Letting it go: (and fires)
 

It looked kind of strange having a lawn that ended abruptly turning into a
5' high weedy area. Mostly it was turning to blackberry and thorny vines,
and then eventually honeysuckle that strangled everything. I can show you
honeysuckle vines I saved that were 2" in diameter that literally cut oak
saplings in half. There was also a tremendous fire danger in the fall and
winter when all the sedge (sage?) grass turned dry. Not knowing what else

Check out http://www.firewise.org/ -- good stuff on the website, even
better stuff in the publications catalog, esp. the landscaping books
and videos.

As far as "looking strange", consider a planned landscape with more
formal lawn/garden areas near the house, transitioning to informal,
(perhaps knee high grassy/wildflower areas with a few shrubs that can
be burned or brushhogged once in awhile) transitioning to natural
but maintained. A few paths carved into the natural areas help with
maintenance and also with the visual transition. And plan in some
firebreaks.

Kay Lancaster

Letting it go: (and fires)
 

On 04/15/2004 05:42 PM, Kay Lancaster said:
It looked kind of strange having a lawn that ended abruptly turning into a
5' high weedy area. Mostly it was turning to blackberry and thorny vines,
and then eventually honeysuckle that strangled everything. I can show you
honeysuckle vines I saved that were 2" in diameter that literally cut oak
saplings in half. There was also a tremendous fire danger in the fall and
winter when all the sedge (sage?) grass turned dry. Not knowing what else


Check out http://www.firewise.org/ -- good stuff on the website, even
better stuff in the publications catalog, esp. the landscaping books
and videos.

As far as "looking strange", consider a planned landscape with more
formal lawn/garden areas near the house, transitioning to informal,
(perhaps knee high grassy/wildflower areas with a few shrubs that can
be burned or brushhogged once in awhile) transitioning to natural
but maintained. A few paths carved into the natural areas help with
maintenance and also with the visual transition. And plan in some
firebreaks.


That's pretty much what I do. Lawn by the house, then a section of
tall grass meadow, and trees beyond that. I cut paths through the
tall grass, and cut the whole area every fall or every other fall,
to keep the brambles from moving in. I'm working in some
wildflowers into the tall grass area, but that's still in the
experimental stage.

There's a series of pictures here, but it doesn't show the paths
that well. I really like the look (although some friends strongly
disagree!), and I love finding what new wildflowers appear on their
own when you just let the lawn go:

http://www.joekaz.net/photos/panoram...ck_030517.html

--
Joe
http://www.joekaz.net/
http://www.cafeshops.com/joekaz