In our back yard we have a very small lawn about (10ft by 20ft) that needs
mowing weekly and sometimes twice weekly in summer.

Now I'm looking for lower maintenance so everything can be left unattended
for weeks at a time if were out of town. I have a neighbor that "may" mow
the rear lawn for us if he has time and remembers and I don't want to hire a
service for that small area. Our HOA takes care of the front lawn and
plants.
I could simply expand our back patio and cover the current lawn area with
concrete, but since we already have automatic sprinklers set up, I'm
considering replacing the lawn with low-maintenance groundcover than can be
walked on and that we could ocassionally place outdoor furniture on for an
evening without killing it.
We want to be able to simply set our automatic sprinklers on a timer and not
have to attend to it more than a few times a year with fertilizer and
trimming.
Recommedations for ground cover and how to get rid of the grass so it does
not interfere with the new ground cover?

"Kevin" wrote in message
...
In our back yard we have a very small lawn about (10ft by 20ft) that needs
mowing weekly and sometimes twice weekly in summer.

Now I'm looking for lower maintenance so everything can be left unattended
for weeks at a time if were out of town. I have a neighbor that "may" mow
the rear lawn for us if he has time and remembers and I don't want to hire
a service for that small area. Our HOA takes care of the front lawn and
plants.
I could simply expand our back patio and cover the current lawn area with
concrete, but since we already have automatic sprinklers set up, I'm
considering replacing the lawn with low-maintenance groundcover than can
be walked on and that we could ocassionally place outdoor furniture on for
an evening without killing it.
We want to be able to simply set our automatic sprinklers on a timer and
not have to attend to it more than a few times a year with fertilizer and
trimming.
Recommedations for ground cover and how to get rid of the grass so it does
not interfere with the new ground cover?


You didn't mention where you live, so this response is maybe 50% wrong, but:
Don't water the lawn beginning in late spring. Then, it may behave like
grass in the wild, stop growing, turn brown, and wait for cooler weather.
That works here in Rochester NY. Or, I should say "it happens in some
years". If the grass was mowed correctly throughout spring, it comes back
nicely in the fall. By correctly, I mean with the mower at it's highest
setting.

Kevin wrote:

In our back yard we have a very small lawn about (10ft by 20ft) that needs
mowing weekly and sometimes twice weekly in summer.

Now I'm looking for lower maintenance so everything can be left unattended
for weeks at a time if were out of town. I have a neighbor that "may" mow
the rear lawn for us if he has time and remembers and I don't want to hire a
service for that small area. Our HOA takes care of the front lawn and
plants.
I could simply expand our back patio and cover the current lawn area with
concrete, but since we already have automatic sprinklers set up, I'm
considering replacing the lawn with low-maintenance groundcover than can be
walked on and that we could ocassionally place outdoor furniture on for an
evening without killing it.
We want to be able to simply set our automatic sprinklers on a timer and not
have to attend to it more than a few times a year with fertilizer and
trimming.
Recommedations for ground cover and how to get rid of the grass so it does
not interfere with the new ground cover?

To get rid of the grass, use an herbicide that is specific to
grass. I use Sethoxidem. The Poast brand is now only available
bulk quantities for agricultural use. But I found the same
herbicide in Grass Getter. This works only if you keep the grass
growing; water it but don't feed it.

I am planting pink clover (Persicaria capitata) in the main part of
my front lawn. This will thrive despite significant shade over
much of the area, but it also grows quite well in full sun. This
is a nice ground cover for looking, but it doesn't take much
walking. It will eventually grow about 3-4 inches thick. Pink
clover is hardy to about 13°F. Its name comes from the flower
heads (year round in my garden) that are pale pink and look like
the blossoms of white clover.

I am planting cinquefoil (Potentilla neumanniana) in the parkway,
between the sidewalk and the street. This requires more sun than
the pink clover but does okay with part shade. It will survive
with light foot traffic. This stays quite low, about 1-2 inches
thick. Cinquefoil is hardy to 0°F. These have small yellow
blossoms, mostly from the late spring to mid-autumn.

Both the pink clover and cinquefoil remain undamaged if you have to
use more Sethoxidem to control grass. After they are established,
they generally choke out weeds; but some hand weeding may still be
necessary. Also, they require frequent trimming at the edges
(about once every 4-6 weeks during the growing season); otherwise,
they can become invasive.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at URL:http://www.rossde.com/garden/

I am in an area with hot, sunny and dry summers and mild wet winters with
occasional overnight frost during winter that melts in daylight.

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"Kevin" wrote in message
...
In our back yard we have a very small lawn about (10ft by 20ft) that
needs mowing weekly and sometimes twice weekly in summer.

Now I'm looking for lower maintenance so everything can be left
unattended for weeks at a time if were out of town. I have a neighbor
that "may" mow the rear lawn for us if he has time and remembers and I
don't want to hire a service for that small area. Our HOA takes care of
the front lawn and plants.
I could simply expand our back patio and cover the current lawn area with
concrete, but since we already have automatic sprinklers set up, I'm
considering replacing the lawn with low-maintenance groundcover than can
be walked on and that we could ocassionally place outdoor furniture on
for an evening without killing it.
We want to be able to simply set our automatic sprinklers on a timer and
not have to attend to it more than a few times a year with fertilizer and
trimming.
Recommedations for ground cover and how to get rid of the grass so it
does not interfere with the new ground cover?


