Reading back through the posts over the last few months I'm still
puzzled by peoples need for a mono-culture lawn. I can think of nothing more
boring in a garden than a "perfect" lawn. The amount of work, feed and
weedkiller it takes to produce a "bowling green" type lawn must be
horrendous. Not to mention the expense of turf, seed and water. To my mind,
the plants, fungi and moss ( a mossy lawn in bare feet in the summer.....
delicious! ) that arrive if you just mow an area are much more interesting,
beautiful to look at, harder wearing, better for the environment and more
practical than a luminous green, over fed, fragile, artificial lawn.
I would hate a garden without daises, dandelions and fairy rings. Plus,
a mixture of plants in a lawn attract many beneficial insects and help to
preserve bio diversity, a thing much undervalued in our gardens.
So, throw away the moss killer, weedkiller, lawn feed, roller and raise
the blades on your mower a few inches. Let nature back in and let your lawn
be part of nature, not apart from nature!

Les )


--
http://www.stuffmongers.com

"Homo sapiens, the first truly free species, is about to decommission
natural selection, the force that made us.... Soon we must look deep within
ourselves and decide what we wish to become."
Edward O. Wilson
Consilience, The Unity of Knowledge

Remove frontal lobes to reply from a NG

"Les &/or Claire" wrote in message
...
Reading back through the posts over the last few months I'm still
puzzled by peoples need for a mono-culture lawn. I can think of nothing
more
boring in a garden than a "perfect" lawn. The amount of work, feed and
weedkiller it takes to produce a "bowling green" type lawn must be
horrendous. Not to mention the expense of turf, seed and water. To my
mind,
the plants, fungi and moss ( a mossy lawn in bare feet in the summer.....
delicious! ) that arrive if you just mow an area are much more
interesting,
beautiful to look at, harder wearing, better for the environment and more
practical than a luminous green, over fed, fragile, artificial lawn.
I would hate a garden without daises, dandelions and fairy rings.
Plus,
a mixture of plants in a lawn attract many beneficial insects and help to
preserve bio diversity, a thing much undervalued in our gardens.
So, throw away the moss killer, weedkiller, lawn feed, roller and raise
the blades on your mower a few inches. Let nature back in and let your
lawn
be part of nature, not apart from nature!

standing ovation

I would hate a garden without daises, dandelions and fairy rings. Plus,
a mixture of plants in a lawn attract many beneficial insects and help to
preserve bio diversity, a thing much undervalued in our gardens.
So, throw away the moss killer, weedkiller, lawn feed, roller and raise
the blades on your mower a few inches. Let nature back in and let your lawn
be part of nature, not apart from nature!

Les )


We moved into our house last summer, and I did my best to
keep the grass free of everything except grass, as I'd not had my own
lawn
before and got a bit 'seduced' by it!
This year, though, I didn't have the time during spring and early
summer.
I've now noticed that my 8 year old, when playing out back, is regularly
stopping -
with his nose to the grass - and asking questions about whatever plant
or insect
he's found. So no more 'pristine' lawn for me, and hopefully a fuller
appreciation of nature for him!
Ellkebe




--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

"Just Molly" wrote in message
...

"Les &/or Claire" wrote in message
...
Reading back through the posts over the last few months I'm still
puzzled by peoples need for a mono-culture lawn. I can think of nothing
more
boring in a garden than a "perfect" lawn. The amount of work, feed and
weedkiller it takes to produce a "bowling green" type lawn must be
horrendous. Not to mention the expense of turf, seed and water. To my
mind,
the plants, fungi and moss ( a mossy lawn in bare feet in the
summer.....
delicious! ) that arrive if you just mow an area are much more
interesting,
beautiful to look at, harder wearing, better for the environment and
more
practical than a luminous green, over fed, fragile, artificial lawn.
I would hate a garden without daises, dandelions and fairy rings.
Plus,
a mixture of plants in a lawn attract many beneficial insects and help
to
preserve bio diversity, a thing much undervalued in our gardens.
So, throw away the moss killer, weedkiller, lawn feed, roller and
raise
the blades on your mower a few inches. Let nature back in and let your
lawn
be part of nature, not apart from nature!

