Lawn to Veggies, Flagstone, and Path Fines
Unsurprisingly, we’re doing a lot of lawn-to-garden projects this year. We usually do a couple per year, but we’ve already done two so far, with several others scheduled. Most of them are primarily plant focused, but this one was more hardscape oriented. The clients actively used their lawn, unlike so many people who only walk on their lawn to mow it, so we had to replace it with something the kids could walk and play on.
It was a little strange how the grass made a lip over the edge of the front walk. Alameda’s soil is basically beach sand, so I have a feeling that the soil had drifted onto the walkway like a sand dune and then the crabgrass crept out to stabilize it. It was pretty tired-looking by the time we took it out.
The grass on this side of the entry was more of a path than a lawn, so we could use more plants. The wooden edging is unfortunately necessary to keep the dogs from kicking the mulch onto the pathway, but we should be able to take it out after the grass has been suppressed and the plants grow in. I like doing veggie beds; I leave behind an empty new bed and then come back later to find it filled with edibles and flowers.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 19th, 2015 at 7:58 am and is filed under flatwork, lawn to garden, private gardens, stone. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
May 31st, 2015 at 4:20 pm
I love your path work – and the veggies! Kids actually running around in a garden – that’s the justification for lawn that works for me – thankfully there are alternatives to the chemically addicted lawns of our parents’ generation. Well what soon will be our parents’ generation I hope – if that’s sort of clear! A relative gave me this justification recently but his kids are 17 and really? are they running around on the lawn? I just read Reimagining the California Lawn by Fross, et al, and quite enjoyed it. They do highlight the names of the native choices in green text, and offer other horticultural plant options too.
June 2nd, 2015 at 4:15 pm
I like that book, too, and sometimes recommend it along with the EBMUD book. I saw Bart O’Brien speak when the book came out. He gave a good talk, hopefully some of the people in the audience went home and took their lawns out.