Looks great! What is the ground cover? Is it a native grass or something that moved in from surrounding property? Most grasses won't become that dense on their own.

" no overrated expensive, environment killing grass "

Wrong forum, dude. Not to mention that grasses are the evolved descendants of bamboo, and what did they ever do to your ancestors to make you hate them so?

Excuse me, I have to go paint with plastic-based polymers on cotton-based canvas grown using pesticides, with a synthetic plastic brush.

My entire 3/4 acre property is nothing but native plants that have established themselves.. The only thing that I do is water for about an hour at least every other day unless mother nature provides water. If temps are predicted very high, I water daily until temps cool.

I do mow at least twice a week with a re-chargeable riding mower, on occasion 3 times.

When we bought the place two years ago we had to start dealing with 18 years of pure neglect. Everything was literally falling apart, the property was an overgrown mess.

After research, I discovered that I should give the property a season to re-establish (lots of watering, I have a well) and this season the project quickly came to fruition. If there was a void, it quickly was filled by mother nature. I have two dogs, they play and do their dog things all over the place and it never shows. Try all of that with grass!

I will never have what is termed "grass" again (been there, done that, not worth it). It's to costly, and is a constant source of pollution and the extended demands never stop.

Which native plants make up your "yard"?

I really don't have a clue. They were here struggling but surviving the 18 years of abuse and started thriving and filling in with the watering and mowing routine. There were numerous bare areas, some large some large.

I have noticed that they are in my general neighborhood and beyond.

So how do you know that they are native plants?

Not the wrong forum at all!! A lawn is only an area covered with a grass (nonspecfific as to type) that is kept mowed....and that is exactly what the OP is illustrating in the photos. Some here tend to have a very elitist attitude to lawns and lawn care and comments like that are not helpful or encouraging for those who chose not to follow their narrow footprint.

Having said that, it is not common for weed grasses - those that fill in empty areas or 'traditional' lawns that are not well maintained - to develop that degree of fullness, routinely mowed or not. I'd suspect you have one or more of the common candidates of a traditional turf grass lawn included there that have just taken advantage of your due care and watering and have thrived and filled in as a result.

I'd give everyone the benefit of the doubt to begin with :-) And far too many posts on a variety of subjects to be just a troll. Just someone who is taking a different option towards lawn care. And I would not term that an elitist attitude.....quite the opposite!

Well, I must say that for someone like me who is about non elitist as you are ever gonna meet, I have managed to get some panties in a twist just because I don't conform to what seems to be a very narrow way of thinking that is harmful to the environment.

I had a feeling that would happen.

Just goes to show ya, some people just cant alter the way they think, on many different subjects, worse, they wont listen.

I'm done. Good by

I hope fourpawsonetail does not leave. While the golf course lawns have something to say for themselves, there are area where those types of lawns are not practical or not possible.

I have nearly a half acre of grass. I do not have the time or money to do what some are saying is necessary to have a golf course yard. While I don't like the texture of the lawn, visually it provides the solid green to compliment the trees, bushes, and flowers in the yard.

I wish visually my yard looked as good as fourpawsonetail.

Really? What's the draw, watering every other day for that inexpensive and time-saving lime green color you'll end up with like the above?

I'm kind of enjoying the one-letter-shift code everybody's using and finding it about as funny as toddlers fighting over a candy bar and as clever as a bunch of toddlers as well.

I believe that morpheuspa comment was inspired by my comment.

I am retired on a fixed income. We are on a public water system. This spring we prepared a section of the yard about 30'X20' we water it for about 30 minutes daily to get it started. This went on for about a ten days.

This period of watering the lawn, increased our water bill by $100. At this rate less frequent watering of the half acre would cost several hundred dollars per month. This would not include the seed and fertilizer.

That amount of money is better spent fixing the other defects with the building it self and general maintenance of the property.

That's precisely my point. The OP waters that mass every other day. I water my apparently-criticized "golf course," so far, once in two years and only because I was watering in a treatment I didn't want to let sit. So you'd be saving a fortune in water by achieving my golf course as opposed to the OP's mix of whatever the above is.

Because I chose a set of bluegrass cultivars that simply go dormant when Pennsylvania's weather turns dry.

" I believe that morpheuspa comment was inspired by my comment. "

Don't flatter yourself too much and re-read the OP's commentary. Alas, you do seem to have misread the amount of water he's using, so...well, reread that too. My water bill is less than a hundred a quarter for everything, and water's expensive as heck here.

I have a well so essentially my water is free.

Well I'm back with an update

Last season was a HUGE SUCCESS in the garden (thats what my 3/4 acre is turning in to.

