For Native Plant & Wildlife Lovers

To winterize or not to winterize lawn

"Winterize your lawn", the big sign outside the garden store commanded. I've fed it, watered it, mowed it, raked it and watched a lot of it die away. Now I'm supposed to winterize it? I hope it's too late. Grass lawns have to be the stupidest thing we've come up with outside of a thong swimsuits! We constantly battle Milkweeds, Feverfews, Bulrush, Bluestem, Lousewort, Golden Alexanders, and White Prairie Clover that thrive naturally; so we can grow grass that must be nursed through an annual four-step chemical dependency.

Imagine the conversation The Creator might have with St. Francis about this:

"Frank you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there in the Midwest? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect, no-maintenance garden plan.

Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracted butterflies, honeybees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles."

" It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers "weeds" and went to great extent to kill them and replace them with grass".

"Grass? But its so boring. Its not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds and bees, only grubs and sod worms. Its' temperamental with temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that green grass growing there?

"Apparently so, Lord, They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poising any other plant that crops up in the lawn".

"The spring rains and cool weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy".

"Not exactly, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it-sometimes twice a week".

"They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?"

"Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags."

"They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?"

"No, sir. Just the opposite. They pay to throw it away".

"Now let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?"

"Yes, sir."

"These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work."

"You aren't going to believe this Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it."

"What nonsense! At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer . In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they
rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It's a natural circle of life."

"You better sit down, Lord. The suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and have them hauled away."

"No! What do they do to protect the shrub and the tree roots in the winter and keep the soil moist and loose?"

"After throwing away your leaves, they go out and buy something they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in the place of leaves."

"And where do they get this mulch?"

"They cut down trees and grind them up."

"Enough! I don't want to think about this anymore. Saint Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?"

"Dumb and Dumber, Lord. It's a real stupid movie about.

"Never mind I think I just heard the whole story."

Author Unknown

AMEN!! Little does my DH know but my plan is for his lawn to slowely shrink more and more over the years until it's mostly perennials/trees etc! I actually bought Milkweed seeds and have it in my yard too! - My DH would DIE if he knew most types consider it a 'weed.' LOL Native insects and animals need this stuff!! So many natives are just going away because they are not 'tidy.' Oh well.

I feel good all over. Lawn bigots. The only good lawn is a dead lawn! (Then composted of course).

Oh you two make me giggle. I was one of those lawn bigots just two years ago. I had to have that sprawling front lawn just like everyone else. That was until a friend of mine got a hold of me. He systematically wore me down on this "Leave It To Beaver" Cleaver manicured lawn mentality with pure logic. I oh so hate it when people are right especially when I liked being wrong. All these homes over here were so nice and uniform UNTIL we moved in and ruined the neighborhood leaving the vast majority of it natural save an acre in the middle carved out to build the home. Oh the notes I used to get in my mailbox. Well, now there are about 10 others who have left the majority of their properties in tact. Interesting. No more notes in the mailbox.

My goal over the next 5 years is to completely eliminate the one acre of lawn here save for about a 10'-15' band of that coveted "No Mow" lawn directly around the home. I'd get rid of it faster than that but my husband would be having heart failure if I moved too fast and he seems to like the riding lawn mower and the kids like to ride in the little wagon behind him when he cuts the lawn. This year I started 4 pretty good sized raised beds. Little does he know that's part of the master plan and that he is going to be funding this project! I also used newspapers and killed off a small chunk of lawn just to see if it would really work. It worked. That was my test spot and now I will expand on that this coming spring. It's going to be lasagna gardening for me all the way down the road for the next few years.

Way to go Equilibrium! I am trying all sorts of native plants in all sorts of places around here. We have lots of Goldenrod, Snakeroot, and Wingstem growing together making a beautiful sight . Now if I could get all that transported into my yard, I would be totally weedy.

Well, I wasn't always so "reasonable" or "open minded". The phrase my friend used about my lawn was that it looked like a drug addicted landscape and then he sent me this article-
http://www.for-wild.org/weedlaws/weeding.html
I have now joined his chapter of Wild Ones and although I have quite a few non native plants over here, the veteran members don't say anything to me about my hostas or iris or anything else I have growing here as I was told a few are secretly hoping that someday I will "cross over" and get "totally wild". Doubtful this will happen as I am far too attached to my daylilies and other plants that are very well behaved but you never know.

