"Mow Less" Lawn

Do you ever fantasize about a lush green lawn that requires very little water, chemicals, fertilizers and mowing?

Sound to good to be true, it isn’t! Alternative lawn mixes are now available that will save you and your family time and money. Mow-less lawns, also commonly called ecolawns, are a combination of turf grasses and perennial broadleaf flowering plants designed to be persistent and drought tolerant with fewer additional inputs of the traditional style lawn, while still performing in a similar manner for the typical family handling foot traffic, pets, and play.

Installation

1) Spring is the best time for the ecolawn installation, however, early fall will also work. Use caution in fall
planting because frost will likely kill or stunt the broadleaf germination and you will end up with an unbalanced mix.

2) If you are unsure about the quality of your soil, contact the county extension office or local nursery for
assistance. Generally, soil should be a “loamy” type with a good mix of clay, silt and sand with a slightly acidic pH in the range of 6.0 to 6.8. If results show that you need to fertilize, choose a mix with high P and K and low in N. Excess N (nitrogen) will cause the grass to out compete the broadleaf seeds during establishment.

3) Start with a tilled and graded bed (leveled and lightly raked). Till in organic matter and/or lime, if needed
based on soil examination. For a less intensive effort, you may also seed over the old lawn that has been killed and scarified via dethatching, but the results may take a few years of reseeding to create a uniform look.

4) Seeding rates vary from 1-4 lbs/1000 sq feet depending on the mix selected. In trials at OSU, double the
recommended application rate has produced the best results. If cost is a factor, you can also double the mix by buying additional seed of just the selected grass type with no additional broadleaf seeds. Mulch lightly, if at all.


Establishment
Irrigate several times per day until germination, then once every two weeks through the first summer.


Maintenance
During successional summers watering may be reduced to once per month, but ensure deep watering to a depth of 1.5 to 2 inches. This results in up to a 33% water use reduction over a turf lawn. Additionally, because an ecolawn’s length is optimally 2 to 3 inches, mowing only needs to occur every two to three weeks, resulting in much less maintenance effort.

Seed Mix
The basic ecolawn seed mix is comprised of:
60% Perennial Rye (elf variety)
17% Red Fescue
19% Hard Fescue
4% Strawberry clover
3% White Yarrow
1% Wild Flowers/Herbs (English Daisy, Baby Blue Eyes, and Sweet Alyssum)

Sources:
Nichols Garden Nursery
Albany, OR 541-928-9280

Protime Lawn Seed
Portland, OR 503-239-7518 City of Gresham Watershed Management Division
http://www.GreshamOregon.gov/cleanrivers