Blue Planet Garden Blog

Front Yard Design Strategies

 

Photo courtesy of Rebecca Sweet

A few days ago I attended an excellent seminar presented by the Garden Conservancy titled "Front Yard Gardens Take Center Stage." As I am acquainted with most of the speakers, I was a tad concerned all talks would center on replacing lawns with gardens. While this is a worthwhile topic I often blog about, five hours of lose-the-lawn ranting is a bit much, even for a true believer like me.

Happily for me, the seminar instead dished up a broad range of information on how to transform a front yard, presented by speakers with very distinct points of view. It would take many more posts than this lazy blogger is willing to write to pass on everything that I learned, but read on for one big idea from each of the five presenters.

Gordon Hayward - Houses should be in rather than on the landscape

Photo courtesy of Saxon Holt

Gordon's presentation focused on classic design principles, amply illustrated with front yard photos from around the country. Much of his talk centered on the importance of the relationship between home and garden, with the central idea that a front garden should be designed to support the house. Examples from his talk include using trees to balance the scale of the home or soften rooflines, fences to create context and pathways designed to roll out the red carpet for guests. Gordon is the author of numerous garden books, but should you wish to further explore how to maximize the connection between home and garden (and not just in the front) I recommend Your House, Your Garden: A Foolproof Approach to Garden Design.


John Greenlee - Meadow gardens aren't just for large properties; even small landscapes have room for a "meadowette."

Photo courtesy of Saxon Holt

Despite owning a copy of The American Meadow Garden: Creating a Natural Alternative to the Traditional Lawn and having heard John speak on more than one occasion, I confess I've never created a meadow garden for a client. Many of the gardens I design are small, and figuring out how to include a meadow has always seemed too daunting a task to tackle. But John pointed out that meadowettes are a practical solution for small spaces, whether used as a transition between lawn and a surrounding garden, or in place of small lawns (which in addition to being dull, are often too narrow or convoluted to be irrigated efficiently). The best part about tackling a baby meadow? An exciting effect can be achieved with a much smaller palette than may be required for a larger space. Some of John's favorite choices include Carex pansa, Poa arachnifera and Sesleria autumnalis or  S. 'Greenlee' (a personal favorite of mine).

Vera Gates - Every landscape project should begin with a goal
At Vera's firm Arterra Landscape Architects in San Francisco, their goal is to create gardens that are beautiful, memorable and sustainable. I love this mantra, as it so clearly addresses the complex potential of a garden. At its best, a garden speaks to the senses (beautiful) and creates a unique experience for both the owner and visitor (memorable), while also doing its own small part to support the wider world (sustainable). At the beginning of each practice, my yoga instructor sets an intention for the class and encourages us to either follow it or to set one of our own. If you are about to embark on a landscape renovation, begin by setting your own intention - or borrow Arterra's philosophy.

 

Ivette Soler - Front yard food is here to stay

Part celebration of the spreading movement to grow food instead of lawns and part thoughtful design commentary, Ivette Soler shared her passion and support for the expanding number of front yard edible gardens that are popping up across the country. While she believes no one should shy away from growing food because of design considerations, she also provided strategies for making a space filled with fruits and vegetables as attractive as possible. Her most valuable tip: Corral edible gardens with hardscape materials substantial enough to contain the inherently raucous nature of veggies. As Ivette says, front yard food doesn't have to turn into a front yard farm. Read more ideas, in particular creative ways to mix edibles with ornamentals in her book The Edible Front Yard: The Mow-Less, Grow-More Plan for a Beautiful, Bountiful Garden

Evelyn Hadden - Less lawn means more life

Photo courtesy of Saxon Holt

Books and lectures on the lawn-free lifestyle often focus on the evils of lawn, but Evelynís talk reminded me of everything we gain when we swap out grass for garden: More scents, more sounds, more seasonal changes and more diverse wild life.  Who wouldn't prefer a garden that attracts birds and butterflies to a lawn that mainly attracts chemicals and lawnmowers? At the end of her talk, she asked for a show of hands from those considering giving up at least a part of their lawn and received an enthusiastic response. No-lawn gardens are sometimes considered a western-only phenomenon, but check out the range of photos in Evelyn's book Beautiful No-Mow Yards: 50 Amazing Lawn Alternatives and you'll realize that gardeners all over the country are equally interested in bringing more life into their spaces.