standing ovation

-------------------------------
I agree to some extent and do have some similar grassland~~
our field! The lawn is a different matter. It is totally weedless and cut
so low that if it should ever reach the height of the nap on a billiard
cloth one would be thinking of making hay! The work involved has not been
great and has only taken two hundred years, or so, to reach this
standard~and not all and every day, quite!. Weedkiller is never needed as
they either wouln't dare or, most likely, cannot find room to grow. No
fertilisers are used as the composted cuttings are replaced as a dressing.
Nothing is taken and hence no replacement is needed.
It can be walked on, at times, but without shoes and children or other
animals!.
Keeping it this perfect is a genuine PITN!!~~ and a little [about a
pinch of] Sodium Chloride needs to be added.
Best Wishes Brian.

On Fri, 2 Jul 2004 at 18:21:16 Les &/or Claire
wrote:

Reading back through the posts over the last few months I'm still
puzzled by peoples need for a mono-culture lawn. I can think of nothing more
boring in a garden than a "perfect" lawn. The amount of work, feed and
weedkiller it takes to produce a "bowling green" type lawn must be
horrendous. Not to mention the expense of turf, seed and water. To my mind,
the plants, fungi and moss ( a mossy lawn in bare feet in the summer.....
delicious! ) that arrive if you just mow an area are much more interesting,
beautiful to look at, harder wearing, better for the environment and more
practical than a luminous green, over fed, fragile, artificial lawn.
I would hate a garden without daises, dandelions and fairy rings. Plus,
a mixture of plants in a lawn attract many beneficial insects and help to
preserve bio diversity, a thing much undervalued in our gardens.
So, throw away the moss killer, weedkiller, lawn feed, roller and raise
the blades on your mower a few inches. Let nature back in and let your lawn
be part of nature, not apart from nature!

Les )


We all have our individual likes and dislikes: some of us enjoy growing
vegetables, others are obsessed with organic methods, some like hard
landscaping, others prefer a more rustic environment. There's nothing
wrong with a perfect lawn ... I admire them, and if I had the time, I
would strive to perfection also.

Cheers, Joe
--

"Joe" wrote in message
. ..
On Fri, 2 Jul 2004 at 18:21:16 Les &/or Claire
wrote:

Reading back through the posts over the last few months I'm still
puzzled by peoples need for a mono-culture lawn. I can think of nothing
more
boring in a garden than a "perfect" lawn. The amount of work, feed and
weedkiller it takes to produce a "bowling green" type lawn must be
horrendous. Not to mention the expense of turf, seed and water. To my
mind,
the plants, fungi and moss ( a mossy lawn in bare feet in the summer.....
delicious! ) that arrive if you just mow an area are much more
interesting,
beautiful to look at, harder wearing, better for the environment and more
practical than a luminous green, over fed, fragile, artificial lawn.
I would hate a garden without daises, dandelions and fairy rings.
Plus,
a mixture of plants in a lawn attract many beneficial insects and help to
preserve bio diversity, a thing much undervalued in our gardens.
So, throw away the moss killer, weedkiller, lawn feed, roller and
raise
the blades on your mower a few inches. Let nature back in and let your
lawn
be part of nature, not apart from nature!

Les )


We all have our individual likes and dislikes: some of us enjoy growing
vegetables, others are obsessed with organic methods, some like hard
landscaping, others prefer a more rustic environment. There's nothing
wrong with a perfect lawn ... I admire them, and if I had the time, I
would strive to perfection also.


Quite right - if someone wants a 'perfect' lawn, good luck to them. As for
all this 'Let nature back in and let your lawn be part of nature, not apart
from nature!' stuff, it sounds good, but is pretty meaningless, really. If a
gardener were to really 'let nature back in', he/she would have to just stop
gardening altogether and let things take care of themselves. Pretty soon,
there'd be no lawn, beds, or any recognisable 'garden' at all. A lawn with
long grass and a few 'weeds' tolerated isn't much more 'natural' than one
with short grass and fewer 'weeds'.

In article ,
says...

