When I meet with a new garden coaching client, I always come armed with information on caring for lawns lawns in sustainable ways. However, these days I find myself pulling that information out of my client packets and exchanging it for information on how to remove lawns. Reducing lawns in favor of lower maintenance, more sustainable options has been on the increase — significantly so in 2009. Whether they’re looking for groundcover alternatives, new beds or just lower maintenance, sheet mulching makes getting there easy.
Thyme is a lovely, dog-friendly lawn alternative
Fall is my favorite time to begin lawn removal programs. Why? Well, rain is abundant in the Pacific Northwest. And, we tend to spend less time lounging in the garden during the rainy season, so tearing up our lawn in fall doesn’t impact our day-to-day fun. Plus, at this time, soil microbial activity hasn’t come to a halt. So, by choosing to sheet mulch our lawns this time of year, we are able to opt for a passive removal method. We don’t break out backs with a lot of digging. We don’t run a fuel-hungry sod cutter or roto-tiller. And, we don’t have to find ways to get rid of the lawn we would otherwise dig out. Instead, the lawn nutrients are “tilled” into the soil by soil microbia, which convert this nitrogen rich organic material into forms ready for your spring plantings.
It may take a while for the garden life to complete lawn removal, but the life in the soil does the work for us during the months we’re unlikely to be using our garden. And, leaves are abundant! So, rather than putting them in yard waste or seeing them clog storm drains, collect them up and put them to use in removing your lawn and building beautiful, nutrient-rich new planting beds in time for spring.
Read more about how to remove your lawn and recycle its nutrient value into your garden here: (more…)