If any of these speakers wind up in your area, donít miss the opportunity to hear them in person. I'll close by saying that even better than what I learned was the chance to spend time with several of the speakers after the seminar ended. Thanks for both the lessons and the stimulating dinner conversation!

 

 

Book Review: Lawn Gone!

Not only is the lawn reform movement still going strong; I'm happy to report that it continues to gain momentum. Lawn Gone!: Low-Maintenance, Sustainable, Attractive Alternatives for Your Yard by popular blogger and garden designer Pam Penick  is the latest book to tackle the topic. Its soup-to-nuts approach, inspiring photos and emphasis on DIY solutions make it a must-have for anyone considering reducing or eliminating lawn.

The book is divided into three parts. “Part One: Beyond the Lawn” explores what to do with all the real estate eliminating or reducing a lawn makes available. Low-growing plant alternatives are discussed in detail, but Lawn Gone also makes a case for replacing lawn with new living spaces and garden features, such as patios, ponds and play spaces.

Mixed species lawn. Design and photograph by Rebecca Sweet

“Part Two: Out with the Grass, In with a Garden” gives step-by-step instructions on removing an existing lawn. This is an area where the book really shines, as Pam explores multiple methods, and provides the pros and cons of each. She knows her target audience of DIYers well, and also includes instructions on planning and creating a range of garden features, from how to edge pathways, to basics on bed preparation.

A welcoming space for entertaining. Photograph courtesy of Pam Penick

In “Part Three: The Politics, Health and Safety of Going Lawnless,” Pam provides tips on dealing with both man-made obstacles (think HOAs and city codes) and natural ones, such as lawn alternatives for fire prone areas.

Design and photograph by Kelly Kipatrick

 

What I liked

• The book is one of the most well-organized and thorough resources I have yet to read on on lawn alternatives. What isn’t addressed?  From removing lawn, to dealing with skeptical neighbors, Lawn Gone covers all your questions, including some you probably haven’t even thought of yet.

• I enjoyed the conversational tone of the book, which feels appropriate for both advanced and new gardeners. as even those with years of gardening under their belts don’t necessarily have experience with removing and replacing lawn.

• The inclusion of regional experts greatly broadens the Lawn Gone’s potential readership. In the final chapter, Pam taps garden experts from eleven regions of the country for suggestions on the best lawn alternatives for their specific area. Beyond that, throughout the book advice is regularly qualified as to what parts of the country the tips apply to.

• Lawn Gone paints an enticing picture of the lawn-free lifestyle without sugarcoating the realities of what’s involved to get there. While you may be thrilled to ditch the lawnmower, Pam makes it clear that a successful garden still requires an ongoing commitment.

 

Quibbles

No quibbles this time, but be sure to do your research before following any of the specific plant advice in the book. Many of the plants mentioned, in particular the ornamental grasses, are invasive in California and other regions of the country - I counted more than one plant  I would hesitate to recommend to my clients. This can’t really be avoided in a book geared towards a national audience, but follow the advice Pam includes in Lawn Gone, and be sure to check online or with your county’s extension program before choosing plants for your garden.

Confidential to California gardeners: The alternatives provided that most closely mimic a lawn are mainly those grown from seed or plugs. Since here in California we're addicted to the look of fresh sod rolled out in a new garden, I usually specify no-mow native grass mixes in sod form for my clients. Check out Delta Bluegrass for alternatives that work in a range of USDA zone 9 cultural conditions.

 A must read for anyone considering reducing or eliminating a lawn, Lawn Gone provides a thoughtful, well-researched mix of step-by-step solutions and troubleshooting tips.

 

I received this book as a review copy. Photos reprinted with permission from Lawn Gone! Low-Maintenance, Sustainable, Attractive Alternatives for Your Yard by Pam Penick (Ten Speed Press, 2013).

 

Book Review: Beautiful No-Mow Yards

In 2007, I designed my first no-lawn back yard. I would have welcomed advice on design strategies or plant options, but at the time, a book like that wasn’t even a gleam in a publisher’s eye. So you can imagine how thrilled I am to have the opportunity to review Evelyn Hadden’s newest book,  Beautiful No-Mow Yards: 50 Amazing Lawn Alternatives (Timber Press 2012).

