there are definitely plans to chip away at it year after year. Can’t wait to see how your plan unfolds.