The Green Green Grass of Home

When my Dad was alive he was obsessed with his lawn. He wanted weeds eradicated and a perfect, billiard table, green patch gracing his back garden. He used feed and weed, mowed it to a short No 2 and watered it copiously in summer. Weeds always have other ideas and it was never a pristine patch and in later years; when he couldn’t mow it himself and had to rely on gardeners, the dandelions, daisies and clover found their way back.

I’m not sure what the fixation with ‘perfect’ lawns in this country is about? Controlling nature, a hangover from the Victorian era? Ideal Home and ideal garden dreams? Personally, I don’t get it. From a nature perspective green is better than paving slabs, brick or tarmac, but it’s still a pretty sterile environment for nature. And don’t get me started on plastic grass - that should definitely be banned.

When we moved into our house 2 summers ago, our back garden was a dessert of green, without any introduced plants at all - a few daffodils we discovered in a corner and a lovely old Scots Pine. However, the green contains very little grass. There are wild flowers, mosses and heather with lots of weeds, including ground elder and a range of other resilient weeds. I don’t mind too much. I like the mossy feel underfoot and the wildflowers and fungi which appear seasonally. It’s a hive of activity from bees and beetles to millipedes and other insects that I can’t even name. I’m not planning to dig it up and re-seed it with grass, instead I’m adding areas of interest and my vegetable beds on top. I’ll keep a little wild area in the corner and leave the rest cut short. We suffer badly with ticks and my husband was infected with Lyme disease last year, so I’m not prepared to leave what grass there is long. Gardening for me is always about compromise between what I need from the space and what nature needs to thrive. I have to be realistic about what I can achieve, but I do always garden with nature in mind. I use no polluting chemicals, I use peat free compost and I allow weeds a home. I think these are some of the best things you can do as a nature-friendly gardener. Having a pond - of whatever magnitude- is also a big boost. During the recent dry spell I’ve seen lots of birds drink from our pond and there’s evidence of hedgehogs using it too. It may be stating the obvious, but water is essential for all wildlife.

I will never have a perfect lawn and that’s absolutely fine by me. One day I may have virtually no lawn at all and as long as our wee rescue doggy has room for a run around, that will also be fine by me. We have a tendency to want to organise and control the natural world, like our Victorian forebears. The more we cede control to Mother nature and share our garden spaces with weeds and wildlife, the more diverse our spaces will be and the better for all of us.

_________________________________________________________________________

If you’re interested in the history of the lawn, there’s a good article here from Gardens Illustrated.