Following a wonderful forward by fellow Lawn Reform Coalition member Susan Harris and a terrific introduction where Evelyn eloquently describes how our changing definition of beauty doesn’t necessarily include a lawn and further encourages us to “return life to our landscapes,” the book is divided into three sections. The first section makes up more than 75% of the book and focuses on design inspiration. You won’t be surprised to hear that this was my favorite part. Set up mainly as case studies, Evelyn reviews in detail various strategies both homeowners and professional designers have used to replace lawn with garden.

There’s something for everyone here, as gardens from all over the United States that showcase a range of cultural and lifestyle situations are featured: woodland gardens, rain gardens and kids' play areas, just to name a few. This segment ends with a section called “smarter lawns,” perfect for the homeowner who is ready to eschew a chemically propped up, water-guzzling version of a lawn, but for esthetic or functional reasons, still wants their own little patch of green. (Or even blue!)

Prairie garden, photograph by Saxon Holt

Pond and patio instead of lawn, designed by fellow APLD member Kelly Marshall and photographed by Saxon Holt.

No-Mow Lawn

The second section is practical, with advice on removing existing sod, as well as planting, irrigating and maintaining a lawn-free garden. The final section is a comprehensive plant list, arranged by design intent. Categories such as ground-filling plants, mat-forming plants and minglers let you go right to the plant list that fits your garden’s particular needs.

Looks time consuming, but in fact there's very little effort in maintaining a lawn alternative like this one.

 

Stunning example of a tapestry of mat-forming plants

What I like

• Evelyn is hands down one of the best garden writers I’ve had the pleasure of reading. I have a large library of gardening books, most with excellent content, but few rival the elegant and graceful prose of Beautiful No-Mow Yards.
• I appreciate the level of detail provided about the gardens featured in the design section. Many of the descriptions go beyond the lawn alternatives used, and describe interesting details about the design as a whole. For example, I enjoyed learning that the designer of a woodland shade garden designed a stream with waterfalls facing different directions in order to maximize water’s effectiveness as a “light catcher” in a shady space. Brilliant!
• The book is very comprehensive, with a soup to nuts approach that covers design inspiration, practical advice on removing lawn and a list of plant options. If you’re thinking about removing all or part of your lawn, Beautiful No-Mow Yards serves as a convenient, one-stop shop.
• Evelyn doesn’t sugar coat her case studies, but shares stories of gardeners who have had failures as well as successes. I know from experience that no matter how much I educate myself in advance, remaking a garden is an imperfect process, and the smart gardener should expect to hit a few bumps in the road.

Quibbles

• While the book is filled with excellent photographs, the majority are close-ups that don’t easily convey the effect of a lawn alternative vs. traditional turf grass. Having struggled to find photos to explain some of the concepts in my own book, I can appreciate this can be difficult, but the detailed descriptions of several of the design strategies in the first portion of the book left me wanting more, and would have benefited from either additional photos, or ideally, a plan view of the overall design.
• Not so much a quibble as an observation: many of the same plants are referenced repeatedly, such as creeping thyme, sedum and dead nettle. This isn’t really a negative as it reinforces that certain plants are particularly tough and well-suited for no-lawn gardens, but if you already have an extensive plant palette, this book probably won’t introduce you to many plants you aren’t already familiar with.
• I wish it had been written five years ago.

Whether you are a designer, home gardener, wild-life enthusiast or an environmentalist, Beautiful No-Mow Yards is a must-have addition for your gardening library.

 Looking for more lawn reform inspiration? Evelyn's made it easy by gathering the links right here.

Unless otherwise indicated, all photos by Evelyn Hadden.

Garden Designers Roundtable: The History of the American Lawn

Turf is the largest irrigated “crop” grown in the United States. There are approximately 30 million acres of lawn in the U.S. – roughly the size of the state of South Carolina. Annually, all those lawns use 80 million pounds of pesticides and 100 tons of fertilizer.

So how exactly did we get here?

A nation of copycats
To begin with, the history of lawns in America really starts in England. Unlike the warm summers we enjoy here, the cloudy, temperate English climate is ideal for turf.  Even so, until the mid 19th century, lawns were a symbol of wealth, as landowners relied on grazing sheep or labor intensive methods like scything to keep the grass low.

This began to change with the invention of the lawnmower in 1830.  Suddenly, an average middle-class homeowner could enjoy the prestige of a lawn.  And indeed, the association of lawns with wealth and a refined lifestyle existed from the beginning, as this excerpt from inventor Edwin Budding’s patent shows: “Country gentlemen may find in using my machine themselves an amusing, useful and healthy exercise.”

