Front lawn alternatives - do you have one?

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I like to hear from people who have an alternative lawn (eg thyme, chamomile). What is it actually like, how easy is it to maintain?

Inspired by the hedging thread, one of my plans this year is to remove a massively overgrown shrub (car-sized...) and replace with a hedge.

Which will leave ground needing covering. Currently the front lawn is grass so I could just lay more grass to cover the gap. But is there an even lower maintainance option that is wildlife friendly?

It doesn't get walked on, as there's a path. Afternoon sun although some bits stay shady. Suburban.

My front lawn is, initially unintentionally, clover. It’s lovely. The bees love the flowers, it’s constantly lush green, even in the hottest hosepipe ban weather, and I only have to give it an occasional mow over when the small amounts of remaining grass get too long and make it look messy.

That sounds lovely
Is a clover lawn hardy though, eg if you get hard winters with frosts for months? Is it deciduous in the winter or is it evergreen?

We had to change our into an occasional driveway (brick frame with granite chips) as we have visitors and our own cars and parking near us is awful.
However we've decided to get some lovely (yet to find)! Planters and plant some flowers and shrubs

I have a curved path through a herb garden at the front where I took out an annoyingly small grass patch (it was more moss than grass anyway).
It's sequentially planted so something of interest is always happening.
Right now, crocuses and muscari are just sprouting, and Hellebores and mahonia are in flower.
By spring, daffodils and tulips will take over from the other bulbs and the lavender, rosemary and blackcurrants will scent the garden beautifully.
Come summer, the curry plants along the path will smell delicious, and there'll be loads of chives to pick for salads.
I have a row of ferns and a row of Iceplants that contrast beautifully for autumn colour, and the moss that was a problem in the lawn is a nice bit of winter colour in the mixed border.
I've tried to make it so there's always something that would interest a passing bee any day of the year, and so I can usually pick something from the garden to enhance the flavour of a meal.

It's fairly low maintenance too, about 20 minutes a week tops (not even every week) when I'm putting the bins out.

No plans to covert to a drive, I already have one sufficient for my needs.

When i say low maintenance, i should point out i dont even mow my own front lawn... (My neighbour does it) (I don't even own a mower anymore. I'm not adverse to having one again but would probably pay someone else to do it if/when my neighbour stops.)

Ww converted our front lawn to a meadow/orchard in 2020.

Stripped the grass. Replanted with dwarf fruit trees, spring bulbs, yellow rattle and mixed native flowers (low growing/mowable mix - we don't mow it but that mix means it doesn't overwhelm the trees). It gets a strim in mid autumn, leave for a week for the seeds to fall out, rake, then mow once or twice over November/December so it's short in January for the bulbs.

Fair bit of work to establish, but minimal ongoing effort.

Grass is the lowest maintenance, easiest to care for, and one of the best for wildlife, so I'd stick with that.

My friend had a camomile lawn which looked and felt gorgeous to walk on, but I've no idea what the maintenance was like.

We had snow down for two weeks recently, and -7 temps, the clover is fine. Still lush green. It’s very handy. It’s much easier to care for than the back lawn and stays green all year round.

From my experience of trying out different types of lawn -

Chamomile lawns are patchy and straggly. They don't like it too dry or too wet and need rich soil and sun. They don't do well with mowing so weeds pop up, and you can't use a lawn weedkiller so the area must be weeded by hand.

Clover - as above but it can be mown. It doesn't grow so well in shade. It will revert to a perennial becoming dormant if the weather becomes too cold, leaving bare patches. It needs reseeding every few years.

Thyme needs sun and maintenance - weeding by hand and clipped back to keep a dense covering. Plants need replacing every few years or become unsightly.

The easiest lawn I have found for a shady/ part shady area is starting off with a grass lawn and letting moss become established over time. Then not mowing too closely. Moss patches are very easy to pick up from the soil elsewhere in the garden and establish in another spot to fill in any patches, as long as initially well-watered.

This really. Unless you replace the shrub with bulbs that will come through in spring, and something like a hebe or two that will flower for the bees and provide some cover for wildlife. But you'd have to weed that area or mulch with woodchip. If you don't like gardening - just have lawn.

I’m converting my newly laid turf lawn to clover (new build house). Started a year ago by just sprinkling seeds on during spring. Then in early autumn I did the same, targeting patches I’d missed.

All the other lawns around me went yellow and died around the edges during summer. Mine looked like I was watering daily! (I wasn’t). Even now, it’s looking much greener than my neighbours.

my kids love doing cartwheels on it! They say it feels my nicer than grass.

Ive put in crocuses, so hoping they’ll pop up in the next month or two.