by Lawn Reform Coalition Member Tom Christopher Like other members of the Lawn Reform Coalition, I believe that the contemporary model of lawn has got to go. It does have its virtues, though we critics tend to overlook them. For example, traditional lawn provides a relatively inexpensive and easy way to maintain large expanses of [...]
Read more in: Guest Rants, Lawn Reform
Thoughts about our garden. “We desire,” the Emporer dictated, “that in the garden there should be all kinds of plants.” Charlemagne the Gre. […]
Body: posted by Holly Scoggins Of course we want to buy locally-grown plants! There are a gazillion sound reasons to do so. In a paper that may be f. […]
While reading the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens, I stumbled upon a new (to me) trend in outdoor living: Outdoor Televisions! Phew! It’s. […]
The Mission To turn my mostly-lawn community of 1,600 townhouses, some with incredibly large yards, into a place with gardens that benefit the environment and humans, too. We do have large trees and lots of geometrically shaped hedges, but that’s about it, except for the houses on the perimeter...
Read more in: Lawn Reform, Real Gardens
Susan asked in a post whether we should blame Frederick Law Olmsted for the popularity of lawn in the U.S., and we have an answer by guest ranter Thomas Mickey. Recent posts have appeared on this site that blasted the American obsession with the lawn. I have no problem...
Read more in: Guest Rants, Lawn Reform
Time for a follow-up to my recent criticism of the all-turf American front yard, which we can thank Olmsted for popularizing both in parks and in front of homes. When commissioned to design a new town, he mandated 30-foot setbacks from the street. Readers here know that front yards...
Read more in: Designs, Tricks, and Schemes, Lawn ReformFor Valentine's Day, Timber Books has invited some bloggers to write anti-valentines to lawns, to help spread the word about Beautiful No-Mow Yards. (Click here to see the anti-Valentines of my blogging buddies.) I'll start with a photo that shows lawn at its most perfect and ridiculous. Next, here...
Read more in: Lawn ReformAs promised in my first post about this book, here are more photos from the book, just a few of my favorites. Above, the tiny urban back yard of DC Master Gardener Barbara Dinsmore. Photo by Lucy Dinsmore. Below, pink muhly grass in a California yard. Photo by Saxon...
Read more in: Lawn ReformIn the last year or so, we’re hearing that there are better uses for our land than turfgrass, that unless it’s needed for sport or play, you can save on resources and probably your labor, too, by switching to an array of alternatives – meadows, vegetable gardens, native grasse,...
Read more in: Everybody's a Critic, Lawn ReformBreaking news – to anyone who knows me and assumed I’d never, ever leave my garden – I’m selling it and the house it surrounds. Time to move on. Selling the Complicated Garden Any realtor will tell you that nice gardens may or may not be advantages in selling...
Read more in: Lawn Reform, Real GardensLawn Reformers are getting lots of questions about specific plants that can be used en masse to create a low, lawn-like expanse in the landscape and we're frustrated by the lack of detailed, regionally specific information about the plants people are asking about – Carexes, buffalo grass, low-input grass...
Read more in: Lawn ReformThe Garden Designers Roundtable invited the Lawn Reform Coalition to be their guest blogger(s) this month, combining forces to publish 19 articles about Lawn Replacement on the same day, and linking to each other. Great idea, designers! Scroll down for the links to those 18 other blog posts, including...
Read more in: Lawn ReformYou've seen the partying spectators for my town's July 4th Parade. Now for the turf- and gardening-related floats and people IN the parade. This group of reel-mowers have been at it for 15 or so years now, way ahead of the rest of the Lawn Reform movement. I believe...
Read more in: Gardening on the Planet, Lawn ReformBoy, this sounds familiar. A new chemical that's claimed to safely kill dandelions and other turfgrass weeds turns out to be not safe at all. This time the unintended consequence is killing nearby trees. We heard from Mother Earth News about it, asking us to spread the word that:...
Read more in: Lawn Reform, What's HappeningStandard-issue "lawn care" information is OUT. Lawn reform information is not only IN, it's important, dammit. So 15 months ago the Lawn Reform Coalition launched a website filled with alternatives to the conventional, overly perfect and supersized American lawn. Next came our Facebook page, which quickly grew to over...
Read more in: Lawn ReformTurf without management I hate to be shockable at 50–it's unseemly–but I was doing some research yesterday and was shocked to learn that Colorado State University has an entire degree program devoted to "turf management." This program is taught by actual Ph.D.s. It leads to glorious management careers, the...
Read more in: Gardening on the Planet, Lawn Reform, Ministry of ControversyAlgae in Lake Erie. Courtesy of the Ohio Sierra Club. For a state government that is generally immobilized under the weight of its own bureaucracy, inefficiency, and stupidity, the crew in Albany have shown a certain activism when it comes to horticultural regulations. I was taken by surprise when...
Read more in: Lawn Reform, Ministry of ControversyThere's a great story by Adrian Higgins in today's Washington Post titled "Lose the Lawn" – and look at it on the cover of their Local Living section! Here's the introductory story, in which Higgins weighs in with his own conclusion on the subject: "Toss the turf." (As if...
Read more in: Lawn Reform, Real GardensWe knew this was coming – the great lawns of college campuses are being challenging on environmental grounds. As Mark Hough, Duke's landscape architect, says in a recent issue of Landscape Archiecture Magazine, "Everyone now knows that high-maintenance turf must be questioned." And "The use of lawn is being...
Read more in: Lawn ReformActual words used on GardenRant to talk about what people do with their front yards: "Practically no one wants a meadow out their front door." "A meadow in a suburban development looks suspiciously like a weedy, unkempt yard at an abandoned property. Neighbors are not amused." "Mowing requires...
Read more in: Lawn ReformAll the talk about meadows we're hearing these days is great, but let's get real – practically no one wants a meadow out their front door. Or out their back door. Or anywhere they have to walk through. Which kinda leaves the back 40 for real meadows, or at...
Read more in: Lawn ReformSaxon Holt, photographer of meadows, grasses, lawn alternatives and sustainable gardens of all types, has joined us. We are now 10. We have a Facebook Page, y'all, so click here to "Like" us and follow what's happening. If you're one of the hundreds who joined our Facebook Group, sorry...
Read more in: Lawn Reform
Commented on Roses redux { I have never heard that before. What a great tip! My second most favorite rose, Therese Bugnet, is seldom bothered by Japanese beetles (or anything... } – May 24, 8:55 PM
Commented on Got Gnomes? { I'm with the gnomes, too. This makes me want more gnomes. It inspires no desire for plastic furniture. } – May 24, 6:44 PM
Commented on The Animals and Garden Amenities of Plantsman David Culp { Fabulous, beautiful garden! Thanks for sharing. I have 2 questions: What is David spraying weekly that effectively keeps deer away? What does he do to... } – May 24, 3:00 PM
Commented on The Drunken Botanist Goes to Manhattan... { The Drunken Botanist Goes to Manhattan… | Garden Rant } – May 24, 10:51 AM
Commented on The Animals and Garden Amenities of Plantsman David Culp { I have the book, and have read, and re-read it multiple times already. What a fabulous garden. But I really like the pictures you have... } – May 24, 9:36 AMWe are:
perfect
magazine
gardens.
Gardening
our
asses
off.
Having a
hell of a lot
of fun.