Meanwhile, wealthy Americans in the 19th and early 20th century were heavily influenced by English architectural and garden styles.  American estates slavishly copied the greenswards of England, making lawns a symbol of wealth and class in the New World as well as in the Old. 

Lifestyles of the not-so-rich and famous
For the average American, however, lawns were virtually non-existent. The yard, both front and back, was a utilitarian space devoted to supporting basic domestic needs like caring for livestock and if a family had time,  growing vegetables.  A lack of public sanitation meant that yards typically housed outhouses and cesspools, and often the backyard was treated as a giant refuse heap.  In fact, it’s not unusual for current day owners of Northeastern brownstones to find old bottles, buttons and cutlery when digging around in older parts of their yards.

New York City, circa 1900 courtesy of Smoke and Mirrors

This began to change when advances in public transportation created the first suburbs.  Combined with the creation of public sanitation services and electric refrigeration, yards were no longer required to be strictly utilitarian and homeowners were free to consider other alternatives.

The beginning of the suburban stereotype
So where did Americans turn for guidance on what to do with their suddenly liberated landscapes? Garden clubs and the media, of course! Garden clubs and civic beautification committees heavily promoted an ideal suburban landscape of shrubs and lawn.  By the 1930’s nearly all garden advice in books, newspapers and magazines advocated lawn and foundation shrubs.  In a 1937 Better Homes and Gardens article extolling the virtues of regional architecture, despite the local character of the houses themselves, all featured virtually identical lawn and foundation plantings in the yard. 

What now?
Fast forward to today. Oversized lawns, considered by some to be an American icon, are in reality an English import, poorly suited to much of our climate, and glamorized by an historical version of bossy HOAs and Martha Stewart wannabes. Happily, for the first time, many of us are questioning our unthinking devotion to our lawns and the tyranny of weekly mowing and instead considering alternatives that sustain the environment, reflect our regional cultures and support our personal lifestyles.

Are you ready to join the revolution?

If you'd like to learn more about the past (and future) of lawns in America, I highly recommend From Yard to Garden, The Domestication of America's Home Grounds by Christoher Grampp, which served as primary source material for this article.

This month, the Garden Designers Roundtable has teamed up with the Lawn Reform Coalition. Be sure to check out what bloggers from both groups have to say on the topic of lawn alternatives (and thanks, Susan Harris, for the bonus post!):

Susan Harris : Garden Rant : Takoma Park, MD

Susan Harris : Gardener Susan’s Blog : Takoma Park, MD

Billy Goodnick : Cool Green Gardens : Santa Barbara, CA

Evelyn Hadden : Lawn Reform.Org : Saint Paul, MN

Saxon Holt : Gardening Gone Wild : Novato, CA

Ginny Stibolt : Florida Native Plant Society : Green Cove Springs, FL

Tara Dilliard : Vanishing Threshold: Garden, Life, Home : Atlanta, GA

Susan Morrison : Blue Planet Garden Blog : East Bay, CA

Shirley Bovshow : Eden Makers : Los Angeles, CA

Scott Hokunson : Blue Heron Landscapes : Granby, CT

Rochelle Greayer : Studio G : Boston, MA

Rebecca Sweet : Gossip In The Garden : Los Altos, CA

Pam Penick : Digging : Austin, TX

Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK

Laura Livengood Schaub : Interleafings : San Jose, CA

Jocelyn Chilvers : The Art Garden : Denver, CO

Ivette Soler : The Germinatrix : Los Angeles, CA

Genevieve Schmidt : North Coast Gardening : Arcata, CA

Douglas Owens-Pike : Energyscapes : Minneapolis, MN

Debbie Roberts : A Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT

No Lawn Garden Design

When a garden is a reflection of a life, it deserves to be more than just an afterthought to a lawn.

I first met Ruth three years ago, when she was looking for help sprucing up her planting beds and advice on how to deal with the gophers that arrived like clockwork from the open space behind her home.  After listening while Ruth pointed out plant after plant that had been grown from a friend’s cutting or received as a gift from someone special in her life, I started wondering why she was limiting herself to a narrow planting strip only a few feet wide wedged in at the edges of her lawn.  Her plants and the stories behind them were far more interesting than the tired patch of sod that dominated the back yard.