apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

there are many options of ecoturf available, using fescue grasses - slow growing grasses that need very little water...they're good options if you want the free play spaces for kids.

But even then, many lawns can go dormant in the summer and turn brown - and happily revive once the rain starts again.

If you're in a deserty area like arizona, well, then it's completely ridiculous to be thinking of a green, grassy lawn anyway.

try an Edible Estate (front-yard vegetable garden):
http://www.arthousetexas.org/index.php?_page=load_page&_action=load&_id=304

I love the idea of a no-maintenance yard. Has nothing to do with trying to go green, I just hate yard work.

Most of the people here in southern arizona do not have lawns at all. but, the more people rely on only hardscape, such as in picture 4, the temperature rises. The temperature in Tucson is generally 5-10 degrees higher than the surrounding ares due to lack of vegetation.

Its way more earth-friendly to use native plants than to just pave-deck-or-whatever over your land.

Ditto baileyb. #4 is my hero!

We have a nice green lawn without a lot of watering and no chemicals just because of where we live (Houston). However, if we had the money on hand, I would rip up the entire front yard and make it one big, beautiful edible estate simply because (1) my husband hates mowing, and (2) our grass is attractive in a suburban sort of way, but it's BORING.

jr gardner- love the comment

anyone heard of urban gardening?

Yes, in southern Arizona, semi-permeable coverings to allow water inflitration and native trees with generous wells go a long way--the book Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands is a good place to start. Slowly, perhaps too slowly, we're changing our ways down here. Can't speak for Phoenix.

I think you mean "lawn-free" since the first photo features ornamental grasses, so isn't really "grass-free".

I am converting lawn to "other" a little at a time as I can... dig up some sod, replace it with plants and bark mulch, move on... I'll save a bit of lwn in the front yard to blend with the neighborhood, but in the back it will ba mainly a Japanese garden with moss and plants...

I am a firm believer in lawnless living. My entire front yard slopes up a full flight of stairs from the street, so the previous owners planted English Ivy. Ivy has its own maintenance problems, of course, but it only needs cutting back a few times a year versus mowing every week. My back yard is a concrete parking pad with planted borders and a rectangular area that used to be a wood-planked patio until I took up the planks and planted lilies and other plants.

>Any gardening requires water.

Actually, there are a lot of fairly lush landscaping options, even in desert towns like Phoenix, that require little to no extra water beyond what falls onto the yard and home in the form of rain.

There are many alternatives to a chemically enhanced "perfect grass" lawn. Some choose native plants...but the real ecological solution would be using your lawn space to decrease your footprint elsewhere - through permaculture and small scale gardening.

Thanks, jrgardner, for bringing up Edible Estates by Fritz Haeg. For anyone in the NYC area who may be interested, the next Garden Lab project is planned for Saturday June 13th at 10th Ave and 26th. Check out http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/initiatives/edibleestates/lenape.html href> for more info about volunteering. I know I'll be there!

http://www.fthats.wordpress.com

I'm SO excited to see this month's emphasis on gardening, outdoor spaces and lawn-less landscaping on AT!! Slowly but surely, our front grass is being replaced with edible garden space -- multiple raised beds offering vegetables galore, xeriscaping, fruit trees, bee-friendly bushes. Yes, it requires water -- but there's little run-off, little waste and no herbicides, fungicides, or pesticides.

Encouraging people to think about their footprint and its impact on the environment is far from 'narrow minded.' Our house was the first on the block to be heavily planted -- we've since established more neighbor friendships, kids come to our garden to sample peas and strawberries, and numerous neighbors are following suit. If we'd taken into consideration what everyone else was doing, we'd have a boring old front lawn.