Hair and clothing fashions change quite frequently. Garden fashions change as well, but much more slowly. I suppose that’s because it takes a lot more time to change your yard than it does to change your shoes.

 

It has been said that a garden is not truly established until it has been in place for twelve years. It only took me a couple of seasons to design, dig and plant my first perennial beds, but after twelve years I could see that most failures had disappeared, what successes I’d had still stood and those little twigs of shrubs and trees I had planted had matured and filled out to a respectable size.

 

Now it is only a matter of trying to keep it going during flood and drought, Japanese beetles, voracious bindweed, rabbits, and errant weedwackers wielded by my darling yet zealous husband. For the most part, I see to the flowers and he mows the lawn. Every once in a while I annoy him by planting a nice bush or tree in his lawn. He then complains about how he now has to mow around it and I explain that I have cut down on his mowing time by replacing some of the grass with something more interesting. Whether or not he agrees with that, I don’t know. He’s too nice to argue with me about it.

 

Garden trends have changed and are changing once again. Up until the late 18^th century, the average American yard was made up of mostly dirt, with perhaps some flowers in the front and vegetables in the back. Green expanses of lawns were only for rich people who could afford a bevy of workers to regularly weed and cut them by hand. Then lawnmowers were invented and pesticides and weed-killing chemicals developed and soon any Average Joe could have a miniature version of a luxurious lawn right there on his own property.

 

Another trend emerged when neighbors decided to bust down the fences and hedges between their smaller yards in favor of creating the illusion of one big green unbroken lawn in front of several homes. Of course, this illusion was destroyed when one of the neighbors inevitably neglected his yard due to travel, laziness or non-compliance. There lies the peril of joint control. Still, this lawn trend has been the norm for quite a few decades.

 

Time has marched on and new trends have appeared on the horizon. As we have come to learn more about how nature has had to cope with some of the trends of the past, we are faced with some factors to consider. The chemicals we have been using to make our yards flawless have been washing into our streams and destroying aquatic life, which in turn cuts down on the food supply for birds we like to see around the garden. Power mowers use up expensive fuel and pollute the air with their exhaust and noise. In our area, natural cycles of drought cause the lawn-conscious to water the grass to keep it from going dormant, thus draining the water supply for the farmers who need it most. We have begun to think that maybe the vanity of a perfect carpet of green is not worth the stress.

 

Alternative ideas are springing up everywhere and it will be up to the innovative among us to begin making the changes that will become the new norm. Die-hard grass lovers need not be asked to abandon the idea of a lawn. Quiet and non-polluting push-mowers are a good start, and have come a long way since the ones you may have wrestled with as a kid. We have a couple of them and I can tell you, it is a real pleasure to be able to mow and hear the birds singing at the same time. It’s good aerobic exercise, too. Organic fertilizers and natural pest controls are rapidly becoming more available and affordable. Even re-introducing native grasses to your property and phasing out the foreign varieties that need so much more care in order to thrive here is a very positive step.

 

For those of us who have always hated lawn care: good news! Landscaping using materials other than grass in one’s yard is gaining in popularity. Some herbs such as creeping oregano, and mounding and creeping marjorams have been found to spread like grass, require only occasional mowing and release a pleasing fragrance when walked upon! Other larger ground covers such as ajuga (bugleweed) and vinca (periwinkle) are also finding a place in the yard other than under trees and on slopes. If you have a larger property, allowing a portion of it to become a native wildflower meadow makes a romantic view. Replacing part of the lawn with a deck or paver-on-sand patio to create an outdoor living space has become all the rage, as well.

 

They say that taking care of the environment starts in one’s own back yard. So I’m going to take a stroll in my own back yard and begin to picture some improvements. Changes won’t happen overnight, but changes to the planet are happening whether we like it or not. Why not take an active part in changing things for the better?

 

 

 

 

©2007 Bess Taylor