3 Sustainable Lawn Alternatives (for Cold Climates)
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Date: 2022-07-18
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Comments and reviews: 15
Drew
Since when is Vancouver a cold climate? Most of Vancouver Island fall within the USDA plant hardiness zones of 8b to 9b meaning the coldest it normally gets is 15 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit, which I guess might be cold to someone from Central or Southern California but is much warmer than a majority of the US during winter. The vast majority of the US, aside from the deep south and coastal regions, fall between USDA hardiness zones 2b and 7b meaning that their winters are normally between -50 degrees F and 5 degrees F. So the vast majority of the US is at least 10 degrees colder than Vancouver BC but could be as much as 65 degrees colder than Vancouver, BC. I live in east TN where we straddle zones 6b to 7b depending on the elevation we are at which puts our cold weather at between -5 and 10 degrees F normally. There are a lot of things that can be grown in zone 8b which will not do well in 7b and outright die in 6b. Coastal areas benefit from the heating effects of the ocean currents. This is why, despite the fact that the UK is much further north than Massachusetts, the English colonists were not prepared for the cold winters in Massachusetts. Plymouth Massachusetts is regularly 20-30 degrees F colder than London England in winter. In fact there is basically nowhere in the British Isles, including Orkney, Shetland and Faroe Islands, that regularly gets as cold in winter as Plymouth Massachusetts. This is due to the North Atlantic current bringing warmer water to the area around the British Isles. There are in fact few places in Europe, outside Scandinavia, that get as cold as the vast majority of the US.
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Since when is Vancouver a cold climate? Most of Vancouver Island fall within the USDA plant hardiness zones of 8b to 9b meaning the coldest it normally gets is 15 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit, which I guess might be cold to someone from Central or Southern California but is much warmer than a majority of the US during winter. The vast majority of the US, aside from the deep south and coastal regions, fall between USDA hardiness zones 2b and 7b meaning that their winters are normally between -50 degrees F and 5 degrees F. So the vast majority of the US is at least 10 degrees colder than Vancouver BC but could be as much as 65 degrees colder than Vancouver, BC. I live in east TN where we straddle zones 6b to 7b depending on the elevation we are at which puts our cold weather at between -5 and 10 degrees F normally. There are a lot of things that can be grown in zone 8b which will not do well in 7b and outright die in 6b. Coastal areas benefit from the heating effects of the ocean currents. This is why, despite the fact that the UK is much further north than Massachusetts, the English colonists were not prepared for the cold winters in Massachusetts. Plymouth Massachusetts is regularly 20-30 degrees F colder than London England in winter. In fact there is basically nowhere in the British Isles, including Orkney, Shetland and Faroe Islands, that regularly gets as cold in winter as Plymouth Massachusetts. This is due to the North Atlantic current bringing warmer water to the area around the British Isles. There are in fact few places in Europe, outside Scandinavia, that get as cold as the vast majority of the US.
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Monika
This is a bone off contention with my husband and I. We have the smallest house in the neighborhood and the biggest yard. I look out at the yard and see all the potential for multiple purpose plants to be grown. We have a veggie and pollinator garden and I want a herb and medicinal garden. He says he likes grass even though he complains about the mowing. I see him water it and cringe thinking he's wasting water on it.
That being said I'm slowly winning the battle. He was impressed at the tinctures I recently made from my potted medicinals. I got a great rash from working out in the garden on a project with 105 degree feels like heat. When I was done I went inside and applied some chickweed tincture from my harvest this past spring and the trash cleared up and I didn't have to spend a mint at the pharmacy.
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This is a bone off contention with my husband and I. We have the smallest house in the neighborhood and the biggest yard. I look out at the yard and see all the potential for multiple purpose plants to be grown. We have a veggie and pollinator garden and I want a herb and medicinal garden. He says he likes grass even though he complains about the mowing. I see him water it and cringe thinking he's wasting water on it.
That being said I'm slowly winning the battle. He was impressed at the tinctures I recently made from my potted medicinals. I got a great rash from working out in the garden on a project with 105 degree feels like heat. When I was done I went inside and applied some chickweed tincture from my harvest this past spring and the trash cleared up and I didn't have to spend a mint at the pharmacy.
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Lynn
I want to thank you for adding for cold climates to your video title. I so often see gardeners here in North Carolina-- sharing plant lists they've found that will not work in our area. My goal when helping gardeners is to help them be successful and I hate for someone to lose interest when something fails simply because they didn't understand regional differences.