You didn't mention where you live, so this response is maybe 50% wrong,
but: Don't water the lawn beginning in late spring. Then, it may behave
like grass in the wild, stop growing, turn brown, and wait for cooler
weather. That works here in Rochester NY. Or, I should say "it happens in
some years". If the grass was mowed correctly throughout spring, it comes
back nicely in the fall. By correctly, I mean with the mower at it's
highest setting.

Hi Kevin,

Instead of using chemicals to kill the grass, the roots of which you'll have to dig out anyway, use a flat shovel to scrape off the grass or rent a sod stripper/cutter. For such a small area you don't need a power one.
http://www.quail-mfg.com/sodcutter.htm

Add some compost you can get in bags at a home improvement center or nursery. A 2" to 3" cover will do and mix it in with a shovel and smooth with a garden rake.
http://www.davedupler.com/garden/Rakes1.jpg

Calculate how much compost you'll need here.
http://www.cedar-grove.com/calculator.asp

Since you don't say where you live or the sun conditions it would be difficult to say what to plant. Take a look here for ideas of stepables. For a sunny area I like creeping thyme if it's hardy in your zone. You might want to consider something that is evergreen.
http://stepables.com/
http://classygroundcovers.com/

You can find your hardiness zone here.
http://www.garden.org/zipzone/

If you do mailorder you can check references here. You can also search for nurseries by state.
http://davesgarden.com/gwd/

Newt

"Kevin" wrote in message ...
In our back yard we have a very small lawn about (10ft by 20ft) that needs
mowing weekly and sometimes twice weekly in summer.

Now I'm looking for lower maintenance so everything can be left unattended
for weeks at a time if were out of town. I have a neighbor that "may" mow
the rear lawn for us if he has time and remembers and I don't want to hire a
service for that small area. Our HOA takes care of the front lawn and
plants.
I could simply expand our back patio and cover the current lawn area with
concrete, but since we already have automatic sprinklers set up, I'm
considering replacing the lawn with low-maintenance groundcover than can be
walked on and that we could ocassionally place outdoor furniture on for an
evening without killing it.
We want to be able to simply set our automatic sprinklers on a timer and not
have to attend to it more than a few times a year with fertilizer and
trimming.
Recommedations for ground cover and how to get rid of the grass so it does
not interfere with the new ground cover?

I was hoping to give you some ideas for a low maintenance garden, but
I'm not long home from work and have just seen the state of the front
garden - all the grass has been taken away and my husband has replaced
it with pebbles and scattered plant pots - I don't like it yet so I'll
be heading off to the garden centre this afternoon for groundcover
plants. My selection is quite limited as we live in a fairly cold
climate and the westerly winds are salt-laiden (fine for the golfers
but not for residential gardens. If you get any ideas for the garden
I'd appreciate any help. Is this what is known as "a senior moment"?

Maureen, oh my! These two sites will be helpful for ideas. You can select by zone and sun conditions since you didn't mention them.
http://stepables.com/
http://classygroundcovers.com/

Good luck,
Newt

Newt wrote in message ...
maureen Wrote:

...I'm not long home from work and have just seen the state of the
front garden - all the grass has been taken away and my husband has
replaced it with pebbles and scattered plant pots - I don't like it yet
so I'll be heading off to the garden centre this afternoon for
groundcover
plants. My selection is quite limited as we live in a fairly cold
climate and the westerly winds are salt-laiden (fine for the golfers
but not for residential gardens. If you get any ideas for the garden
I'd appreciate any help. Is this what is known as "a senior moment"?


Maureen, oh my! These two sites will be helpful for ideas. You can
select by zone and sun conditions since you didn't mention them.
http://stepables.com/
http://classygroundcovers.com/

Good luck,
Newt

Newt

Living on the West Coast of Scotland we can have the four seasons in
one day, but I'll have a look at the websites you suggested.

On saying that yesterday was a fantastic day here (17degrees)and it
looks as though the sun is here to stay for the next few days, so it
will be happy planting

we had same problem. small backyard, weeds and disinterested mower. so rather than
concrete or (horrors) lava rock that would be hell to remove by somebody else we
"skinned" off the weeds, put down light landscape fabric and used medium small pea
gravel with a few pavers for a "pattern"
http://weloveteaching.com/landscape/gravel/gravel.htm
the minute we started getting the gravel down we knew we were going to love it.
still love the hassle free aspect and look and how it sets off the planting beds
(which have seriously grown up since the pictures were taken)
INgrid

"Kevin" wrote:

In our back yard we have a very small lawn about (10ft by 20ft) that needs
mowing weekly and sometimes twice weekly in summer.

Now I'm looking for lower maintenance so everything can be left unattended
for weeks at a time if were out of town.


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