Turf Alternatives: From the Organic Professional

Let’s shrink your lawn with sustainable turf alternatives!

This guest post is brought to us by the legend, Bob Dahm. Many of my Midwest garden friends will know him as “Organic Bob,” which is how I knew him when we first met about 5 years ago.

He has guided our family on our own home lawn re-seeding (with tougher native grasses) and bee lawn areas with great success. This is because he sees our yards and gardens as integral parts of the natural world, not separate from them.

Take it away, Bob –

Why Turf Should Be Replaced

The acreage of lawn in the US is equal to the size of Texas! 63,000 square miles of turf that requires fertilizer, mowing, pesticides and water. In fact, more thank half of our drinkable water is used to irrigate grass. Pesticides, fungicides and herbicides are typically applied at a greater rate than agricultural fields.

These statistics are from Pesticide Action Network and they are one reason many people are looking for alternatives to the traditional Kentucky bluegrass lawn. Most of our grass species in our lawns originated in Europe and Asia. Kentucky bluegrass is from northern Asia! These species evolved in climates like England, where they don’t have our temperature extremes and get twice the rainfall as we do in our climate. Our native plants evolved to thrive in our climate and are much better equipped to care for our pollinators.

Read more on Creating a Wildlife Habitat in your Yard + Garden

Pollinator habitat loss is of very real concern as pollinator populations are at an all time low. A nice, manicured lawn is as a desert to a pollinator. No food, no water, no habitat and long distances between pockets of appropriate habitat are threatening many species of important insects, birds and other pollinating species.

The Rusty Patch Bumblebee (RPB) is one of these species that struggle with habitat loss and decline. In fact, the RPB is on the Endangered Species List because their populations are so low. This designation has called attention to the plight of all pollinators and resulted in the RPB being named the MN State Pollinator, which created a call to action to protect our insect friends.

Turf Alternatives Evolution

The University of MN Bee Lab answered the call by creating the concept of a bee lawn, because many tiny bees and other pollinators could not cross the vast distances to meet up with others of their kind. This lack of connection isolates populations until they lose genetic diversity or simply die off because their habitat is eliminated or contaminated with lawn and landscape chemicals.

The bee lawn introduces flowers into the seas of lawn grass, so that pollinators can move across the landscape. It modestly expanded the food and habitat and made measurable differences in pollinator populations. It also ushered in a new awareness of the serious issue of pollinator decline.

Along with that new awareness came more conservation activity. The MN State Legislature set aside significant funds to educate the public about solutions to pollinator decline and grants to enact these in the ground changes. The program was called “Lawns To Legumes” and over several years, it educated thousands of people in turf alternatives and the benefit of native plants. The grant program enabled hundreds of homeowners to install native plant gardens and alternative turf lawns. Sadly, the program has been defunded, but Lawns To Legumes inspired many more people to install gardens and bee lawns. That trend is continuing despite the funding setback.

One of the ways that momentum is being carried forward is in the explosion of different kinds of bee lawns and pollinator lawns. Twin City Seed, the foremost supplier of bee lawn seed was receiving pushback on the Dutch white clover in the original bee lawn. Conservation groups and supporting scientists discovered research that Dutch white clover was a place where domesticated honeybees interacted with wild bees and transferred diseases to which the native bees had no natural resistance. This was seen as a further stressor on an already troubled group of insects. Twin City Seed came out with bee lawn mixes that included native species and no Dutch white clover.  Now there are many different types of bee and pollinator lawns.

Turf Alternative Options

Alternative turf can mean many things. Some include the typical species of grass in our lawns, while others use native grasses and sedges, (a grass-like plant) and straight up native plant gardens all the way to mini meadows and prairies. The goals are the same for all. Increase habitat for pollinators and reduce the amount of conventional turf grass lawns, that burn up energy and water and contaminate the environment with toxic maintenance chemicals. The amount of change can be small or large, depending on the type of alternative selected.

Bee Lawns

Can be created simply by overseeding and existing lawn with bee lawn seed mix. One and done and you have created a lunch counter for traveling bees. You can also remove you existing lawn and start over by seeding your bee lawn from scratch. This is more work but is a good option if the existing lawn is a weedy mess.