As a novice gardener I used to read a lot of gardening books and magazines (not much internet then. It took me a while to figure out that I needed to find out where the author was gardening. And if I couldn't find their area, I learned to take their advice with a grain of salt.
Imo all content creators really NEED to let their audience know where they are in the world. Thanks again.
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I want to thank you for adding for cold climates to your video title. I so often see gardeners here in North Carolina-- sharing plant lists they've found that will not work in our area. My goal when helping gardeners is to help them be successful and I hate for someone to lose interest when something fails simply because they didn't understand regional differences.
As a novice gardener I used to read a lot of gardening books and magazines (not much internet then. It took me a while to figure out that I needed to find out where the author was gardening. And if I couldn't find their area, I learned to take their advice with a grain of salt.
Imo all content creators really NEED to let their audience know where they are in the world. Thanks again.
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J.
I've never cared much about grass and choose to focus my attention on my garden beds I've been lazily seeding white Dutch clover into my fescue lawn in Virginia 7a the past two years because I've always liked white clover and thought it would be good for the pollinators. I now have a lush, beautiful green lawn with zero effort (no watering and no fertilizer ever) other than flinging some seeds out 2 springs in row. There were a lot of great suggestions in this video! I'd never heard of some of these groundcovers and will be keeping an eye out for some of them in the future.
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I've never cared much about grass and choose to focus my attention on my garden beds I've been lazily seeding white Dutch clover into my fescue lawn in Virginia 7a the past two years because I've always liked white clover and thought it would be good for the pollinators. I now have a lush, beautiful green lawn with zero effort (no watering and no fertilizer ever) other than flinging some seeds out 2 springs in row. There were a lot of great suggestions in this video! I'd never heard of some of these groundcovers and will be keeping an eye out for some of them in the future.
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handmade
We've been trying to figure out what random stuff is growing in our yard and just by happy accident ended up with a pretty large patch of wild strawberries. We mowed over them once before finding out what they are, but they produced a bunch of flowers and berries already. They did grow up within our grass so I've been weeding the larger invasive ones, but now we want to make intentional areas of it among other native ground covers. The color of the strawberry leaves are nice and the bees loved the flowers.
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We've been trying to figure out what random stuff is growing in our yard and just by happy accident ended up with a pretty large patch of wild strawberries. We mowed over them once before finding out what they are, but they produced a bunch of flowers and berries already. They did grow up within our grass so I've been weeding the larger invasive ones, but now we want to make intentional areas of it among other native ground covers. The color of the strawberry leaves are nice and the bees loved the flowers.
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CuriousCat
I've experimented with all kinds of lawn alternatives and have to say that I'm going back to turf for my front lawn. All of those recommendations create high maintenance gardens (lawns) that DO REQUIRE constant weeding, trimming, dividing, edging, mulching etc. Some of those plants wander and have to be edged. Many of them grow taller than 12 which is not allowed in my city. Yes, reduce the size of the lawn you have to mow every week but think ahead to long term maintenance.
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I've experimented with all kinds of lawn alternatives and have to say that I'm going back to turf for my front lawn. All of those recommendations create high maintenance gardens (lawns) that DO REQUIRE constant weeding, trimming, dividing, edging, mulching etc. Some of those plants wander and have to be edged. Many of them grow taller than 12 which is not allowed in my city. Yes, reduce the size of the lawn you have to mow every week but think ahead to long term maintenance.
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Carmen
I live in hot excessive heat in Florida, I only have a few bushes in the front of the house and a large yard in the back with nothing planted, I don't have the time or funds to waste. I still want my front and back to look good but have done nothing in order not to waste water and plants that die on me. I will look at your posted suggestions. Do you think it will still apply to Central Florida. Thank you!
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I live in hot excessive heat in Florida, I only have a few bushes in the front of the house and a large yard in the back with nothing planted, I don't have the time or funds to waste. I still want my front and back to look good but have done nothing in order not to waste water and plants that die on me. I will look at your posted suggestions. Do you think it will still apply to Central Florida. Thank you!
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Lin
My grass thrived until my neighbours decided to stop picking their weeds out by hand like I do.
I love walking barefoot over grass and the kids playing in the summer on grass. We have picnics in our yard and set up our little pool to enjoy.
I guess this is really about low maintenance for people who dont use their property for enjoyment or are more concerned with creating a wild looking environment.
