With Labor Day picnics fading into memory and early fall almost upon us, this is the ideal time for homeowners to seed their lawns. I must confess than I’ve never been a big fan of that great American institution, the suburban lawn. The hours of weekly maintenance, the loud smelly mowers spewing CO2 into the atmosphere, the expensive and resource depleting watering, the toxic chemical fertilizer….all for that tidy little patch of keeping up with the neighbors. There are currently big bald spots and weeds growing on my third of an acre, and frankly, I’ve been reluctant to do much of anything about it….
….until I read about Eco-lawn, a great cost-saving, eco-friendly alternative to the conventional residential lawn product. No, this isn’t some kind of ersatz, fugly astro-turf type deal. This is real, bona fide grass, with all of the advantages of your old lawn, but without a lot of the downside.
Eco-lawn is a blend of fescue grasses which, according to its Canadian distributors, Wildflower Farm, grows about 4 times slower than your average lawn grass, which means one-fourth of the mowing for me and you. Considering my aversion to yardwork, and the fact that a gas-powered mower running for one-hour releases the same amount of emissions an automobile driving 100 miles (gas powered mowers are estimated to account for 5% of this country’s air pollution), this is quite the benefit in itself.
But wait - there’s more! The Eco-lawn blend has a much longer root system than traditional grass; the roots reach over a foot into the soil to extract nutrients and water. The result? No need for watering or for expensive and toxic fertilizers. Good news for Spot and the kids - not to mention the local soil, wetlands, and groundwater. The deep roots also make the Eco-lawn drought and pest resistant. It can be grown in all but the southernmost row of the United States, and well into Canada.
Perhaps the best news for those of us not afraid of marching to a different beat (or pissing off the Joneses) is that unless you are really attached to your Eco-lawn sporting a closely-cropped buzz cut, you actually never have to mow it at all. The blades of grass are so fine that, once reaching a height of four inches, they will simply fold over on themselves, creating a lush “sea of grass” look. Eco-lawn is also non invasive and invasion-resistant, which should keep your conflicts with the Joneses to, at very worst, a friendly aesthetic difference of opinion.
Why haven’t we heard more about this? Apparently garden stores, which make their dough selling fertilizers and other traditional lawn care products, are afraid that this new system would put them out of business. As for me - I’m ordering me some Eco-lawn.
22 Comments
Seriously, this grass is the softest stuff I’ve ever had the pleasure of running over. They had a whole display of it setup at the Toronto Green Living Festival back in May and I was sold immediately. You never have to cut the stuff — it just falls over, stays short, asnd looks good. The only grass I plan on using around my new home. Screw mowing the lawn.
Does this stuff grow in Houston, Texas? The article makes me pessimistic about that. (Won’t grow in the southernmost row of the US?)
You mention the smelly lawn mower several times. You say you have a 1/3 acre lot. That is perfect for a reel mower. I have one, and it works like a charm on roughly the same size lot.
Do you have any experience with Zoysia?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoysia
Unfortunately, this will NOT grow in Houston, TX….
And Captain, I appreciate your suggestion of the reel mower. Unfortunately, I just don’t think I have the patience….
I’ve heard this stuff is great and it’s not invasivelike zoysia.
I had zoysia years ago and it’s a nightmare.
WHY won’t it grow in Houston???
How about growing it in Raleigh, NC?
Zoysia is very coarse and sharp–not friendly on the feet at all. It also stays brown much later into the summer than other grasses, so you’ve got a brown lawn when everyone else’s is fresh and green.
http://www.wildflowerfarm.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=1&Category_Code=E
You can find a growing map at the link above.
And, my apologies… it appears that this map merely indicates the region within which Eco-Lawn will never require watering. It turns our that you CAN grow it in Houston… you’ll just have to water occasionally. And in Raleigh, you won’t even need to water.
I live in Houston, I would hope that this stuff can grow here. Its amazing that it would need watering, considering the ample amount of rainfall we receive here every year. Epically this year.
Will this grow in south florida? We get tons of rain so water wont be an issue.
What happened to the good ol days of push mowers?
I “cheated” and got the fescue seeds from a seed distributor. This was a lot cheaper, but obivously the mixes of the fescues were not the same as “eco-lawn” as this remains proprietary. While it is true the grass remained browner later in the summer I can live with it. However, I had to cut my backyard(100 % fescue) 2 times this summer. This is a real boon as I only have a push mower.
Dang, I might have to get some of this for my yard, especially since it doesn’t need water in Raleigh.
What is the big deal? A fescue blend is more drought tolerant and requires less mowing. The roots of a grass will grow
very deep if the soil has not been nuked with lots of chemicals that have killed the microorganisms.
If it grows four times slower than other grasses, then it is likely that it uses four times less CO2 in a period of time. I wonder if it’s really that eco-friendly. Granted, I’m all for stopping our CO2 emissions..
What about roots and shade? We live surrounded by our neighbors’ beautiful but shadey and rooty oak trees. We can’t seem to get sod of any sort to grow consistently. I love this idea, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed!
Hi Lyn -
Eco-lawn will grow in shady or sunny conditions. I’m not sure regarding roots - great question.
Hi, I was wondering if this grass would work well in a place with heavy foot traffic?
What fescue seeds do you ask for in a seed store to get the kind of low maintenance, low growing yard being discussed here? I’ve seen the ads for very expensive “eco lawns” and have avoided it just for the cost.
Would eco-lawn do well in Sedona, AZ?
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