"Joe" wrote in message
. ..
On Fri, 2 Jul 2004 at 18:21:16 Les &/or Claire
wrote:

Reading back through the posts over the last few months I'm still
puzzled by peoples need for a mono-culture lawn. I can think of nothing
more
boring in a garden than a "perfect" lawn. The amount of work, feed and
weedkiller it takes to produce a "bowling green" type lawn must be
horrendous. Not to mention the expense of turf, seed and water. To my
mind,
the plants, fungi and moss ( a mossy lawn in bare feet in the summer.....
delicious! ) that arrive if you just mow an area are much more
interesting,
beautiful to look at, harder wearing, better for the environment and more
practical than a luminous green, over fed, fragile, artificial lawn.
I would hate a garden without daises, dandelions and fairy rings.
Plus,
a mixture of plants in a lawn attract many beneficial insects and help to
preserve bio diversity, a thing much undervalued in our gardens.
So, throw away the moss killer, weedkiller, lawn feed, roller and
raise
the blades on your mower a few inches. Let nature back in and let your
lawn
be part of nature, not apart from nature!

Les )


We all have our individual likes and dislikes: some of us enjoy growing
vegetables, others are obsessed with organic methods, some like hard
landscaping, others prefer a more rustic environment. There's nothing
wrong with a perfect lawn ... I admire them, and if I had the time, I
would strive to perfection also.


Quite right - if someone wants a 'perfect' lawn, good luck to them. As for
all this 'Let nature back in and let your lawn be part of nature, not apart
from nature!' stuff, it sounds good, but is pretty meaningless, really. If a
gardener were to really 'let nature back in', he/she would have to just stop
gardening altogether and let things take care of themselves. Pretty soon,
there'd be no lawn, beds, or any recognisable 'garden' at all. A lawn with
long grass and a few 'weeds' tolerated isn't much more 'natural' than one
with short grass and fewer 'weeds'.

Yes, but there are 'acceptable' lawn plants IMHO and grass is just one
of them. Th lawn I acquired with the house only held grass and dock in
the main and I wasn't going to tolerate dock, but there was something
missing that my inner child demanded and I'm actually actively working
on. We're up to 6 patches of thriving clover spreading their way out
and, to make for the most bizarre side of greenhouse staging in the UK I
am growing daisies and splitting them as often as I dare to get them
into the lawn before the end of the year.

Warwick

On Mon, 5 Jul 2004 at 00:59:11 Warwick
wrote:

In article ,
says...

"Joe" wrote in message
. ..
On Fri, 2 Jul 2004 at 18:21:16 Les &/or Claire
wrote:

Reading back through the posts over the last few months I'm still
puzzled by peoples need for a mono-culture lawn. I can think of nothing
more
boring in a garden than a "perfect" lawn. The amount of work, feed and
weedkiller it takes to produce a "bowling green" type lawn must be
horrendous. Not to mention the expense of turf, seed and water. To my
mind,
the plants, fungi and moss ( a mossy lawn in bare feet in the summer.....
delicious! ) that arrive if you just mow an area are much more
interesting,
beautiful to look at, harder wearing, better for the environment and more
practical than a luminous green, over fed, fragile, artificial lawn.
I would hate a garden without daises, dandelions and fairy rings.
Plus,
a mixture of plants in a lawn attract many beneficial insects and help to
preserve bio diversity, a thing much undervalued in our gardens.
So, throw away the moss killer, weedkiller, lawn feed, roller and
raise
the blades on your mower a few inches. Let nature back in and let your
lawn
be part of nature, not apart from nature!

Les )


We all have our individual likes and dislikes: some of us enjoy growing
vegetables, others are obsessed with organic methods, some like hard
landscaping, others prefer a more rustic environment. There's nothing
wrong with a perfect lawn ... I admire them, and if I had the time, I
would strive to perfection also.


Quite right - if someone wants a 'perfect' lawn, good luck to them. As for
all this 'Let nature back in and let your lawn be part of nature, not apart
from nature!' stuff, it sounds good, but is pretty meaningless, really. If a
gardener were to really 'let nature back in', he/she would have to just stop
gardening altogether and let things take care of themselves. Pretty soon,
there'd be no lawn, beds, or any recognisable 'garden' at all. A lawn with
long grass and a few 'weeds' tolerated isn't much more 'natural' than one
with short grass and fewer 'weeds'.

Yes, but there are 'acceptable' lawn plants IMHO and grass is just one
of them. Th lawn I acquired with the house only held grass and dock in
the main and I wasn't going to tolerate dock, but there was something
missing that my inner child demanded and I'm actually actively working
on. We're up to 6 patches of thriving clover spreading their way out
and, to make for the most bizarre side of greenhouse staging in the UK I
am growing daisies and splitting them as often as I dare to get them
into the lawn before the end of the year.

