Anyone gotten rid of their front lawns?

Cool links, Janie. Thanks for posting them!

Great links, Janie! Are you planning to start your lawn this fall? Where will you get the plants? Keep us posted!

I sure like the idea that it can be mowed too! Just not very often. And that Kaydale Lodge in AU sure looks like a neat place. Thanks for the links? Rose

I have already started two prostrate thymes by the walk and will be transplanting the others I planted when we first moved in from the flower bed to the lawn.

Our neighbor threw grass seed into our lawn when he re-seeded his so I'm going to start it on the driveway side so that is where people step out of their cars and can smell the beautiful scent of the stuff. : )

But this spring I am hoping to really tackle it!

: )

Sounds like a PLAN, Janie... Go, Girl!

kell
do i ever under stand i want to get rid of the grass in the back yard soooo bad and the BF won't let me ..... but i have plans (evil grin)he he he

You must have copied my evil grin Troy LOL. I have gradually snuck groundcover into the areas where grass won't grow, and it is slowly taking over the grass (giggles of delight)

Another patch of grass in the backyard bit the dust: it will be converted into a rock garden by spring :D Now if I can just get the rest of the front yard eliminated (plotting feverishly)

heheheh

This last year we finally had the money to do the hardscape work and garden install on our Oakland, CA (northern CA) cottage. We hated the Bermuda grass lawn and clay soil, so ripped it all out, put in compost and mulch, and have gotten a lot of compliments on it. We did 2,000 sq. ft (with another 1000 in the back still waiting) all around the house. Surprisingly little increase in water bill, as plants got bigger only watered every 1-2 weeks. Here's a before and after picture of the frontyrd.

Wow! What a difference! Do you have any problems with passerbys picking flowers, etc?

jkom, I love it! It looks like the property had a pretty bad slope, so it must have been a real challenge to mow it, too.

Good job, jkom! I love the new look.

jkom, this looks great. I understand the problem with the clay soil as we live in Santa Clara (CA) and seem to be fighting it all the time. What is the ground cover you have the is the bottom left that is spreading on the walk?

Many thanks for all the kind words! Not even the schoolkids
pick the flowers, but then around here everybody has flowers, even the weeds are pretty (sometimes). Yeah, the slope was a problem, so there's a raised bed in the middle about 2' high, which holds the Meyer lemon tree, heucheras, blue oat grass, and shrub osteospermums to give the whole area a better balance.

The groundcover is aptenia cordifolia 'red apple'. I put an entry into the Plant Database about it, be sure to check it out as it can be VERY invasive. But in the right setting, it's one of the best groundcovers around--low maintenance, bees love it, very pretty little flowers. Home Depot and OSH sell it in cheap six-paks and flats. But you shouldn't need a whole flat unless you're covering Golden Gate Park--this stuff really spreads! Lovely when covering a wall or slope, too. But literally, once a month or so I have to rip handfuls out to keep it from overrunning its neighbors.

Won't take foot traffic, but it regenerates so quickly, you'll hardly notice bruised leaves as they get covered over by new growth.