Unless you live in a desert, you mow or you weed. With six acres, an alternative would be to let some of it revert to whatever you see driving along the road. However, I wouldn't be doing that without some sort of plan, and an idea of what the succession is going to look like. For the first 20 years or so, it tends to look like an overgrown mess. Which is why most people mow.

Realize the standard large 'lawn' in most of the country is of the 'it's green, and I mow it' variety. It's a mix of a lot of different plant species, whose only characteristic in common is that they can handle being regularly cut short. When you stop mowing, you allow a wider variety of plants to grow, including trees and shrubs.

6 acres? That’s big. More than I’d like to mow.

I believe I’d let at least half to revert to whatever wants to grow and hire some fella once a month with a tractor belly-mower to keep it knocked down.

Mow a lawn around the house and any areas you regularly use. Mow the rest like a hay field. Hay gets cut only two or three times a season. You can get clover and maybe thyme in the right spot to grow IN the lawn, but they are not going to replace it and takeover.

Six acres of lawn would make it difficult to sell to me! I "hate" grass! On the other hand, five and a half acres of field reverting to forest, and a half-acre of lawn/foundation/garden plantings at the house, that would be very appealing.

The alternative is to transform it back into a wild environment. How you do this depends on the shape of the 6 acres, ie 1 acre wide and 6 acres deep, or 6 acres in a square with the house in the middle. Select what area areas you want to be wild. I would recommend the edges whether it is 50" on the edges and 5 acres in the back. or a couple hundred feet on the sides in front and starting 100 feet behind the house.

Start with the trees and plants in the yard. Then added some fast growing easily propagated things like weeping willows. two fill the large areas. Intersperse slower growing maples, oaks etc. In the edges toward the front of the house some flowering trees, flowering bushes and many native wild flowers and perennials

You could modify the above by subdividing the lots with strips of trees and bushes. As suggested some of these areas screened by the strips of trees and bushes could be just left grow. mowing them a couple of times per year. You could use you existing tractor and rotate the fields that are mowed.

Six acres is a large hayfield, not a lawn. Either Chris C's suggestion or consider returning much of it to woodland.

Hire someone to mow and bale the grass once a year. A very upscale look! The rest of the year you mow the areas you want as lawn snd perhaps s path through the meadow. Again, very classy look! To complete the tableau you could put a few bird houses on posts in the meadow.

I recently watched a British gardening show that had a similarly expansive lawn area to deal with. They opted for a three-way approach: a short, tended lawn surrounding the house, primary public areas and adjacent planting beds; a mow now and again sweep of wide pathway leading to the "back 40"; and the "back 40" allowed to grow for a full season, only getting mown in late fall. The owners allowed the meadow-like back 40 to revert to native wildflowers and even some weeds. Allowing this portion to revert to nature (removing any tree seedlings or invasives) attracted vast populations of pollinators and other insects, including all the beneficials who keep the bad guys under control. And of course the insect life attracted birds. A win-win for the homeowner (reduced maintenance) and the environment!!

Where do you live?

What kind of grass did the previous owners leave you with?

Coming back to say one more thing. You said hubby is reluctant to convert part of the mowed lawn to clover. Well then, tell him to plant his rear end on a mower and have it at, five-six hours a week, every week. Or get out his checkbook and hire it done.

Personally, I don‘t think a 6-acre lawn is an asset.

I would use some of the acreage to plant a mini orchard and vegetable garden; another part for bird-friendly plantings or native prairie habitat (if you are in an area that had native prairie); another for a copse of native trees.

I definitely would not keep all six acres in lawn.

I believe that you would have to till under the grass then plant the clover to get a successful conversion.

alternatives to grass on large acreage

accent lighting in trees

arbors (for vines)

bamboo

beds (perennials, annuals, bulbs, herbs, ferns, roses, hostas, container plants, rock, and fruits).

bee keeping

benches

butterfly garden

decks

decorative gates (may be free standing)

dog run or kennel

edibles (veggies)

fences (accent)

fences (privacy)

fountains

fragrance garden

gazebo

greenhouse

ground covers

hedges

herb garden

hot tubs

hummingbird garden

Japanese garden

jogging track

moon garden (plants and lights for night time viewing)

orchard

ornamental grass garden

other groundcovers

out buildings (like sheds)

outdoor theater

overhead sunshades

parcours (exercise stations)

parking area

party room (free standing for games, theater, pool table, etc.)

patios

picnic or barbecue area

play yard for children

ponds or garden pools

pools

potting bench or shed

putting green

rock garden

rolling hills

rose garden

screened rooms (free standing)

screens (foliage hedges or growing on a wire mesh)

sitting or reading area

sports courts

statuary

steps

storage buildings

sun room (free standing)

swimming pools

tool shed

topiary

trees (shade)

trees (accent or decorative)

tulip garden

vining plant garden

walkway (formal paved)

walkway (informal path)

walls (retaining)

walls (accent or decorative)

wildflowers

Zen garden

We are in Kentucky. I've already planned for about 2 acres to be converted into a wildflower meadow. The rest will have a play area for kids, we have a fire pit, and I am going to do several pollinator gardens and/or a vegetable garden, but I may not have the time for that for a few years.

Thank you for all the ideas!!!

Sounds like a good plan, add some trees early on too :-)

Anywhere Himalayan blackberry is present completely discontinued mowing can soon result in thickets of that instead of a return to locally native vegetation - there are extensive total acreages of it here in the western States. Back East there is a long sorry history of landscapes being smothered by an entire gallery of aggressive plants of foreign origin such Japanese honeysuckle, kudzu and so on - what, specifically is in position already to take advantage of mowing equipment going away is likely to determine outcomes seen.

In Oklahoma a lot of people want to live on acreage. Also for reasons that escape me they love to mow. It does look nice afterwards but spending hours that way is not my choice. But what people on acreage generally do is not worry about what is growing in the "lawn " and just mow it regularly. Green is green and we have droughts. People in the country do not generally water unless they have one of those septic tanks systems which also converts to irrigation in that area.

They generally mow a large area around the house-at least an acre. because also there is fire danger and long, shaggy, dry vegetation is dangerous and also there are rattlers and copperheads and no one wants to be surprised so close to the porch. Depending upon where you live there can be safety concerns with not mowing. That said letting the remaining acres revert to wild flowers and cover for wildlife is lovely. Down the line if someone want to buy acreage you will see as many people who like a meadow or a horse pasture as like a vast, expensive lawn. It is also a service to the birds and insects not to use lawn chemicals.

I have deliberately inter-seeded clover in my city backyard. I have a giant oak at the center of the yard and grass has a hard time maintaining under it. Clover does not maintain well once it is consistently in the 90's either but is lovely in the spring when the grass is just getting going. Some of my neighbors probably wish I had the more consistent weed free carpet but it cannot be done without heavy chemical use. I think we should minimize that.

You realize this post is 3 years old, right?

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