Garden Lawns - Old fashioned?

[Fungkew]

I can’t help but think the lawn is primarily a waste of space.
Always strikes me as something people maintain to keep up appearances rather than something they actually want.
I hate seeing a ‘perfectly manicured’ lawn in the knowledge that it has most likely had no end of fertiliser, weed killer etc applied to achieve its perfect appearance. In my opinion they are very dated and the space could be put to far better use.
Hopefully younger generations will put this space to better use. Most people probably don’t even consider that grass seed is a plant that is supposed to grow tall, not have its head chopped off every couple of weeks. The clover that grows among it is natural. What’s with this horrendous human obsession with perfection. It’s just soulless and anti nature.
I hope that the younger generations replace it with something more useful and environmentally friendly, unlike their mindless predecessors.
Dont even get me started on artificial turf…

@MereDintofPandiculation

The OP is specifically talking about perfectly manicured lawns with not a weed in sight.

She is not talking specifically about that type of lawn. She just mentioned she hates lawns and they are old fashioned (FFS) 🙄She didn't say natural lawns are fine. Her general consensus is that real grass lawns are a waste of space. Ludicrous thing to say.

Chewbecca
I hate the concept that a lawn is 'old fashioned' or really the whole idea of fashion in gardens, suggesting that plants and landscaping must regularly be dug up and binned and replaced with something more fashionable.

Exactly. What's the alternative? Block paving, or a gravel drive, or the lawn(s) concreted or tarmacked over? With half a dozen planters, full of naff fake plants! (Because you can bet the 'I hate lawns brigade' hate growing plants too.)

Or even worse, FAKE GRASS! boak 😖

What kind of hipster must you be to think that grass is old fashioned, and 'dated?' LMFAO! 😆

And who gets to say what is 'fashionable?'

I love my lawn. I don’t use any chemicals on it, just mow it every fortnight. Very low maintenance.

I’m struggling to think of an environmentally friendly alternative!

I follow someone on Instagram who has taken out all the grass in her garden and relaxed it with paths that wind through large borders and planting. It looks amazing but she had to get in bulldozers and lay down all the paths, so not easy to do and probably a lot of work to maintain.

@MereDintofPandiculation good to know!! We're still deep in toddler/baby stage so njst need it flat and safe for playing and for me laying on a blanket lol we are lucky enough to have mature trees I love your woodland idea

I disagree, Pan, I think she's talking about lawns in general. Here's the start of the OP -

I can’t help but think the lawn is primarily a waste of space.
Always strikes me as something people maintain to keep up appearances rather than something they actually want.

For most people it is not a waste of space or for appearances, it is a practical and busy area.

Pets, children, washing lines, climbing frames, paddling pools, football nets, swingball, badminton nets, sand pits, tents and play dens, lawn games... a lawn is the most used part of a garden for very many families. I like a game of petanque myself, even if the lawn isn't terribly flat)

It needs mowing maybe once a fortnight (except for May, when no one should be mowing), there's no watering, feeding, weeding, pruning etc, so it is far less work than deep borders filled with planting.

I am lucky enough to have space in my city garden for a lawn, mature trees, fruit and vegetable garden, shrubs and a long grasas meadow patch, so I do value diversity, and sustainability. But I'd not write off the value of a lawn, especially for those with younger children.

Yes, OP goes on to mention mono-culture titivated lawns, but those are vanishingly rare these days. Bowling green lawns can't cope with climate change. I don't know anyone who strives for 'perfection' in a lawn.

I do think perfectly manicured lawns with the stripes going down are old fashioned though.

I shall email Wimbledon and tell em😂

The bowling green type lawn was absolutely the norm where I lived (large Midlands village) - at least in the front gardens. Yes, I’m sure back lawns hare used for the ‘practical reasons’ you list, but front gardens generally aren’t, especially in estates where a covenant means they have to be unfenced. They were chemically treated, obsessively tended, mown to within an inch of their lives, watered, and competitively gossiped over. My tolerance for clover, buttercups and daisies in mine was a local scandal.

Fair enough - very few houses in my neighbourhood have front lawns. Most are gravel or paved drives with herbaceous beds and hedges. The lawns are all at the back.

That wasn't a tangent, since the OP was specifically commenting on lawns which were maintained by chemicals.

If we took away the lawn, the guinea pigs would revolt 😅

I love my lawn, it's not huge but has space for a washing line up each side, thr pig cage, the football net, the yoga mat and countless other things. We are past the swings, slide and trampoline stage but still use the lawn every day (when it's not raining).

I am sat looking at it now and there is a jackdaw poking around for what he can find.

It's not perfect but it suits us.

I checked her post before replying. She said I hate seeing a ‘perfectly manicured’ lawn in the knowledge that it has most likely had no end of fertiliser, weed killer etc applied to achieve its perfect appearance.

