Just to note that despite the hot, dry weather and the forecast that this
may go on for a long time people are still cutting lawns to almost bare
earth for some reason.

The short cut lawns are now going brown, so presumably they will suffer or
require regular watering.

Doesn't seem logical.

Still, I do remember summers as a child when the garden sprinkler was on
(our or friends houses) and many a happy hour in swimming trunks jumping
through the spray.

However I thought regular lawn watering was now frowned on (or at least
discouraged by water meters).

I thought you were supposed to raise the blades if you had to cut, but if
possible not cut at all once dry weather set in.

Cheers

Dave R

If you want to play a first class cricket match on it, apparently it is necessary.

As for me, I look at the weather and say "no lawn-cutting this month".

My water butts are now nearly empty and I'm afraid I am now using the sprinkler on the vegetable patch.

On 16/07/2013 09:13, David.WE.Roberts wrote:
Just to note that despite the hot, dry weather and the forecast that this
may go on for a long time people are still cutting lawns to almost bare
earth for some reason.

Probably in the hope that all the grass will be completely removed, thus
ending the need to do any mowing once and for all.

Is there a more environmentally unfriendly garden plant than lawn grass?

--

Jeff

On 2013-07-16 13:03:13 +0100, Jeff Layman said:

On 16/07/2013 09:13, David.WE.Roberts wrote:
Just to note that despite the hot, dry weather and the forecast that this
may go on for a long time people are still cutting lawns to almost bare
earth for some reason.

Probably in the hope that all the grass will be completely removed,
thus ending the need to do any mowing once and for all.

Is there a more environmentally unfriendly garden plant than lawn grass?

About 6 years ago I was considering building a little house in Crete. I
didn't in the end but we were taken around by the architect to show us
what various foreigners had built above Elounda. I remember one house
had an enormous lawn, in full view of the public passing by and on
which nobody would want to sit, as a result. He told us that this kind
of thing was deeply unpopular with the Cretans who were used to
conserving every drop of water to use on useful food giving plants!
This house belonged to a German family, so it wasn't a manifestation of
the British passion for lawns! And they'd built the house as an exact
replica of their house in Germany, complete with a vast wall encircling
it. Home from home, I suppose!
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

Sacha wrote:

I remember one house
had an enormous lawn, in full view of the public passing by and on
which nobody would want to sit, as a result. He told us that this kind
of thing was deeply unpopular with the Cretans who were used to
conserving every drop of water to use on useful food giving plants!

Not limited to Europeans: I remember touring the Rosicrutians'
headquarters in San Jose, California.... several acres of lush lawn with
built in sprinklers that watered every night, since the area only gets
meaningful rain in the spring. More sensible folk used various succulents
for landscaping; a restaurant I dined at several times had a beautiful
hedge of Jade plants.

--
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/4 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

On 16/07/2013 13:03, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 16/07/2013 09:13, David.WE.Roberts wrote:
Just to note that despite the hot, dry weather and the forecast that this
may go on for a long time people are still cutting lawns to almost bare
earth for some reason.

Probably in the hope that all the grass will be completely removed, thus
ending the need to do any mowing once and for all.

Is there a more environmentally unfriendly garden plant than lawn grass?





I think the lawn is a very environmentally friendly planting. It is good
for wildlife; it is good for soaking up excess rainwater; it is good for
stopping soil erosion, esp on sloping ground; it is good at providing
low-level humidity (even on a summer's day I have to wait for the
morning dew to dry before mowing).

To pick up on David's point, it doesn't really need mowing mindlessly
every week whether it needs it or not. It's people, or at any rate some
'gardeners', who are environmentally unfriendly.

During such hot weather, the best way to neaten a lawn is not to mow it,
but to trim the edges.

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay

On 2013-07-16 14:38:53 +0100, Gary Woods said:

Sacha wrote:

I remember one house
had an enormous lawn, in full view of the public passing by and on
which nobody would want to sit, as a result. He told us that this kind
of thing was deeply unpopular with the Cretans who were used to
conserving every drop of water to use on useful food giving plants!

Not limited to Europeans: I remember touring the Rosicrutians'
headquarters in San Jose, California.... several acres of lush lawn with
built in sprinklers that watered every night, since the area only gets
meaningful rain in the spring. More sensible folk used various succulents
for landscaping; a restaurant I dined at several times had a beautiful
hedge of Jade plants.

