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Really agree with the premise here. I came to a somewhat similar conclusion (concession?) this year after spending tons of time and energy "perfecting" a couple
by andrewgioia 7y ago
Really agree with the premise here. I came to a somewhat similar conclusion (concession?) this year after spending tons of time and energy "perfecting" a couple acre yard we moved into. The kicker this year was spotting a weed growing through a crack in the concrete floor of my detached garage--no sun, very little water, and this thing was still growing!
While not mowing is nonstarter in my and essentially every other neighborhood, I've completely come to terms with the clover and random broadleaf weeds we have, they're part of the yard. Trying to get that picturesque carpet led me down a path of using questionable chemicals and spending tons of unnecessary time killing native vegetation that _wanted_ to grow and has thrived here in western PA.
I'm now consigning certain sections to wildflowers and just overseeding the rest of the yard with native grasses in the fall to naturally work up the more desirable stuff and thicken it. No more chemicals, and mowing slightly more frequently has also helped keep the dandelions down. Slowly I'll mulch other areas, especially around the trees, and try to put in some more low-maintenance landscaping like this article suggests.
- Isamu 7y ago> come to terms with the clover In particular, clover is good for the lawn as it is nitrogen-fixing. Some clover are much better at this than others, so you might even deliberately choose a clover for your lawn. Clover used to be a standard part of the mix for lawns (maybe as long ago as Victorian times) for this reason, it helps make the lawn self-sustaining. To me it looks weird to have a mono-culture lawn, like you're emulating a shag carpet.
- larrik 7y agoYeah, was going to reply with "clover is not a weed, it's included in the seed mixes on purpose".
- aitchnyu 7y agoAre there lawns that still live up to the tradition of "mix" of grasses?
- Faaak 7y agoMy lawn is everything but grass. Then, it's greener than my neighbours and it costs me nothing to operate (no irrigation, mowing twice per month, and that's it). It's actually prettier with the occasional dandelion, and poppy.
- pavel_lishin 7y agoWhy is clover seen as undesirable? It looks great, and feels fine. I'd love to have a clover lawn.
- noxToken 7y agoI cannot for the life of me remember where I read this, but I heard that marketing is what labeled clover as bad. Clover was supposedly a fine plant to have in your yard. Herbicides couldn't (or was too expensive to) be formulated to kill clover without also killing other desirable grasses. The fix was to market clover as an undesirable weed instead.
- Infernal 7y agoYou came very close to my understanding - herbicides that left clover and desirable grass alone were not developed - the best performing weed killers also killed clover, so clover was defined by marketing as a weed to fix that particular bug of the herbicides.
- jelliclesfarm 7y agoThey attract bees. Bees scare people who are not used to it..also kids. Bee stings..bee allergies. Etc.
- hombre_fatal 7y agoSeems unlikely a reason since flowers and herbs, two things people specifically plant, are even more popular with bees.
- andrewgioia 7y agoI used to really dislike it specifically because of the white flowers and how they attracted bees, but have since made an almost 180 on it. As Isamu said, it has great nitrogen-fixing benefits and I'm now trying to encourage the bees.
- shirro 7y agoAs a kid clover was always part of a healthy lawn. I was always told it was there to fix nitrogen. This was before people soaked lawns in weed killer though. As a kid the lawn was just naturally healthy. I don't recall us doing much other than mowing and watering it. It did get stung by bees on my feet repeatedly as a kid which was the main downside to clover but the bees were probably healthier then as well.
- thechao 7y agoMy motto for “grass” is: square, level, & trim. If it’s green, bonus points.