Here's a link to the seed mix I will be using for that band right around my house when I get to that point-
http://www.prairienursery.com/catalog/cat_nomow.asp

Here are the No Mow Lawn instructions-
http://www.prairienursery.com/info/nomow2003.pdf

This is the no mow that one of my neighbors went with-
http://nomowgrass.com/

Of course I could always go this way-
http://www.waterlesslawns.com/
Just joking!

Amen, equilibrium! I get rid of more and more lawn every season. This fall is going to be sheer butchery, LOL! I've got the plants, the seeds, and the desire, LOL! April

P.S....if you need a home for your bluestem and golden alexsanders.....I'm game!

You are welcome to all the Zizia aurea plants and seeds that I have over here. The Schizachyrium scoparium hasn't been sown yet but I'm working on it. I like your user name. Speaking of which, I am looking for dodecatheon meadia seed or plugs.

Say, you are from Illinois. Do you have any suggestions for me for here-
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/456653/

The "suburbanites" have begun to bag leaves and set them at the curb!

I picked up my very first leaf bags this morning! Two wonderfully full bags of nice oak leaves!
Now if the families that have the mulching lawn mowers would just get a move on their fall clean up... I'd be a very happy person.

How did the grass lawn thing ever get started anyway? What did people do before the lawn mower was invented? When was it invented? (The old California yard was just dirt raked and swept clean, but I doubt that would work very well in climate where it rains a lot.)

Equil Thank you, I had seen that before and had not seen it for awhile (your original post). Nice to be reminded.

Thanks for the bump, Dyson. Maybe we should all form a Dead Lawn Society!

Oh oh oh! Lauren raises her hand, wiggles in her chair as if she has to go pee, and volunteers to be a member or the Dead Lawn Society! Who will start a new thread? John?

Okay John, I did it... But with no elaborations,
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/467438/
The unfinished story has grubs and a skunk as major players.
LOL ~Blooms

Had to share with you all my catch of the night. Look at this neat little row of leaf bags all waiting to be plucked by me on my way home to night. I managed to get every bag in my car! Poor homeowner who set them out has no idea what they just gave up!

Equil - watch what you collect for compost please, ie My last compost heap that is now a bamboo forrest & also undesireable leaf (like black walnut). Just something to think about, although I am totally in favor of composting and doing all things organic as much as possible. I wounder what the leaves or cuttings of "the tree of heaven" (see PDB) would do in a compost pile? You may end up w/roots you do not want. Just a thought.

Funny you should mention that. I'm using these leaves for mulch not for compost. My composter has some of my own leaves in it but mostly kitchen scraps, grass clippings, egg shells, coffee filters & grounds, and rotten fruit. I will not take bags from lawns that have garbage plants in them as I don't want their seed. I will also not take from lawns that are anywhere near an area that is loaded with ickies as I have enough of those to get rid of as it is. That pretty much means any leaves from a home next to a vacant lot are out. Most of my leaves are coming from lawns that are in virtually full sun save one tree in the front yard. The leaves I am scarfing up from the curbs are going into a heavily wooded area to provide mulch for ferns and moss. God bless anything that can go from sun to deep shade as I'll be right there to nail it! I am in sync with my property and I am becoming increasingly more aware of what belongs and what doesn't. Familiarity with the landscape here is a big help. The other big help is leaving bags out to roast and bake in the sun for next year.

The other issue I am careful about is to not take leaves from the first rakings. Those are more likely to contain litter. Last year I had to pick thorugh the leaves to remove coffee cups, cigarette butts, candy wrappers, chip bags, and other assorted trash. Very time consuming.

Equil, we're getting ready to start roaming the streets of our little town to collect bags also for mulch. Last year we collected over 100 bags! Agree with Dyson, you never know what you may get - lots of maple seedlings from what we collected last year. But lucky you, the homeowner used clear bags!

Grass=boring!