Before I sold the house I owned when I met Ray, I let it to an American
from New Mexico. She told me that every shrub in her garden had its
own drip feed. Perish the thought of planting what was suitable to the
conditions!
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On Tuesday, July 16, 2013 3:37:07 PM UTC+1, Sacha wrote:
On 2013-07-16 14:38:53 +0100, Gary Woods said:



Sacha wrote:



I remember one house

had an enormous lawn, in full view of the public passing by and on

which nobody would want to sit, as a result. He told us that this kind

of thing was deeply unpopular with the Cretans who were used to

conserving every drop of water to use on useful food giving plants!



Not limited to Europeans: I remember touring the Rosicrutians'

headquarters in San Jose, California.... several acres of lush lawn with

built in sprinklers that watered every night, since the area only gets

meaningful rain in the spring. More sensible folk used various succulents

for landscaping; a restaurant I dined at several times had a beautiful

hedge of Jade plants.



Before I sold the house I owned when I met Ray, I let it to an American

from New Mexico. She told me that every shrub in her garden had its

own drip feed. Perish the thought of planting what was suitable to the

conditions!

--



Sacha

www.hillhousenursery.com

South Devon

www.helpforheroes.org.uk

Every plant in our garden has to pass the 'Spartan baby on the mountain test'.
Though we will water until new plants are established.
Rod

On Tuesday, July 16, 2013 1:03:13 PM UTC+1, Jeff Layman wrote:


Probably in the hope that all the grass will be completely removed, thus

ending the need to do any mowing once and for all.



Is there a more environmentally unfriendly garden plant than lawn grass?


Jeff

It doesn't have to be so.
Frequent mowing, not too short, other species especially clover encouraged.
Never fed, sprayed or watered - it won't die.
Then it's quite good for wildlife, a decent green backdrop for more interesting stuff.

Rod.

On 2013-07-16 21:09:11 +0100, Rod said:

On Tuesday, July 16, 2013 3:37:07 PM UTC+1, Sacha wrote:
On 2013-07-16 14:38:53 +0100, Gary Woods said:



Sacha wrote:



I remember one house

had an enormous lawn, in full view of the public passing by and on

which nobody would want to sit, as a result. He told us that this kind

of thing was deeply unpopular with the Cretans who were used to

conserving every drop of water to use on useful food giving plants!



Not limited to Europeans: I remember touring the Rosicrutians'

headquarters in San Jose, California.... several acres of lush lawn with

built in sprinklers that watered every night, since the area only gets

meaningful rain in the spring. More sensible folk used various succulents

for landscaping; a restaurant I dined at several times had a beautiful

hedge of Jade plants.



Before I sold the house I owned when I met Ray, I let it to an American

from New Mexico. She told me that every shrub in her garden had its

own drip feed. Perish the thought of planting what was suitable to the

conditions!

--
Sacha



Every plant in our garden has to pass the 'Spartan baby on the mountain test'.
Though we will water until new plants are established.
Rod

That seems the way to go to me! Usually, in UK, it's more often a case
of things dying from too much wet, so we adjust our planting
accordingly and in that respect, gardeners in this country are (mostly)
rather lucky.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On 2013-07-16 21:14:47 +0100, Rod said:

On Tuesday, July 16, 2013 1:03:13 PM UTC+1, Jeff Layman wrote:


Probably in the hope that all the grass will be completely removed, thus

ending the need to do any mowing once and for all.



Is there a more environmentally unfriendly garden plant than lawn grass?


Jeff

It doesn't have to be so.
Frequent mowing, not too short, other species especially clover encouraged.
Never fed, sprayed or watered - it won't die.
Then it's quite good for wildlife, a decent green backdrop for more
interesting stuff.

Rod.

I do think there's a psychological aspect perhaps? While we all enjoy
going abroad and seeing paved terraces and seating areas outside cafés
etc., there's something very soothing and restful about a stretch of
grass! And is there a better sound than that of *someone else* cutting
it!
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On 16/07/2013 14:50, Spider wrote:
On 16/07/2013 13:03, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 16/07/2013 09:13, David.WE.Roberts wrote:
Just to note that despite the hot, dry weather and the forecast that this
may go on for a long time people are still cutting lawns to almost bare
earth for some reason.

Probably in the hope that all the grass will be completely removed, thus
ending the need to do any mowing once and for all.

Is there a more environmentally unfriendly garden plant than lawn grass?





I think the lawn is a very environmentally friendly planting. It is good
for wildlife; it is good for soaking up excess rainwater; it is good for
stopping soil erosion, esp on sloping ground; it is good at providing
low-level humidity (even on a summer's day I have to wait for the
morning dew to dry before mowing).

Most lawns are near monocultures (lawn-obsessives have an absolute
monoculture). Any broad-leaved "weeds" are dealt with, usually by
chemical means. Environmentally unfriendly - not just for wildlife.
Think of the energy and waste issues in manufacturing those chemicals.