Agree with you in rejecting the idea of "fashion" in gardens. It undoubtedly exists, and it affects what plants are easily available, but I wouldn't grow something purely because it was fashionable, although I expect I'm as susceptible as the next person to suddenly seeing the virtue in grasses, or prairie planting, or Verbena bonariense, or Geranium "Roxanne" or whatever the 2024 fashion is.

I agree too on fake grass

But really I really can't agree with the rest of your post. As an alternative to the manicured, chemicalled traditional lawn you can have a flower rich lawn, a lawn of chamomile or other alternatives, bark, a gravel garden, planting either formal or semi formal. I can understand wanting an area of grass in the back garden, but unless you're in a back-to-back, most people don't sit out on their front lawn or encourage their pre-school children to play there, and there are many alternative treatments to the square of immaculate grass with possibly a narrow border round the edge.

And your statement "Because you can bet the 'I hate lawns brigade' hate growing plants too." seems way off the mark. It's often because people enjoy growing plants that they find the manicured lawn so boring. And the lawn-defenders on this thread have repeatedly said that borders are more labour intensive - those of us who enjoy plants also delight in tending them.

What kind of hipster must you be to think that grass is old fashioned, and 'dated?' @Rondel explained that well.

And who gets to say what is 'fashionable?' Garden designers and planstmen/women, I think initiate it. It would be ridiculous to say that fashion in gardens doesn't exist.

But that's not the highly manicured lawn that OP was talking about.

High tick area. I assume they come in on cats, foxes, rats, mice, hedgehogs......

@Rondel We'll have to disagree in our understanding of whet she's saying.

Yes, OP goes on to mention mono-culture titivated lawns, but those are vanishingly rare these days. Doesn't that agree with her thesis that the perfectly manicured lawn is old fashioned?

You yourself say "no-one should mow their lawn in May" That would have been unthinkable 20 years ago. The fashion for no-mow May is very new.

I follow someone on Instagram who has taken out all the grass in her garden and relaxed it with paths that wind through large borders and planting. It looks amazing but she had to get in bulldozers and lay down all the paths, so not easy to do and probably a lot of work to maintain. Not necessary to get bulldozers in for the paths, and a densely planted border is not a lot of work to maintain. Dense planting means the weeds can't get a hold, and even if one manages it, it's not noticeable amongst all the rest. And there's a degree of flexibility over the work you do - you don't have to regularly mow it once a fortnight, and mowing twice a week is definitely out of fashion if this thread is anything to go by

Love a lawn, it is the focal point of the garden.

Have very busy extended borders with hedging, shrubs, flowers, trees etc plus the patio of course but an area of nice grass is lovely to look at and of course great for the Ddogs to run around on.

Only use natural (organic) fertiliser and we never apply weedkiller.
Maintenance is simple. Mowing & trimming takes under an hour a week and no, we don't cut it low as we want to actually feel the grass under our feet (hate seeing people scalping their lawns and then moaning they aren't green & lush like ours).

The birds love a lawn as it is a great source of worms plus they can wander around in the open with confidence while keeping an eye open for predators (neighbours cats).
The birds are quite at home with Ddogs and take no notice of them, they often get within a couple of feet of each other (until small Ddog finds it too much and just HAS to chase the feathered creature in her personal space!).

If we had a small garden then I guess it would have to be a compromise but I think I would still want an area of lawn.
As it is, that is not an issue for us.

Fake grass is a non-word in our house. Cannot see the point at all.

OK, fair enough. I'm not in a high tick area and don't need to worry about them.

We have a large garden and it would be too much without the lawn

This sounds fab - can you share their insta?

Sounds lovely.
As another user stated, I am primarily referring to the manicured lawns that folk maintain in their front gardens but rarely use. I agree that many do make use of their lawn.
To have abundant shrubs and flowers in a border or dotted throughout your garden is lovely and it gives nature a little boost too.
I don’t think the new housing estates are particularly appealing when they are left as rectangular lawns, surrounded by a bare fence. Why not add some variety?

Apologies, I do not know where I have stated, or ever would, that concrete/gravel/astroturf or any equivalent would be remotely appealing. I am referring to adding more shrubs and plants instead of just lawn. Using no fertiliser and allowing your lawn to grow.
You have completely mistaken my post, apologies if I was obtuse.

Hello Fungkew,

Some years ago an article was published in HortWeek magazine as a result of some research which found that walking barefoot on grass can actually reduce blood pressure.

Happy gardening
TheSustainableGardener 👩‍🌾

Thank you - but I was responding to what you said in your first post, and your thread title. And that is that lawns are outdated, and people have them purely 'to keep up appearances.' I found that a bit bizarre and wacky. Thanks for clarifying.