A little over a month ago the construction crews and equipment pulled out and the last bit of seeding for my lawn was complete. It was now time to wait. As I have mentioned in prior posts, I am attempting to create a no-mow lawn from five different varieties of fescue seed that will require little care or maintenance. It has the following characteristics:
- Grows slowly e.g. mow only once a month
- Doesn’t require a great deal of water
- Doesn’t require fertilizer (in fact reacts badly to it)
- Is a native American grass
So far things have gone pretty well with it coming up in most areas, some more thickly than others. When you plant fescue you are supposed to cover it slightly with a bit of earth. The landscapers thought they were seeding rye, which doesn’t require soil cover, so before I was able to tell them how to properly plant the seed, half of it was just simply broadcast and covered with straw. After speaking with them, they then covered the remaining half with soil. Guess which part of the lawn came up better?
Right, the part that was broadcast.
Over time, however, with me doing a bit of supplemental seeding and becoming more patient, I have found lots of little grassy spears coming up through the soil that will hopefully grow up and fill in the open spots come spring. If they don’t I plan to seed with white clover to take over the open spots before undesirable weeds (like plantain) try to grab a hold. I will also start a couple of flats of creeping thyme and other ground covers to fill in other spots as well as distribute around the lawn to create an interesting patina. Monoculture has always been boring to me and always requires much more work than a garden of diversity. I would rather have a mass of different plants (some intended, others opportunistic) defining the space. That way nothing is out of place as no single plants has a definite place. They are all just part of a community that coexists without much fuss or help.
For me, that will be the best type of lawn possible. I’ll let you know how things are going this spring.
