Lawn vs. Ground Cover

When you think of lawn, you think of wide open spaces, parks, nature and the outdoors. Lawns have been a part of the American landscape for decades. They are great for play areas, outdoor picnics, and winter time sledding. But today, in our environmentally sensitive world, lawns are losing their value.

For example, lawns require large amounts of water during the summer months to stay green. Lawns don't recharge the groundwater table, or filter out pollutants as well as shrubby planted areas. Traditional lawns don't create very much biological or ecological diversity. Also, the shorter the grass blade the less water it holds and the more brown a lawn becomes. The taller the grass grows the more water it can absorb and hold. But, most people don't want their lawns to be a foot high, and if it is a foot high it doesn't look very good. As a society we are emotionally and socially attached to our lawns. How could we get along without the summer barbecue in the backyard and the kids playing badminton?

One reason lawn has been so popular is installation cost. It is cheap to install and can cover large areas quickly. But, over time it is expensive to maintain. Lawn must have irrigation in the summer months or it will go brown. It doesn't necessarily die, but nobody wants to look at a brown lawn in their neighborhood or local shopping area. It must also be mowed frequently to maintain a neat appearance. Another component of lawn care and maintenance is weeding and feeding. There are many products out there for controlling weeds and keeping the grass green and healthy. This can be time consuming for home owners and often times the amount of fertilizer applied is in excess of the recommended amount. This excess fertilizer gets washed away during storms and pollutes our rivers and streams. Aesthetically lawn looks nice, but environmentally it's a poor symbiotic relationship.

Ground cover on the other hand, meaning low growing evergreen shrubs, grasses and perennials like Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Kinnikinnick), Fragaria chiloensis (Coastal Strawberry), and Festuca glauca 'Elijah' (Blue Fescue), have deeper root systems that will hold soil in place during rain storms, slows runoff, and helps recharge the groundwater table. The evergreen leaves and dense growth of ground cover plants protects the soil, provides important wildlife habitat, removes soil toxins, absorbs water and helps keep surrounding areas cool on hot days. Planting ground cover is a much better choice than installing lawn.

The main drawback of ground cover is that economically it is expensive to install. Buying 1 gallon plants can run anywhere from $3-$15 depending on species, type and where you buy. If you need 200 plants that could be about $1000! But in the long run ground cover saves money because once the plants are established there is virtually no maintenance needed. Occasional trimming and removing of dead branches, leaves and buds is all that needs to be done annually.

As a landscape designer I choose environmentally friendly designs that reduce lawn areas whenever I can. I mitigate the impact of lawn areas by incorporating more landscape beds and ground covers. Compromise is the best solution, reduce the lawn area, but leave enough room for a gathering space, and increase the planting bed areas. When removing or reducing lawn areas try incorporating different types of ground covers with evergreen grasses like Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Moudry' (Fountain Grass), Festuca glauca 'Elijah' (Blue Fescue) and Liriope muscari 'Big Blue' (Blue Lily Turf). Here in the northwest other good lawn substitutes include, Sagina subulata (Scotch Moss), Mahonia repens (Creeping Mahonia), Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Little Bunny' (Little Bunny Fountain Grass) and Sedum spurium 'Tricolor' (Tricolor Stonecrop). Keep like species grouped together and place taller species behind lower growing plants. This way you'll be creating habitat diversity that's good for the soil, the plants and the water ways.