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…

Where on EARTH do you live @Rondel ? On the set of Desperate Housewives? I don't know a single SOUL who is obsessive over their front lawn(s), cutting within an inch of its life, and gossiping about other peoples front lawns!

What a bizarre take on what peoples front lawns are like. God forbid people have attractive neat lawns with a few daisies and dandelions in for the bees and butterflies! Oh the horror! clutches pearls furiously

What a bizarre post, and a gross exaggeration of many peoples front gardens/front lawns. 🙄

You - and several others - clearly have some kind of issues with people having front lawns, but I genuinely cannot fathom why! Never seen anything or heard like it in real life ever.

A lawn is less work than more beds and paths that need weeding and there is no need to do anything other than quickly mow (no weed killer or fertiliser or anything). so I totally disagree. It’s the least demanding and most rewarding part of my garden.

I've got a small lawn, which is practical as I can dry washing. The lawn isn't much wider than the rotary line! People can also sit on it. I'm trying to grow daisies in it at the moment which I grew from seeds. I'd love to have a lawn of daisies if I can get the seedlings to spread. They haven't yet. I've got lots of flowers along the edge of it

the single marsh orchid that appeared about 7 years ago has increased to 79 flower spikes this year.

@MereDintofPandiculation is that just not because of all the rain? They seem to be everywhere i go this year

I like my back garden lawn but I hate the part at the front which is 100% a keeping up appearances thing. Still wondering what I should do with it. It would be great for growing fruit but I guess people will nick it

Yes, it’s been a good year for orchids, but these have been showing a steady increase year on year since the mowing stopped. While the land was being mowed, there were no orchids to be seen, and precious little of anything else

My perception is the other way round. If I weed a bed, that’s it for a few months. If I mow the lawn, it needs doing again a week later

I can’t help but think the lawn is primarily a waste of space.

football pitch, badminton court, gymnastics mat, climbing frame holder, picnic space, wrestling mat, cricket pitch, yoga space, sunbathing spot....

Wow, how do you keep your beds weed free for 3 months or more. Never heard of that.

Yes agree, weeds pop up here all the time. That’s why I can’t face more beds and am eyeing some up to turn into lawn

Me too, beds are a huge amount of work in my garden, lawn so much easier.

Weeds pop up daily in my beds!

We have a lawn to the back small garden and i love it. I don’t see them as old fashioned. No weed killer: Mowed twice a month maybe. The birds love it and always insects around. Great also when it rains.

I’m going to add another border at the back of it next year but we have a flower bed and lots of planters with various types in them. It’s a work in progress…

Our front is a drive area that was concreted over before we got it. Many in my street are the same. Not huge front gardens anyway so no real lawns more flower beds. This hasn’t affected the price of houses either house prices are £100-130k more than what we paid 7 years ago.

My house is 600 years old. Inside and out, everything about it is dated, which is just the way we like it. If the lawn didn't look old-fashioned I think the wisteria, lavender and cobbles would do the trick. Ours might be an extreme example but I don't see why a victorian or 20th century house shouldn't look like it belongs in its setting too, by virtue of timeless gardens such as lawns and borders. A lawn is a family's green lung, why must it be a question of fashion? Why should a garden look modern unless that's your aesthetic of choice?
Plastic 'grass' on the other hand is the Devil's work and should be banned.

Hello All,

Common spotted orchid in the Alpine Meadow at Wisley this year.

Happy gardening
ThesistainableGardener

I doubt whether they’re weed free but the beds are densely planted and it takes that long for the weeds to make their presence felt.

W

Hello MereDintofPandiculation,

I completed agree

Maintained in the traditional way, cutting, edging, weeding, feeding, watering, aerating, scarifying, clearing leaves 🍂 in the autumn and pest and diseases control a lawn is the most labour intensive feature in the garden.

Happy gardening
👩‍🌾

We had one big lawn when we moved in - we dug up a quarter of it for a patio and have split the remaining in 2 by putting a path in the middle.

I love the grass. Nieces and nephews like playing on it, it's so nice to have some colour out there even in winter and we're not fussy over it so it's low maintenance.
It's not perfect (or flat) but I don't care, plus we regularly get birds hopping around it pulling up worms/bugs.

I've got various pots and planters and eventually I'd like to add some beds around the edges.

I wish I had some grass at the front too but it was all paved over when we bought the house.

I don't think lawns look old fashioned at all.

Love our lawn. DS plays football and swing ball, I lie on a picnic rug to read. Very low maintenance, we just move it every two weeks.

What’s the alternative, concrete it over?

Oh I don’t do all that. No wonder you find beds easier, goodness. I’ve Never fed, aerated, weeded or watered my lawn and it’s superb. We cut it in spring and summer, early autumn from once a week to every two or three. Strim the edges. Blow the leaves once in winter that’s it. Do people actually go out and weed their lawns?

I don't even know what scarifying a lawn involves, so I'm probably not doing it. I just mow it.

Agree with all of this.

I do generally prefer a more wild garden, but it's never crossed my mind that a lawn is dated / old fashioned. I have a lot of wildness in my garden (wild sections, and the perimiter around the lawn) but I need the open space for all the reasons @ToplessWordle mentions.

Lawn would never put me off a house. Lots of concrete / slabbing absolutely would.

And I agree, I hate artificial grass.

We swapped our old electric mower for a push type when we worked out how much £s in electricity it was costing us to cut the grass.
So much better with the push mower for our pockets and the environment.
our lawn is full of moss and clover. We get a lot of slugs which means we also have hedgehogs. Would not swap out lawn for anything else

No. Possible alternatives have been discussed in the thread.

Do people actually go out and weed their lawns? Yes. Lots of people appear on this board wanting to know of an easy way to get dandelions or buttercup out of the lawns. And garden centres sell lots of “weed and feed” products.