Growing an Eco-Lawn

Above is our gross, over grown backyard as it was before we started our yard remodel in the spring of last year. It was a pretty much dis-functional as a patio, garden, workspace, or as even a place to just sit and relax.

Below is just after we finished the hardscaping and started putting in plants in August.


Here it is today: starting to fill in and full of lumber as we are finishing up our new shed.

We knew we only wanted a small amount of grass compared to how large the lawn had been before. Some friends put "eco-lawn" seed in their yard last year and I like how it turned out and wanted to try that in our backyard as a test run for the larger front yard.

Now, there is no specific "eco-lawn" seed per se. Instead, it is a mix of rye grass, fescues, clovers, yarrow, and/or English yard daisies. Many different blends are available depending on the climate you live in or the type of nurseries near by. Most of the nicer nurseries like to create their own blends. What makes it special is that you only need to mow it a few times a year, it grows slowly and not too high, and gets lovely little flowers in it. It is also more drought tolerant than regular lawn fescue.

Ours has only been growing about 6 weeks, but I am loving the deep emerald color and these little white flowers. When it gets a little higher, we will get purple flowers and red clover. Some spots are still a little patchy because the cats just love to scratch around in the grass, but that's OK, I just keep filling in seed as needed.
I love it! Now we have to dig up all the dandelions out of the front yard so I can move in some eco-lawn up there. It might scare our neighbors though. They tend to be of the mono-seed fescue lawn variety of people.