Grass you don’t need to cut

Grass you don’t need to cut – It sounds like a dream doesn’t it? A lovely lawn with no maintenance whatsoever. Well, it can be done – with a bit of compromise.

To my mind you have 3 choices: Artificial turf, a wild lawn or a sedum lawn.

Artificial Turf

Call me an old hippy, but I really don’t like the idea of a plastic lawn. You get none of the environmental benefits of a real lawn, in summer time you can’t sit on it without burning your bum and it still needs to be cared for – just not mown.

No thanks, it’s not for me

The wild lawn

Who says that a lawn has to be an area of short grass and nothing else? These days, anything goes and if, like me, you like the look and feel of a wildflower meadow then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have one.

A wild flower meadow can be grown from seed, or it can be laid using Meadowmat Wildflower Turf.

What you get is a cacophony of colour in spring and summer with knee-high grasses and flowers that attract every butterfly and bee in a 5 mile radius. It’s stunningly beautiful!

Caring for a wild lawn involves just one cut a year. Usually in mid-late summer when most of the flowers are spent and the grasses start to fall over. Rake all of the cuttings off after a couple of days and watch the plants regenerate.

Cuttings can be fed to pets as hay, used as bedding for rabbits or guinea pigs or composted and used to mulch beds and borders.

The disadvantages – between April and the summer cut, it’s not ideal for playing or picnicking on because the plants are a bit too tall and they’re easily damaged if they get trampled on. If you like spending time outdoors, it’s best to combine a wild lawn with a permanent seating area (paving or decking) and/or mown paths. It’s not completely maintenance free – but it IS lovely.

Grass You Don’t Need To Cut – The Sedum Lawn

Provided you don’t want to walk or sit on your lawn very often, sedum is a fabulous alternative to grass. This option really doesn’t need mowing – ever. AND you get flowers.

Enviromat sedum matting can be installed in a day and once it’s established it’s virtually maintenance-free.

The disadvantage – it’s not the cheapest product on the market. But if you weigh that up against the cost of buying and maintaining a mower, spending time on maintenance and the freedom of being able to go on holiday and not worry about coming home to a jungle – actually the cost kind of justifies itself.

How to reduce the maintenance on your grass lawn

All in all, if you have dogs or a family, a grass lawn really is the best way of covering a large area cost effectively.

By keeping on top of maintenance jobs like feeding and mowing, it’s not too much hard work either.

Keeping your mower blades sharp and staying up to date with servicing etc makes mowing less onerous.

You could also consider asking a local landscaper about lawn maintenance services. It’s probably no more expensive than having your car washed and hoovered every week and you’ll be putting money back into the local economy. You won’t need to invest in your own mower, or store it AND you can go on holiday for as long as you like and come home to a pristine lawn. Lovely! Ooooh – I’ve given myself an idea there!