But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?"
- B. Dylan
The more I think of a grass lawn, the more ridiculous the concept seems. All the chemicals we dump on them (and have our kids and pets rolling around in them the same afternoon), the hours we spend maintaining them, the tremendous costs, the impact on the environment (I was told today that one lawn mower emits the same pollution as 44 autos traveling at 50mph). Why do I even have a grass lawn? And my lot is a 1/10-acre city lot, and still seems large. And besides, I like gardening - so why not turn the lawn into a garden?
And today we did that for a willing participant. We mulched an entire yard and eradicated the grass, and at the same time created potentially another inch of topsoil (naturally it would take a hundred years to build one inch). This entire yard will be developed into an edible lawn: berries, tubers, nuts, leafy vegetables, fruits... I will do this soon to my yard, although it will be in another week or two. Not the whole thing either, but maybe 15'x15' for starters. Unfortunately, the planting time for trees in Bellingham will soon be behind us, so time is of the essence.At any rate, back to do some work work, as this planting task took up much of my weekend - along with about forty other wonderful Bellinghamsters. I am always very grateful to meet these wonderful co-inhabitants of this interesting town. I two weeks there will be a follow-up bike tour in the neighborhood. And possibly a party back at my place.
4 comments:
Did you place the mulch directly on top of the grass without removing any of it or did you have to do some digging? I do not want any grass either and I am not sure what is the best way to go about it. We have a section along the road that I would like to convert to wildflowers for starters and I am researching what my first step should be.
Yes, it is quite interesting the way the cardboard is laid on top of the grass. We needed to clear some from the edges, as it is relentless and needs to be covered (we used three layers of cardboard and about 4" of mulch - all free or donated) or removed with a shovel or spade.
The lawnmower, etc. will no longer be needed, and the garden will probably require little maintenance or watering.
Cardboard (not newspaper) is best laid on top of the grass as it will break down over a period of time... The lack of sunlight will also kill off the grass while still allowing oxygen in to the soil.
Of course, you could go the whole hog Jeff, and do the Dementer or biodynamic effect~
more power to you!
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