Shrink your lawn

For those of you who haven't decided to go all the way and eat your lawns a la the "Edible Estates" philosophy — but want to get rid of some grass — along comes Evelyn J. Hadden to tell you how to shrink your lawn. Hadden's book, "Shrink Your Lawn: Design Ideas for Any Landscape," looks at gardens large and small, and of every type, including woodland gardens, lawnless front gardens, small scale gardens and island beds.

But if you live in Madison and its environs, you can hear Hadden in person when she presents an illustrated talk on Thursday, Sept. 24 at Olbrich Botanical Gardens to help you make the lawnless leap. Registration deadline is Monday, Sept. 21. The fee is $11 for members, $13 for the general public and Hadden will sign copies of her book which will be for sale.

HADDEN/SHRINK YOUR LAWN

A neighborhood of lawnless front yards has a unique character and mood.

Hadden is only one of many people offering information and advice on how to downsize your lawn. Among the folks who are part of the Lawn Reform Coalition, along with Hadden, are the delightfully opinionated Garden Ranter Susan Harris, who offers her own take on the subject on her Sustainable Gardening blog. The Coalition's Web site has lots of valuable information as well as links to Madison's own Healthy Lawn Team, which is a co-sponsor of Hadden's Madison appearance.  An unexpected bonus of a visit to the coalition Web site was finding a picture of Austin blogger Pam Penick's front garden. (Mark and I had the pleasure of spending time with both Susan and Pam at the garden bloggers' 2009 Spring Fling in Chicago). 

As one who eliminated my entire back lawn in the early 1990s, I've been collecting images of landscapes with less lawn, no lawn and alternatives to the ubiquitous blue grass turf as well. So here are some of my favorite ideas to get you in the mood to shrink your lawn.

The lawnless entrance to a large house in Illinois (above) with the driveway running across the bottom of the image.

The front yard of a Victorian house on the grounds of the Chautauqua Institute (above and below) retains a bit of grass to tie it to the neighboring property.

Small, sloped and shady: A Madison front yard shows why grass isn't needed to create a beautiful entrance (above and below).

Three views (below) of a Milwaukee lot whose steep slope has been brilliantly planted for privacy and beauty.

Looking to the right at the end of the driveway (above) and looking left (below).

Olbrich's Meadow Garden is inspired by English meadow gardens, according to the staff, and features low-maintenance fescue grasses and spring flowering bulbs (below). 

SHARON CYBART / OLBRICH

"The short, drought-tolerant fescue grasses eliminate the need for high maintenance and energy consumptive lawn care," they noted in an email message. "The grasses don't require supplemental watering or fertilizer and are mowed just twice a year — once in late spring and again in late fall."

JEFF EPPING / OLBRICH

This garden has always struck me as the perfect solution to a large lot where one wants some spring color and then to take the rest of the year off. It's romantic and low maintenance — a winning combo!

Comments

[Pam/Digging]

Great images of inspiring front-yard gardens.

[Les]

I am lawnless now for nearly a decade, which is easy when you have a small yard. I still have grass between the sidewalk and street, but that is city property, however I am responsible for keeping it maintained. I am gradually converting that space into garden and hope to switch another patch this winter.

[LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD]

Pam and Les — Once you start ridding yourself of lawn it's hard to stop. Madison is filled with lawnless front yards and lots of planted "hell strips" as well.

[Deborah at Kilbourne Grove]

What a lot of great ideas. My garden is 3/4 of an acre and I am gradually reducing the amount of grass there is. When we first purchased, it was all lawn. 4 1/2 hours to cut, now down to 3 hours. I haven't told my husband that my plans include no grass whatsoever, he would be scared and think it would be more maintenance than all the grass. I'll just keep sneaking in more beds!

[Lisa at Greeenbow]

I am working toward the goal of no lawn. My DB doesn't like the idea but as it slowly evolves he hasn't complained much. tee hee.. You have some great inspiration posted here.

[LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD]

Mornin' Deborah and LIsa — I guess guys think they must mow to be men and then realize as the lawn shrinks that maybe they don't miss it that much. I don't think anyone who calls him or herself a gardener, really has a low-maintenance property. It's just that the maintenance is so much more fun and satisfying!

[keewee]

I like the idea of gardens instead of lawns, as they are more interesting.

[Gail]

Except for the little lawnette in the back...my goal is no lawn! Your idea file photos are inspiring. gail

[Mr. McGregor's Daughter]

I'm fighting a losing battle here with my husband over the lawn. When I suggested joining the two beds between ours & our neighbors' driveway, he said that would be "too much garden." (An oxymoron if ever I heard one. Kind of like Mozart's music having "too many notes.") I'm enlarging the beds anyway, but keeping a bit of lawn between them.

[LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD]

MMD — about five years ago our neighbors joined their front bed to ours and got rid of all the lawn on that side of their driveway. Then last year, the two of us started joining an area of grass that sloped from the side of their house down to ours. We put in a bark path so we could go back and forth and then put in plants that are in both yards to tie the gardens together. They still have plenty of lawn but they turned the parts that joined ours and were the hardest to mow into gardens. But it took a long time of being neighbors before they were ready to make the leap.

[Evelyn Hadden]

Thanks for writing this article, Linda, and for mentioning my recent talk and our Lawn Reform Coalition. I very much enjoyed all your pics.

I also loved visiting Madison, you all have so many inspiring spaces showcasing lawn alternatives. Olbrich is a great resource -- the meadow garden was my favorite! -- and also the prairie and savanna plantings at the arboretum were great models for home gardens.

Wish I'd had more time to spend wandering the streets and seeing all those little gardens on the "hellstrips" and the lawnless front yards.

-Evelyn Hadden