Warwick

If that's what you enjoy in a lawn, there should be nothing to stop you
going for it.

Cheers, Joe
--

"Warwick" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...

"Joe" wrote in message
. ..
On Fri, 2 Jul 2004 at 18:21:16 Les &/or Claire
wrote:

Reading back through the posts over the last few months I'm
still
puzzled by peoples need for a mono-culture lawn. I can think of
nothing
more
boring in a garden than a "perfect" lawn. The amount of work, feed
and
weedkiller it takes to produce a "bowling green" type lawn must be
horrendous. Not to mention the expense of turf, seed and water. To my
mind,
the plants, fungi and moss ( a mossy lawn in bare feet in the
summer.....
delicious! ) that arrive if you just mow an area are much more
interesting,
beautiful to look at, harder wearing, better for the environment and
more
practical than a luminous green, over fed, fragile, artificial lawn.
I would hate a garden without daises, dandelions and fairy rings.
Plus,
a mixture of plants in a lawn attract many beneficial insects and
help to
preserve bio diversity, a thing much undervalued in our gardens.
So, throw away the moss killer, weedkiller, lawn feed, roller and
raise
the blades on your mower a few inches. Let nature back in and let
your
lawn
be part of nature, not apart from nature!

Les )


We all have our individual likes and dislikes: some of us enjoy
growing
vegetables, others are obsessed with organic methods, some like hard
landscaping, others prefer a more rustic environment. There's nothing
wrong with a perfect lawn ... I admire them, and if I had the time, I
would strive to perfection also.


Quite right - if someone wants a 'perfect' lawn, good luck to them. As
for
all this 'Let nature back in and let your lawn be part of nature, not
apart
from nature!' stuff, it sounds good, but is pretty meaningless, really.
If a
gardener were to really 'let nature back in', he/she would have to just
stop
gardening altogether and let things take care of themselves. Pretty
soon,
there'd be no lawn, beds, or any recognisable 'garden' at all. A lawn
with
long grass and a few 'weeds' tolerated isn't much more 'natural' than
one
with short grass and fewer 'weeds'.

Yes, but there are 'acceptable' lawn plants IMHO and grass is just one
of them. Th lawn I acquired with the house only held grass and dock in
the main and I wasn't going to tolerate dock, but there was something
missing that my inner child demanded and I'm actually actively working
on. We're up to 6 patches of thriving clover spreading their way out
and, to make for the most bizarre side of greenhouse staging in the UK I
am growing daisies and splitting them as often as I dare to get them
into the lawn before the end of the year.


Fine, it's your choice what you grow where - but your 'de-docked' and daisy
enhanced lawn still isn't 'natural' IMHO, it's cultivated to accord with
your preferences.

"Warwick" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...

"Joe" wrote in message
. ..
On Fri, 2 Jul 2004 at 18:21:16 Les &/or Claire
wrote:

Reading back through the posts over the last few months
I'm still
puzzled by peoples need for a mono-culture lawn. I can think of
nothing
more
boring in a garden than a "perfect" lawn. The amount of work,
feed and
weedkiller it takes to produce a "bowling green" type lawn must
be
horrendous. Not to mention the expense of turf, seed and water.
To my
mind,
the plants, fungi and moss ( a mossy lawn in bare feet in the
summer.....
delicious! ) that arrive if you just mow an area are much more
interesting,
beautiful to look at, harder wearing, better for the
environment and more
practical than a luminous green, over fed, fragile, artificial
lawn.
I would hate a garden without daises, dandelions and fairy
rings.
Plus,
a mixture of plants in a lawn attract many beneficial insects
and help to
preserve bio diversity, a thing much undervalued in our
gardens.
So, throw away the moss killer, weedkiller, lawn feed,
roller and
raise
the blades on your mower a few inches. Let nature back in and
let your
lawn
be part of nature, not apart from nature!

Les )


We all have our individual likes and dislikes: some of us enjoy
growing
vegetables, others are obsessed with organic methods, some like
hard
landscaping, others prefer a more rustic environment. There's
nothing
wrong with a perfect lawn ... I admire them, and if I had the
time, I
would strive to perfection also.