No Mow Lawns

Are a blend of fine fescue grasses that are often found in existing lawns, especially in the shade. In fact, the blends of grass seed that are sold as “shade grass” are made up of these species. The No Mow part comes when the lawn isn’t mowed. The grass grows to about 6” long and lays over in beautiful swirls reminiscent of waves on water. This is the base grass for bee lawns which makes up about 92% of the bee lawn mix. No mow grass can be mowed like a regular lawn, but if left alone, it requires very little water or fertilizer. This is a popular option for steep slopes or out of the way parts of the lawn.

Tall Fescue

Is also growing in popularity for an alternative turf. Like fine fescue, it requires less fertilizer and water than Kentucky bluegrass, mainly because its roots grow up to 30” deep! Kentucky bluegrass roots only make it to about 8”. Tall fescue has runners on its roots and this feature enables it to grow back after heavy traffic or wild child stampedes. It is often used in sports fields for this reason. It can be overseeded into an existing lawn to toughen it up and make it lower maintenance.

All Native Grass Lawns

Usually consist of buffalo or blue grama grass or both together. These are native species that evolved to flourish in our climate. Because they have evolved in our climate, they are much lower maintenance. The amount of rainfall we receive is just the right amount for them to thrive, once established.

These native grasses don’t need to be mowed, watered or fertilized. This really decreases the carbon foot print of the lawn. In fact, because they have such deep root systems, they will sequester more CO2 from the air and store the carbon in the soil. These deep root systems are why native plants are so low maintenance.

All Native Pollinator Lawns

Use the same grasses, buffalo and blue grama, along with low growing native flowering plants. Blue eyed grass, violets, pussytoes, and many other flowers offer great benefit to pollinators.

Mini Meadows

Are small areas where the lawn has been removed and replaced by seeding native plants. You can also transplant starter plants into this seeded area, either before or after seeding. The best time of year to seed many native plants is when the landscape is dormant, usually November or later. Native seeds need soil temperatures to be below freezing for a number of weeks before they can germinate. Not all of the seeds will germinate in the first or second years. Some may never germinate successfully and may require re-seeding or starter plants. These kinds of meadows are dynamic and maintenance is important while getting them established.

Maintenance will consist of supplementing water when needed and weed control. The best method for weed control is to mow the area a few times per year for the first 2 years. The deep roots of native plants enable them to survive mowing, while weeds cannot tolerate the cutting. There is a saying in native plant circles; “The first year they sleep. The second year they creep. The third year they leap”! Natives spend 2 years growing roots to incredible depths and volume. This supporting infrastructure is key to the success of the plants and provides an incredible advantage over weeds. It’s a bit of up front work to get a mini meadow and can be frustrating but stay courageous. It will become a personal prairie before you know it.

Prairies

Are similar to Mini Meadows, just larger. The existing vegetation is usually killed with herbicide and then seeded. Another method involves seeding into the existing vegetation and mowing it for 2 years and stopping at the third year, much like the Mini Meadow methods. There is an organic herbicide that is effective in killing vegetation without the toxic chemicals. This product can be used to kill grass before any kind of planting.

Pollinator Gardens

Are small native gardens that are used to re-purpose areas of lawns where it is difficult to get good lawn growth. Areas in this category are deep shade, hot patches, slopes, low wet places, shady and sunny boulevards, and unused sections of lawns. Some soils, like clay or sand can be challenging for turf grass, too.

There are native plant communities that will thrive in all of these conditions. There are many pre-designed gardens through organizations like Wild Ones, Metro Blooms and native plant nurseries.

All of the above alternatives to turf will reduce lawn space, especially the weedy parts. They will also create food and habitat for the hundreds of species of pollinators that are teetering on the edge of catastrophe. One small garden or a patch of flowering lawn can make a significant difference for pollinators and the environment, especially if we build a grassroots movement of people who care about pollinators.

Reach out to Bob for guidance on pursuing a sustainable haven for pollinators and shrinking the size of that lawn that is so difficult to maintain.

Contact Bob for your consultation!

Resources

Metro Blooms
Grants, educational resources, pre-designed gardens and more! https://metroblooms.org/

Alt Lawns of Richfield and Bloomington
A Facebook group that is very active locally with lots of expertise.

Wild Ones
A nationwide conservation group with local chapters. Lots of great people and resources.
https://wildones.org/chapters/minnesota/

That is a LOT of great info on making our lawns work for all of us in nature. I love that there are so many turf alternatives that fit different needs. Thanks, Bob!

What takeaways can you use from this info?

Keep Digging In,
Michelle