Anyone have experience with eco-lawns or meadow mixes?

[OM617YOTA]

Ideally, I'd like something that looks similar to a wildflower meadow, without being too tall, that needs as little mowing as possible, as little water as possible, while staying green enough year round to reduce wildfire danger. It should require zero fertilizer beyond mulching the grass clippings. If I have to spend time or money on a lawn, at least it'll be pretty and useful to the bees and butterflies, instead of basically organic astroturf. Doesn't need to be resistant to high traffic or be tough at all, the dog runs around out there and the occasional mowing is the only traffic it will get.

If it needs to be mowed every month or every other month, that can work out. I'll be looking at modifying my mower to mow at 8-10" tall, so the wildflowers have a shot at survival. Likewise if it needs watering during the middle of summer to stay green, that can be work out, but the goal is no mowing and no watering. Even incremental improvements heading that way would be hugely acceptable.

Looking at overseeding with something like this:
https://northwestmeadowscapes.com/collections/eco-lawns/products/pollinator-lawn-overseeding-mix

These would also be options:
https://ptlawnseed.com/collections/eco-and-alternative-lawns/products/fleur-de-lawn
https://ptlawnseed.com/collections/eco-and-alternative-lawns/products/pt-770-water-less-eco-lawn

Please share your thoughts or ideas.

 

[HumBurner]

Plant arugula and mustard. It'll take over the area in a year or two. Good bee food at times of year when other flowers aren't out.

 

[sean donato]

Following with interest. We've tried several different approaches over the years, but nothing that stood up to regular traffic, got too tall, or sucked to walk In barefoot after mowing.
We did try a local companies "wild flower" seeds on one of our steep hills, it looked great most of summer, but nothing seems to have come back this year yet.
Good luck, and please post your results with whatever you pick.

 

[Seachaser]

I’d grow something I could eat. Nut trees, blueberries, pears, peaches etc. But that’s just me. Being a farmer, I like to see land produce. Or put a beehive.

 

[OM617YOTA]

I’d grow something I could eat. Nut trees, blueberries, pears, peaches etc. But that’s just me. Being a farmer, I like to see land produce. Or put a beehive.

On a philosophical level, I 10,000% agree.

On a practical level, anything that increases my workload after initial implementation is probably going to be a non-starter. Some fruit trees that I can hopefully plant and then largely forget might happen in the future, after the grass is handled, but not right now.

 

[HumBurner]

Vetch is also good. Makes pretty little purple flowers. Some varieties are low-growing, some are tall(er.)

I'd say Fava or another wild pea/bean, but they can get 4' tall easily.


I'll see what my brain poops out while I'm distracted by other things.

 

[snobdds]

My mom has a naturalist lady living next door. Ripped all her lawn out and planted wildflowers.

What she got was weeds that look like **** now.

If you want no work and no watering...plant rock.

 

[OM617YOTA]

My mom has a naturalist lady living next door. Ripped all her lawn out and planted wildflowers.

What she got was weeds that look like **** now.

If you want no work and no watering...plant rock.

Gravel grows well here, very low maintenance, no fire danger. I'd be fine with it, the girlfriend and dog say otherwise. Gravel wouldn't be good for home value, keeping the house cool in the summer, or making my neighbors happy, but the girlfriend and dog are the only opinions I actually care about.

Definitely have to pick an alternative that will crowd out weeds. That's a huge part of why I'm not killing my grass that I have now, which is actually pretty nice and weed free. Just overseeding with what I want, although I might cut the grass down to nothing first. If whatever I overseed can compete with what's there already, it'll hopefully compete with weeds.

That's my non-gardener theory, anyway. In the past I've spot sprayed weeds with roundup, and also boiled water using extra solar power and poured boiling water on weeds. Un-natural selection.

 

[Leeroy]

Look into Pennsylvania Sedge. Seems it might be a good fit.Images online don't do it justice. We have some here that is 50 plus years old, never do anything to it.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Viola: Native Violets​

I tried letting the yard go wild with wildflowers one year - it turned into a jungle that almost required a bush hog to mow down. I won't do that again.
I ordered some more wildflower seeds last year, but I'm planting them in a flowerbed area.
Here's where I ordered from.
https://www.americanmeadows.com/
The section on preparing the soil is important. (and too much work for me)
https://www.americanmeadows.com/content/wildflowers/how-to/seed-planting-preparation

I've been "cultivating" wild violas, clover, and moss (in the shade) for years. I have very little "grass" in the yard.
Unfortunately, all that got hammered hard with the chemical trespass two years ago and the yard has looked like crap.
This year, thank goodness, everything is making a great comeback - wall to wall viola plants and blooms. I see lots of clover leaves in between also.

