No mow grass or other alternatives?

[JBJ]

Hi all. I’ve got an area in my garden which was cleared of weeds/trees last year. It’s about 5m x 3m and is currently covered with a tarp to kill off any weeds leftover. It’s uneven, and I want to keep it like that.

What I’d like is a nice green area, shrubs around the edges (it’s in a corner bordered by fence/wall), bit of a rockery area, plants dotted around, a fire pit towards the edge near the seating I’m putting in and some green. Don’t want grass that needs mowing/maintaining, but more of a “wild” area. I’ve seen the wildflower turf, which appeals, but the price is eye watering! Is there a type of turf/moss I could get which wouldn’t grow too tall? Don’t mind a quick strim a couple of times a year, but I’m not wanting to mow regularly.

Thanks!

In a word, no.

google treneague chamomile lawn and see if you like it. Generally, no mowing is required for that type of chamomile apparently. im not sure it’ll be as flat as grass but perhaps others more knowledgeable will know.

Thanks. Yeah that looks like the kind of thing I’m after. I don’t want a manicured look, I want it to be a little wild corner that looks deliberately overgrown.

One man's weed is another man's wildflower.

It would become overgrown with weeds I think? I had some moss lawn and it was pretty weedy. Nice and soft to walk on though. It became very patchy from pulling out the dandelions and the mossy lawn not growing fast enough (shady spot).

Clover lawn! Low mow, really pretty and amazing for bees and butterflies. Also drought resistant.

Anything like a chamomile or clover lawn that's not mown will need constant weeding.

Clover lawn would work. White clover is best for bees.

I’d rather weed than mow tbh. Main reason I don’t want to have to mow (apart from the fact I don’t own a lawnmower!) is that I’m wanting to place rocks, plants etc and have grass all in between, so it’s going to be a pig to get a lawnmower in between it all. Maybe it’d be easier to go for artificial grass! Not so great for the wildlife, but easier.

How much if a gardener are you? Will you be able to work out which are the aggressive weeds before they get established in a wildflower garden? If not then maybe you could do a sort of fake wildflower meadow and get the look but with slightly better behaved mix of plants which will block out the soil to stop weeds getting in.

A chamomile lawn is very hard work to start up and maintain and can't be walked on too much. Clover often dies back in the winter and comes back in spring so you might have bare patches if you don't also have grass. Creeping thyme is another possibility but it likes sunny, well drained soil and isn't suitable for walking on too much. Will be more expensive than grass. TBH I think if any were a brilliant replacement for grass then everyone would have them. Also if you have grass anywhere near by that goes to seed then you'll probably be weeding grass as much as anything.

If you want it wild you could plant ox eye daisies all through it, they grow easily from seed and spread like wildfire on any bare patches, then you can strim at the end of summer. If you have grass in with them it just looks meadowy because they are tall. Maybe have some other tall perennials like scabious and common knapweed. A lot of wild flower turf has grass in with it as well.

I have rocks round a pond next to the wild bit of my garden and the grass doesn't seem to spread into there.

Don't go for fake grass!

Ive given up on wildflowers. Im encouraging the nettles because insects love them.
Its the time of year to plant bare root shrubs and trees.

Not much of a gardener at all at present. It’s a chunk of garden which won’t be walked on e et really, apart from probably the dog until I train him it’s a no go area. I can never tell what’s weeds and what’s not tbh. If I like the look of it I leave it be as a rule. No grass anywhere else, it’s currently wholly paved, apart from a few trees/shrubs in the border, and this area was completely overgrown until recently, but I’m on a mission to make it onto a nice garden.

Definitely not artifical grass!

How about alpines? If you're putting rocks in there, then old fashioned rockery plants would go well.

Yeah I’d thought about that. Not planning on covering the whole area with rocks though, as it’s 5m x 3m

Beware that most photos you see if lovely wildflower lawns/gardens are taken at the prime time of year, or are even AI. It's a bit of a myth that this is possible in a domestic garden. Realistically if this was easy everybody would do it! Grass lawn by far the least maintenance thus popularity.
Plastic grass looks and is terrible. You'll get flooding/bogs, it'll be hot in summer, you could still get weeds! And it needs replacing (every 15 years?). It won't be pretty and low maintenance.

I really don’t want grass that needs mowing as I’m planning on a good mixture of plants and rocks dotted around, so won’t be able to get a mower in between them easily. Just want something low maintenance to fill the gaps really. Maybe just bark chipping an and loads of plants and shrubs.

In that case please do not go for artificial grass.
What you can have success with will depend on how sunny it is, what soil you have etc. I would ditch the grass completely. If you want boulders etc what about a gravel garden?
Plant with drought tolerant ornamental grasses, perenials and some annuals (esp self seeders like love in a mist etc).
You need a sunny site for that.
Or alternatively just have a flower bed up to the patio. Get some perenials, ground cover (hardy geraniums, lambs ear etc depending on how sunny it is) as well as your shrubs. And underplant with spring bulbs and have fun with annuals.
Lawns are over rated. This is my lawn free garden!

We have a wildflower lawn. It's reasonably pretty from March to October and the insects love it, but it doesn't look anything like photos of 'wildflower lawns'. If you want the picture perfect ones with dense flowers and full of things like poppies you have to reseed every year. And it's tall - 1m plus from about June onwards.

That’s the exact look I’m after! My whole garden is completely south facing, but this area is at the very top corner with a fence/wall on 2 sides, so there’s some shade. I’m planning on shrubs (possibly Red Robin) along the edges of the fence, a fire pit in the bottom left corner (as I’m having a pergola/seating on the left hand side), with rocks all around that, and around the other edges. It’s an uneven bit of ground, which I’d prefer not to level as I’m not wanting anything that looks perfect.

This is ours at its June peak (as far as flower density is concerned, it has more variety of colours in other months).

Well, it will be when the image is approved.

I love that

I would honestly just leave it as a bed. I would mix the shrubs up a bit. Depending on the size of the plot. Lining fences is a bit municiple... what about a small tree as well? Shrubs i like are hawthorn (for flowers and berries), viburnum (gorgeous pink flowers in January that smell divine), a dwarf buddleiah (but they need pruning hard), hydrangeas. There are many others. Grow climbers up the fence. Clematis, honeysuckle etc. As its south facing good ground cover plants are hardy gernaiums, lambs ear. There are many others too, but these are great for bees. For perenials I have 3 tall ornamental grasses, salvias, rudbekia, eryngiums, heleniums, hebes, sedums and my absolute faves verbena bonasieris. I do annuals every year, sweet peas, aquliegua, sunflowers and nigella (love in a mist and this is a prolific self seeder).
It takes time to build it up. Plant small and let them spread, mulch between to keep weeds down, but you will need to weed still.

And dont forget bulbs underneath!