Then they use fertiliser, which is imported. Environmentally unfriendly
as it uses fossil fuels to get here.

Then they mow it (after encouraging it to grow with fertiliser!).
Environmentally unfriendly (unless they use a push-mower)) as the mower
will use petrol or electricity, again unnecessarily using fossil fuels.
And what about the energy used in manufacturing lawnmowers?

Not to mention the thousands of litres of water used unnecessarily.
Lawns don't need watering. Environmentally unfriendly water waste, and
pollution of waterways with weedkiller and fertiliser run-off.

As for stopping soil erosion, any plant with a decent root system will
do that. Soaking up water? Well, I doubt it, but haven't seen any
figures. I reckon a decent-sized tree, or even large shrub, will take
up a lot more water than grass from the same surface area.

Low level humidity? Well, yes, but you get that on any plant, not just
grass.

--

Jeff

On 2013-07-17 11:40:43 +0100, Martin said:

On Tue, 16 Jul 2013 14:25:30 +0100, Sacha wrote:

On 2013-07-16 13:03:13 +0100, Jeff Layman said:

On 16/07/2013 09:13, David.WE.Roberts wrote:
Just to note that despite the hot, dry weather and the forecast that this
may go on for a long time people are still cutting lawns to almost bare
earth for some reason.

Probably in the hope that all the grass will be completely removed,
thus ending the need to do any mowing once and for all.

Is there a more environmentally unfriendly garden plant than lawn grass?

About 6 years ago I was considering building a little house in Crete. I
didn't in the end but we were taken around by the architect to show us
what various foreigners had built above Elounda. I remember one house
had an enormous lawn, in full view of the public passing by and on
which nobody would want to sit, as a result. He told us that this kind
of thing was deeply unpopular with the Cretans who were used to
conserving every drop of water to use on useful food giving plants!
This house belonged to a German family, so it wasn't a manifestation of
the British passion for lawns! And they'd built the house as an exact
replica of their house in Germany, complete with a vast wall encircling
it. Home from home, I suppose!

West Berliners?

I don't know. I'm afraid Germans are still unpopular in Crete, so I'm
not sure any more detail was known or desired.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On 16 Jul 2013 08:13:59 GMT, "David.WE.Roberts"
wrote:

Just to note that despite the hot, dry weather and the forecast that this
may go on for a long time people are still cutting lawns to almost bare
earth for some reason.

The short cut lawns are now going brown, so presumably they will suffer or
require regular watering.

Doesn't seem logical.

Still, I do remember summers as a child when the garden sprinkler was on
(our or friends houses) and many a happy hour in swimming trunks jumping
through the spray.

However I thought regular lawn watering was now frowned on (or at least
discouraged by water meters).

I thought you were supposed to raise the blades if you had to cut, but if
possible not cut at all once dry weather set in.

Cheers

Dave R

Half my lawn gets cut one every two weeks. The other half just grows.
To stay green the half that gets cut needs watering every day while
there is no rain, like now. The other half just stays green and keeps
growing without watering.

Steve

--
EasyNN-plus. Neural Networks plus. http://www.easynn.com
SwingNN. Forecast with Neural Networks. http://www.swingnn.com
JustNN. Just Neural Networks. http://www.justnn.com

"Chris Hogg" wrote
I'm encouraging clover to grow in my er...'lawn'. Stays short, stays
green in dry conditions and has flowers that bees etc like. ATM there
are patches of clover (green) and patches of grass with no clover
(beginning to go brown). To encourage the clover everywhere, I use one
of those bulb planter things to cut a clover-bearing plug and swap it
with a plug from a grass-only patch, and the clover then spreads
sideways. I also reckon it's softer to walk on if kept a little on the
long side, rather than bowling-green short.

Lovely! Pink and white clover always reminds me of the old fashioned
coconut ice my gran used to make.

Will you try other things too? Yarrow would stay green and flower with
only short stems on an infrequently mowed lawn and you could have
bird's-foot trefoil to add yellow, speedwell for blue and self-heal for
purple. I've tried the latter once or twice in my wilder area but our
land just dries out too much here to keep it going over summer.

I'd have a lawn with all those things and some daisies for daisy-chains
but my Other Half won't hear of it, even though our so called lawn dries
to a crisp practically every summer. He seems to enjoy all that weeding
'n' feeding and raking of moss and mowing to get ruler-straight stripes.

I'd much rather have nice green clover with bees bumbling around in it
than a stripey lawn that goes brown in summer but there's no convincing
him.
--
Sue