How to Design Lawn Replacement

Lawn replacement is an alternative way to plant your landscape rather than using the traditional lawn. You opt to skip a lawn for a number of reasons. Lawns are costly and wasteful in areas where rain water is in short supply, lawns need constant maintenance to look good and some people prefer the look of something other than the often-overused patch of lawn. Here are some ideas that might help you design a lawn replacement.

Instructions

1. 

   Consider planting a native garden to replace having a lawn. If you are really interested in going 'green' native gardens are considered the coolest new trend in landscape design. They are colorful, easy maintenance, fascinating to watch grow, and helpful to wildlife.

2. Also high on the list of popular lawn replacements is turning that space into something productive like a vegetable garden. Not only can these be designed to be decorative, but they'll supply food that is healthier, tastier and fresher than anything else you can buy. Oh, and home-grown vegetables will save you money, too!

3. 

   If you want the convenience of a lawn for a play or a sports area, consider using artificial lawn instead of real grass.

4. 

   There's more than one kind of grass. Grasses are coming into their own. Try planting an ornamental grass garden that will add color, texture and motion to your garden landscape. It will need little care and can be tailored to your soil and water supply.

5. 

   Minimal maintenance is another preference for so many home owners who just don't have the time to fuss over a lawn. Using non-living materials like colorful gravel, fancy paving stones or decomposed granite can create an almost no-maintenance lawn replacement.

6. 

   Then there's the ground cover or 'steppables' concept. The idea here is to replace your lawn with a low-growing plant that is well suited to your climate and can take some minor foot-traffic. You can design 'steppables' with all one kind of ground cover plant, make a free-form patchwork quilt layout or create a carefully rendered design. Clover, thyme, vinca or alyssum are some of the many plants you can use for a lawn replacement.

7. For more information on how to design lawn replacement, check out some of the links under Resources.

Resources

• Replace that lawn!
• Lawn Alternatives
• Landscape design and gardening information and ideas
• eHow Spring Guide