The past two years I've been mowing at the highest level to give things a chance to grow back. I noticed all kinds of "weeds" with pretty flowers I'd never noticed before, and the bees and butterflies loved them.

You can have a nice looking yard without spending a dime on seed - just let it grow and see what comes up!

And as far as mowing, I wait as long as I can for the first mow to see what volunteers sprout.
This year so far I've found four buckeye tree volunteers - that never would have grown if I had mowed sooner.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

 

[TNTreeHugger]

The pink/white flowers in my yard are spring beauty and they multiply/spread like crazy.

 

[HumBurner]

There's also chickweed, which the true variety makes a little white flower. There's another plant that is nearly identical and makes a pinkish/red flower.

I'd say sub-clover, but that can get outta hand.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

https://uswildflowers.com/wfquery.php?State=ORE

I used a link similar to this one to ID the new things I saw flowering in the yard.
I have images saved somewhere. I'll see if I can find them...

Found them on my external hard drive...
wildflowers I'd been mowing down! That the bees and butterflies love.

Black medic
Blue field madder
Broadleaf plantain
Catchweed/sticky grass/ bedstraw
Vinca minor
Cressleaf groundsel
Henbit
Passion flowers
Spring beauty
purple deadnettle
Queen Ann's Lace
Silver mullein
Viola
Wild carrot
Wild strawberry
White clover
Yellow wood sorrel


You can search the names on that database I posted above.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

I forgot smartweed!
I've been pulling this out of my flowerbeds and gardens for years! It makes a thick matted groundcover.
Now I leave it be. It has real pretty flowers and makes a decent ground cover.

and wild petunia

 

[TNTreeHugger]

@OM617YOTA
What does your yard look like now?
Shade, full sun, hilly, level, dry, wet?
How large an area are you talking about covering?

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Moss/rock gardens are gorgeous. No mowing required.
Put a fish pond in there while your at it.

 

[esean]

Most so-called wildflower mixes, meadow-in-a-can, etc. are nothing but quick growing non-native flowers that don't persist. The mixes you linked do have white clover, a non-native that will persist if you mow occasionally. You can buy white clover dirt cheap at a feed store. The non-natives will feed some pollinators but won't support nearly as much insect life as natives. Unfortunately my expertise is in another part of the country, so I can't help you with species selection in Oregon. See if there's an Oregon Native Plant website with suggestions. Also check out the Xerces Society site.

https://uswildflowers.com/wfquery.php?State=ORE

I used a link similar to this one to ID the new things I saw flowering in the yard.
I have images saved somewhere. I'll see if I can find them...

Found them on my external hard drive...
wildflowers I'd been mowing down! That the bees and butterflies love.

Black medic
Blue field madder
Broadleaf plantain
Catchweed/sticky grass/ bedstraw
Vinca minor
Cressleaf groundsel
Henbit
Passion flowers
Spring beauty
purple deadnettle
Queen Ann's Lace
Silver mullein
Viola
Wild carrot
Wild strawberry
White clover
Yellow wood sorrel


You can search the names on that database I posted above.

Please don't plant Vinca minor (periwinkle)!!!! It can be very invasive and spread into natural areas and is extremely difficult to control. There's tons in my neighbors woods that's spread from the adjacent cemetery.

 

[HumBurner]

Most so-called wildflower mixes, meadow-in-a-can, etc. are nothing but quick growing non-native flowers that don't persist. The mixes you linked do have white clover, a non-native that will persist if you mow occasionally. You can buy white clover dirt cheap at a feed store. The non-natives will feed some pollinators but won't support nearly as much insect life as natives. Unfortunately my expertise is in another part of the country, so I can't help you with species selection in Oregon. See if there's an Oregon Native Plant website with suggestions. Also check out the Xerces Society site.

Please don't plant Vinca minor (periwinkle)!!!! It can be very invasive and spread into natural areas and is extremely difficult to control. There's tons in my neighbors woods that's spread from the adjacent cemetery.

Yea, vinca is a royal pain. Lots of old timers planted one or two little plants decades ago and now have lost large areas of land, upwards of 0.10ac that I've seen. Lots of time and money spent on removal. Don't plant morning glory or bind weed either.

 

[OM617YOTA]

Hah, I tried planting vinca. Maybe it's good none survived.