The lawn area (yes it's green hs to be mowed) did exceptionally well with tons of positive comments from friends and neighbors. I even got a positive comment from a lawn service company who treats a neighbors yard with chemicals so I guess I'm doin SOMETHIN right.

I have two playful dogs, they beat up an area around my pool down to the ground. For the thid year in a row the area has rejuvinated within less than a month and one would never know it was a muddy mess. Other horribly worn areas have the same experience.

I'd like to see any grass do that

A fellow with more gardening experience than I stated: You're OVERTHINKING your issue. Keep it simple. Keep native plants mowed on a regular basis and it will look nice.

I think think this is the most valuable gardening advice I've ever gotten.

Have a great spring and summer and please take care of our planet. It's the only one we've got.

Thanks for the update. And congratulations on the success of a viable alternative to the traditional, highly manicured "lawn"!!

While still certainly popular, these traditional lawns are ecological disasters. They consume nearly 3 trillion gallons of water a year, 200 million gallons of gas (for all that mowing), and 70 million pounds of pesticides. They form a monoculture that discourages biodiversity by eliminating the insects and pollinators that form the local ecosystem and that has a domino effect up the food chain. In this time of climate stress that is affecting all parts of the globe, those who explore alternative lawn approaches should be applauded, not chastised!!

"please take care of our planet. It's the only one we've got." Amen to that!!!

(ps. it might be satisfying to know that some of the most vociferous and strident members of the "lawns must be pristine, lush and weed-free" advocacy are no longer present at this site to offer their disparaging and critical remarks :-))

Thanks for the wonderful post.

I'm desparate to get out in the garden, snow everywhere, stuck inside so I decided to look around on the web.

I really had no idea what I was getting myself in to when we purchased this abused house and all of the abused property almost 5 years ago. It's a beach house, how could we go wrong?

Im the gardener, I did kow that I wanted to work with mother nature not against her. I'm always looking for way to make that happen.

So many with so much gardening experience guided me with helpful advice that I will always be grateful for. Results have exceded any of my expectations.

Best!

fourpaws, I'm glad you're back, too. Follow ups really help tune up these forums.

Would you mind taking a picture of your faux lawn from an altitude of about 6 inches, so we might be able to identify the ground cover plant(s) you have? The best time to take a pic is when it's cloudy or overcast, so the Sun isn't casting shadows into the grass. Also it would really help to know where you live, not your USDA Hardiness Zone, but your zip code or the name of the nearest community. It might be that the plants you have are limited to certain soil or climate conditions and not be suitable for others.

gg, I believe this forum has a successful record of adapting to the homeowner's preferences. If someone wants the yard of the month, we can help. If someone wants a mix of grassy ground covers to keep the mud off their floors, we can help with that, too. Back in the early 2000s the members here could be a little rigid with their help. I believe what morpheuspa was referring to in his first reply to fourpaws was that he/she did not have a lawn problem, and the primary reason for this forum is to help solve problems. You and morph feuded for years, and you still can't let it go even though he's gone. Really?

When the situation permits I'll take a photo.

I'm in 19971 zip code. Nearest town is Rehoboth Beach which is my mailing address.

I am completely blessed with abundant sunshine, sandy soil and high iron content in the water, all of which plants love. Everyone in my development has a well, we also have a very high water table or I would never have over 400 trees and shrubs and countless flowers.

I'm assuming most of what makes my lawn is native but could be wrong. All I know is when mother nature makes a void it's quickly filled which is fine with me.

Best!

The terminology used in the original post is confusing. OP stated nothing but "native" plants growing in his yard, but when someone asks about specific species, OP says he has "no clue" what kind of plants they are. When people use the term native, it is usually implied that the person is referring to plants species that are not exotic to the local area. In this case, I feel like OP simply means he started tending to the plants/grasses that were already there, i.e. "native" (they didn't originally grow the plants, just started taking better care of the plants that were there).

If this is not the case, fourpawsonetail, please feel free to interject and explain further. I believe that's where the initial confusion started on this thread.

"You and morph feuded for years, and you still can't let it go even though he's gone. Really?"

Yes, really!! YOU did not have to be subject to the months and years of abusive, bullying posts with which I had to deal on a daily basis, simply because an egotistical, online bully who thought he alone knew everything could not cope reasonably with a female who dared to offer a differing opinion! I encounter reminders of this constantly (this discussion a case in point). And this forum reeked of comments from those who held the opinion that the ONLY lawn to consider and worth addressing was the afore-described lush, pristine, ecologically disastrous monoculture. "Help" for others who did not support that narrow premise was often ignored, dismissed or worse, ridiculed!! I've been here for 25 years.......don't try to paint it otherwise!