"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...


Do you need a lawn for small children to play on? You could save much
water, expense and work by not having a lawn. There are alternatives.

David

Do you think that establishing a large garden without lawn is cheap? I
wouldn't.

I didn't say it was cheap to establish - nor is it. But choosing based on
establishment cost alone is short sighted. Maybe it would have been
clearer
if I had said:

"In the long run you could save much water, expense and work by not having
a
lawn."

When I had small children I signed up for the full; fertilise, weed,
water,
mow, trim, rake, sweep routine. As soon as the playgym and pigtails went
so
did the lawn. The transition cost some money and effort but saved much in
the long run.

i don't entirely disagree, but i will point out that the section of my yard
which has grass (i don't think it's quite a "lawn" ;-) is the ONLY area
that: 1: never needs watering, ever 2: has few weeds 3: needs virtually no
maintenance at this point (someone mows it from time to time, & the chooks
eat it for greens when there's not much else available - so it's actually
useful too).

many grasses are low-maintenance, don't use much water, and look just as
good as other plants. buffalo (for example) doesn't need supplementary
watering & doesn't even grow for half the year (as many of them don't),
making "maintenance" virtually a non-issue.

i'm not wildly in favour of lawns per se (for one thing, they are visually
boring), but i simply cannot muster the outrage about them that some people
can. there are "good" and "bad" lawns for any situation - like any other
sort of plant, it's a question of putting something in that suits the
conditions & the people involved. the very idea of all the work
_establishing_ a decent lawn really should put anyone off g, because it's
kind of mad, but care of a lawn won't necessarily be any more
tiresome/expensive/whatnot than sprawling plants & groundcovers.

lastly, if people use their greywater, there's no lack of water whatsoever
for a yard of ordinary (or even quite large) size, regardless of what one is
growing. all other things being equal, a well-watered garden will save your
house from bushfire; and if bushfire is a risk, lawn is a better bet than a
bed of dry natives that will go up like christmas.

(i think that last bit might be All About Me g, but it's an example of
lawn being far superior to garden beds full of "waterwise" plants in some
situations).
kylie