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My grass thrived until my neighbours decided to stop picking their weeds out by hand like I do.
I love walking barefoot over grass and the kids playing in the summer on grass. We have picnics in our yard and set up our little pool to enjoy.
I guess this is really about low maintenance for people who dont use their property for enjoyment or are more concerned with creating a wild looking environment.
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Dan
I have an acre on the edge of the Strait of Juan de Fuca that is an experimental nature habitat filled with wildflowers, wildlife, and weeds. There is always something going on from nature to see. The less I put my hand to the land the more activity there is from larger animals to tiny insects and everything in-between. My philosophy is I benefit from nature and nature benefits from me.
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I have an acre on the edge of the Strait of Juan de Fuca that is an experimental nature habitat filled with wildflowers, wildlife, and weeds. There is always something going on from nature to see. The less I put my hand to the land the more activity there is from larger animals to tiny insects and everything in-between. My philosophy is I benefit from nature and nature benefits from me.
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Com
Maybe it's because I grew up in the middle of nowhere, but we never were meticulous about our lawn. We mowed it, but that's pretty much it. The only time Dad would use grass seed is if we had bad brown patches where nothing grew. We should have used clover, as the clovery parts of the lawn always looked better and were softer. I'll keep this in mind when I get my own place.
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Maybe it's because I grew up in the middle of nowhere, but we never were meticulous about our lawn. We mowed it, but that's pretty much it. The only time Dad would use grass seed is if we had bad brown patches where nothing grew. We should have used clover, as the clovery parts of the lawn always looked better and were softer. I'll keep this in mind when I get my own place.
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Cheryl
I appreciate the video and suggestions. It would be great to have a follow thru with the native plant theme as most of these plants that were suggested are not native to the US. For example, wood violets are beautiful and native to my area. And, bonus, they are edible and the rabbits will eat them instead of the other things you dont want them to.
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I appreciate the video and suggestions. It would be great to have a follow thru with the native plant theme as most of these plants that were suggested are not native to the US. For example, wood violets are beautiful and native to my area. And, bonus, they are edible and the rabbits will eat them instead of the other things you dont want them to.
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hyrulphicsound
When Vancouver is considered the 'cold climate'.
Anyways, I like the ideas, and I hope we can get rid of turf grass at least in the backyard, but other than the clover (and I only certain about white clover) I have no idea if ANY of those other plants mentioned will work in Zone 3 conditions without having to constantly be re-seeded.
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When Vancouver is considered the 'cold climate'.
Anyways, I like the ideas, and I hope we can get rid of turf grass at least in the backyard, but other than the clover (and I only certain about white clover) I have no idea if ANY of those other plants mentioned will work in Zone 3 conditions without having to constantly be re-seeded.
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epic_gardening
So glad you brought up native wildflowers! I live in Missouri and just recently found out that natural prairie and glade habitats are swiftly disappearing, and the insects and animals with them. Invasive species are VERY important to know, recognize, and remove, but you can of course use non-native plants that won't take over the space.
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So glad you brought up native wildflowers! I live in Missouri and just recently found out that natural prairie and glade habitats are swiftly disappearing, and the insects and animals with them. Invasive species are VERY important to know, recognize, and remove, but you can of course use non-native plants that won't take over the space.
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Poppa
None of these alternative lawns ever seem to have a place to set up a badminton / volleyball net or a place to play catch or kick a ball around. IOW they usually are not kid friendly. I don't often have time to drop what I'm doing to go to the park with the youngsters. A lawn of just clover & dandelions might do if I can get it past the HOA.
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None of these alternative lawns ever seem to have a place to set up a badminton / volleyball net or a place to play catch or kick a ball around. IOW they usually are not kid friendly. I don't often have time to drop what I'm doing to go to the park with the youngsters. A lawn of just clover & dandelions might do if I can get it past the HOA.
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Beth
I tried adding microclover to my lawn a few years back, but I think it hybridized with the existing white clover and actually created clover with extra-large leaves, which was also extremely aggressive and out-competed the grass, which I didn't like. I would recommend sticking with natural clovers if you want the grass to persist in the mix.
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I tried adding microclover to my lawn a few years back, but I think it hybridized with the existing white clover and actually created clover with extra-large leaves, which was also extremely aggressive and out-competed the grass, which I didn't like. I would recommend sticking with natural clovers if you want the grass to persist in the mix.
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