Although this little lass likes alliteration, she isn’t much of a “lawn lovin'” kinda lady.
I’ve written about the issue of lawn care before (sans alliteration, thankgod), but I feel compelled to write about it again because those little white pesticide/herbicide signs are popping up around the neighborhood again.
This just in: A green lawn does not have to consist entirely of grass.
Society might dictate that it must be this way, but I am willing to argue that it’s best that we rethink the idea of the front lawn, dispense with the pesticides and weed killers, and make sure there are other things growing there too.
A couple springs ago we started throwing white clover seeds on the patchy bits on our lawn. Clover is green, it’s pretty, and helps the grass grow thicker, which, in turn, helps prevent dandelions from taking over. Clover is what’s called a “nitrogen fixer.” It takes nitrogen out of the air and brings down into the soil by means of special bacteria living in nodes along the roots. And nitrogen is good for lawns.
Clover lawns are supposed to have a big advantage over traditional grass lawns for dog owners too. It’s supposed to be more tolerant to dog pee. We’ll see if that holds true!
There was a song I often had in my head when I was a kid. It must have figured prominently in Bugs Bunny cartoons. Perhaps you know it too:
I’m looking over a four-leaf clover
That I overlooked before.
One leaf is sunshine, the second is rain,
Third is the roses that grow in the lane.
No need explaining the one remaining
Is somebody I adore.
I’m looking over a four-leaf clover
That I overlooked before!
Anyway, yes, we were doing what we could to get some clover growing in to our lawn. But at some point (perhaps a hole in the seed bag that we were unaware of?) some clover founds its way our front walk.
It’s soft and springy and you can hide toys in it:
And when you take a moment and look really close you realize that it’s like a miniature jungle down there:
Some people might find clover growing between their flagstones to be a bit on the unruly side, but I rather like knowing that good luck might be growing right outside our front door. What about you? What’s your stand on lawns?
