Hello again Westside Gardeners!
We are currently into spring, though other parts of the country are not. This means our daytime and nighttime temperatures have risen. Spring bulbs and fruit trees are blooming, and our lawns are attempting to green up.
For decades the lawn has been the common denominator in California gardens. All too often this is simply because turfgrass is the default choice for covering flat surfaces. The lawn has also remained popular because it performs many functions in our landscapes.
It serves as a play area, an outdoor room or as an additional horizontal surface to handle overflow from hardscapes such as patios.
Turf provides a connective tissue between different plantings, materials, pathways and levels in the garden. It can be a green canvas that surrounds beds, mounds and other sculptural features.
A turfgrass lawn may be versatile, but it has drawbacks. Here in the Westside our weather leans towards a desert climate. Turfgrass here offers minimal aesthetic interest, generates substantial green waste and is virtually useless to wildlife.
Foot for foot it requires more water, labor, fertilizer, pest control, herbicide and equipment than almost any other type of garden installation.a
For these and other reasons, many Californians are seeking plants and designs that offer an alternative to the traditional lawn.
In my next column, I will discuss practical solutions to help create a vibrant garden with little to no turfgrass.
