How can I mow less lawn?

Q. Do you have ideas so I can mow less lawn?

Louise from Boardman

A. Personally, I like mowing the yard, but I’m with Louise in that reducing the amount of lawn to mow would be great.

While reducing the amount of lawn you mow makes for less mower maintenance and less time spent mowing, there are even better benefits. Just imagine looking outside your picture window to see beautiful flowers, birds, butterflies and pollinators in the landscape.

You can do this by adding a few more perennials, trees, shrubs and maybe tossing out some annual seeds for flowers each year. Because of local ordinances and neighbors, you might need to do it in patches, or keep it in the backyard, maintaining a lawn in the front. Better yet, plan a simple maintenance schedule of pruning and cutting back to be sure it is beneficial, but aesthetically pleasing as well. Plan to leave seed heads in winter, but have some evergreens to mask some of the more natural areas.

How do you do that? One step at a time.

Step 1. Kill the grass. Lay down several layers of newspaper, wet it down, spread a mixture of mushroom compost and double-shredded mulch. About 3 inches will do.

Step 2. Wait a few weeks before the growing season really gets warmed up.

Step 3. After the first frost, scatter perennial seeds on the ground. Some listed to help pollinators are aster, bee balm, goldenrod, hyssop, and milkweed. A hint for you: I mixed seeds with white sand so I could see where I had broadcasted.

Step 4. Wait unit spring. Not all varieties will emerge quickly. Read the seed packages for details.

Step 5. Enjoy flowers spring, summer and fall, and enjoy the creatures that will come to your yard.

Step 6. Leave it alone, let it reseed.

Step 7. Do not mow (that word again) the first season. Let it re-seed and mow over in the spring and provide food for overwintering birds.

Other ideas. Ground covers, although I tend to think a lot of ground cover attracts varmints. So, try things like link herbs – low growing thyme or taller lavender are wonderful. Shrubs are wonderful, particularly ones that bloom. Not only do they provide pollen and or nectar, they provide a great hiding place for birds. Don’t overlook the value of trees.

For more ideas on alternatives to lawns, go to http://go.osu.edu/lawnalternatives. To learn about planting plants for pollinators, go to http://go.osu.edu/gardenforbees.

Marilyn McKinley is an OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteer in Mahoning County. The clinic is now open for spring. Call 330-533-5538 to submit your questions. Regular clinic hours are 9 a.m. to noon Mondays and Thursdays.