Quite right - if someone wants a 'perfect' lawn, good luck to
them. As for
all this 'Let nature back in and let your lawn be part of nature,
not apart
from nature!' stuff, it sounds good, but is pretty meaningless,
really. If a
gardener were to really 'let nature back in', he/she would have to
just stop
gardening altogether and let things take care of themselves.
Pretty soon,
there'd be no lawn, beds, or any recognisable 'garden' at all. A
lawn with
long grass and a few 'weeds' tolerated isn't much more 'natural'
than one
with short grass and fewer 'weeds'.

Yes, but there are 'acceptable' lawn plants IMHO and grass is just
one
of them. Th lawn I acquired with the house only held grass and dock
in
the main and I wasn't going to tolerate dock, but there was
something
missing that my inner child demanded and I'm actually actively
working
on. We're up to 6 patches of thriving clover spreading their way out
and, to make for the most bizarre side of greenhouse staging in the
UK I
am growing daisies and splitting them as often as I dare to get them
into the lawn before the end of the year.

Thymus serpyllum is an excellent plant fot a mixed lawn If you mow
irregularly enough, you are rewarded with a carpet of flowers. It
propagates as easily as falling off a bar stool.

Franz

There is no such thing as expertise in aesthetics.There may be social
influences, but no expertise.

Laurie

"BAC" wrote in
:


"Warwick" wrote in message
...

Yes, but there are 'acceptable' lawn plants IMHO and grass is just
one of them.


Fine, it's your choice what you grow where - but your 'de-docked' and
daisy enhanced lawn still isn't 'natural' IMHO, it's cultivated to
accord with your preferences.


It may not be 'natural' (few environments are in Britain), but it's a
richer environment. A perfect green lawn is a monoculture - sometimes
one where even worms are unwelcome.

Nothing wrong with real lawn enthusiasts growing perfect velvet grass
lawns, but it is nice to see people appreciating 'mixed' lawns too.

For example, the RHS doesn't seem to recognise anything between a grass
lawn and a wildflower meadow (going by its online advice section). Most
people don't have room for a meadow, but a patchwork quilt of plants is
do-able.

If the RHS and other authorities acknowledged this alternative approach
more widely, it might mean that DIY and garden centres (which so many
people use for guidance on 'what should I do to my garden') might
consider having other things in their 'lawn' sections than pesticides
and grass seed, (and more small kids would have the chance to make daisy
chains!)

Bugle is very long-flowering in my lawn, and the purple makes a nice
change from the daisies and clover. But I think the best lawn flowers
of all are the smaller speedwells. Will take a fair bit of treading
too, though probably not ideal for regular games of football.

(If you have guinea-pigs, you can get a really superb speedwell lawn -
they trim the grass down, but don't seem to care for the taste of
speedwell, so in spring your lawn is a mass of shimmering blue - looks
truly fantastic!

Victoria

In message , Warwick
writes
I am growing daisies and splitting them as often as I dare to get them
into the lawn before the end of the year.

And I thought I was the only nutty one! Many years ago I went to
Luxembourg in the spring, and the large grassy valley in the middle of
the city was a mass of daisies - it was an unforgettable picture, I hope
they are still there!

--
Klara, Gatwick basin

In article , Victoria
Clare writes
Bugle is very long-flowering in my lawn, and the purple makes a nice
change from the daisies and clover. But I think the best lawn flowers
of all are the smaller speedwells. Will take a fair bit of treading
too, though probably not ideal for regular games of football.

Birds foot trefoil is another nice lawn plant.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

Klara wrote
And I thought I was the only nutty one! Many years ago I went to
Luxembourg in the spring, and the large grassy valley in the middle of
the city was a mass of daisies - it was an unforgettable picture, I hope
they are still there!

I've got germander speedwell, black medic, meadow vetchling, cuckoo
flower, cornflower, stichwort, yellow trefoil and some sort of spurge.
Cranesfoot and cinquefoil and perhaps hawkweed.

And the snakes head fritiliaries, and

and, of course, clovers of various kinds and creeping buttercup.

even the conventionally cut parts of the grass get little hazes of
blue speedwell or, later, yellow trefoils. Lovely.