Day 70 Watermelon, Water Guilt

The watermelon is growing like crazy, and reaching out onto the neighbours boulevard, which would normally be okay as they are super cool and okay with stuff like that...but they just seeded a new lawn. Soooooo I cut back a bunch of leaves...I see there are some little watermelons hiding underneath, yea! There was a large watermelon growing there a few weeks ago - but it disappeared - I hope it will ripen off the vine as it was beautifully large, but super green.

Today I went to my sister, Sara's house for my nephew, Felix's, second birthday party (I know...there must have been a clearer way I could have written that sentence, but anyway). It was an afternoon filled with family, kids and lotsa sugar (not necessarily in that order).
My sister's lawn (above) is nice and green. They has a really large lawn/yard. Sara said that when they came back from holidays their lawn was completely dead, and so they had spent the last week or so watering everyday to 'green it up' for the party. She told me this with a guilty sort of half smile on her face..."the whole time we were watering I said to Mat 'we are soo, soo bad', but we wanted the lawn to be nice for the kids".

On the drive home (they live in Taber) I was thinking about her words and water guilt, because her guilt was probably due to my constant preaching about how unenvironmentlly friendly a lawn is. Yet, I realized the lawn was nice for the kids to play on (there were a tonne of kids there), and I guess I felt bad for making her feel guilty about watering. I often say I do not like grass...I mean I do like it...it looks nice, feels nice on your feet, and makes for a soft landing if ya fall...but I don't like all the fertilizer, water, and mowing it takes to have a nice lawn.

So I got thinking about the alternatives to lawn - something that is good for kids and good for the environment. First of course there are the lawn care initiatives that are more environmentally friendly - watering early morning or at night, not using chemicals on your lawn and using natural fertilizers, and there are alternatives to grass such as clover and thyme lawns - and those are definitely good alternatives, but I got thinking about a lawn that large...and what might be a kid friendly alternative. I found the below articles on two different websites.

By Marty Ross

Imagine giving your lawn mower most of the summer off. Instead of blasting around the yard behind the mower every Saturday, you could relax and enjoy the peace and quiet.

No-mow lawns are not so low-maintenance that they'll allow you to park the lawn mower permanently, but these special low-growing grass blends take almost all the work out of a lawn. They save time, gas, water and fertilizer.

"We don't even recommend using fertilizer," says Neil Diboll, owner of Prairie Nursery (www.prairienursery.com) in Westfield, Wis. "I never fertilize mine, and I never use herbicides."

Prairie Nursery's no-mow lawn seed is a mix of six slow-growing fescue grasses that forms a dense, tough turf. The grasses develop deep roots, which help them tolerate drought, and they will thrive even in light shade. Instead of weekly mowing, Diboll recommends mowing a no-mow lawn once a year. "Of course, some people want a cropped look and they mow them every three weeks," he says, "but I just go out in June and mow once, to cut the seed heads off." No-mow lawns have been around for a decade or so. In the early years, they were sold to parks departments and to landscape contractors for corporate campuses. Now they're catching on with homeowners -- particularly with the growing population of second-homeowners who don't want to spend their precious getaway weekends mowing the lawn or pay a lawn-maintenance company to mow an acre or more of grass around their country place. In the suburbs, where the pressure to have a perfect lawn can be intense and competition for the greenest yard is often fierce, no-mow lawns are also gaining acceptance. "It's the whole movement toward ecology, toward a self- sustaining environment," says Keith Hopkins, owner of Hobbs & Hopkins specialty seed company (www.protimelawnseed.com) in Portland, Ore. Hobbs & Hopkins' Fleur de Lawn mix was developed in cooperation with Oregon State University as a low-maintenance alternative for people who do not want or need a traditional, chemically dependent emerald greensward. The mix contains perennial ryegrass, low-growing strawberry clover, yarrow and sparkling little English daisies, which bloom through the spring and fall. It looks fresh and romantic, and makes you want to kick your shoes off. It also takes care of itself. "The clover feeds the yarrow, which feeds the grass," Hopkins says. Because regular trimming stimulates the daisies to rebloom, he recommends cutting the lawn once a month. Since it was introduced about 10 years ago, Fleur de Lawn has caught on with second-home owners in the Pacific Northwest, and Hobbs & Hopkins has developed mixes with daisies, yarrows, clovers and grasses appropriate for climates across the country, from Los Angeles to the Northeast. The mixes are becoming more popular every year. Hopkins calls it picnic turf: Fleur de Lawn is not made to withstand the rough and tumble of children's soccer games, but it's perfect for lunch. "It's a great thing for a bottle of Merlot, a piece of cheese and a loaf of bread," he says. If English daisies are not your style, the company also sells a blend of seeds called Fragrant Herbal. It's Fleur de Lawn without the fleurs, Hopkins says. Prairie Nursery's no-mow blend, which is a mix of cool-season grasses appropriate for the Northeast, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, has a "flowing, wavy look," Diboll says, kind of like shag carpet. The grasses naturally grow to about 4 to 6 inches tall, and they keep most weeds out. Mowing actually encourages dandelions and other weeds, he says. "If you're not mowing, you're not opening up the soil for weed germination," Diboll says. If you're ready to switch to low-mow grasses instead of high-maintenance turf, summer is the time to plan. Cool-season grasses should be planted in early fall to give them time to get established before summer's heat sets in. Warm-season grasses, such as native buffalo grass (from Wildseed Farms, www.wildseedfarms.com) should be planted in early spring. Getting rid of your existing lawn and preparing the soil for the new lawn takes a bit of work, but if you plan now and think of this as your last major lawn project, then you'll soon be feeling good about being environmentally responsible. No-mow lawns may not save the planet all by themselves, "but it's something you can do to reduce chemical dependency, oil addiction and save time and money," Diboll says. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to do your part from a hammock? http://www.mcall.com/features/custom/hg/all-hg-g-lawns-070706,0,7418324.story

2nd Article

The recreational needs of children and pets may be different from what you imagine. Maintaining an expanse of grass for children's play space is a thankless chore, and, unless you have room for a ball field, there's no real added value to a child. Children (and dogs) will run blissfully around trees with an agility that's a marvel to watch. A game of catch, or Frisbee, can take place in a shady avenue as small as, say, thirty feet by fifteen, and the groundskeeper doesn't have to worry about damage to the grass. If you want to provide a soft surface to reduce the risk of injury, a thick blanket of playground mulch will improve your soil and protect your plants against drought, and it requires no maintenance except replacement every few years. In many jurisdictions, mulch is available free for the hauling. Some towns and counties will even deliver it to your dooryard.

If you must have a green, living groundcover, there are several options that are more tolerant to drought and shade than lawn grass. Many are just as tolerant of foot traffic, and they don't require mowing. http://www.nature-by-design.com/philosophy.html