As I recall from previous appearances on GW, Bob Flowerdew thinks gardens are productive places for growing food and keeping hens. He is not too bothered with aesthetics and thinks nothing of filling his garden with od fridges and freezers and piles of tyres inorder to make cold frames and water reservoirs.
Clearly, for him, a lawn is a waste of space.
I can see that a lawn may be an uphill task in dry places where they go brown every summer and sitting and relaxing areas are better served with a terrace and table, chairs and lounger or hard to keep well in poorly drained and northerly aspects where they just grow moss but for most of the UK there is an adequate supply of rain to make a span of grass, even one that's mostly green from clover and other weeds, a thing of beauty that is easy to maintain, sets off the borders to perfection and provides a safe playing surface for children, pets and doddery relatives as well as a place to lie and enjoy the sun, read a book or just relax with family and friends.
I have a large garden with large borders, a veggie patch and a terrace and we need a sit on to cut our grass but it consumes at most 5 litres a month of petrol and gets a weed and feed maybe every 2 years so isn't an ecological disaster. It will get smaller when the next phase of house renovation starts but will still be an essential feature of our garden.
,
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
i rememeber carol klein saying to get rid of lawns.. they are out of date on one programme last year.. and i was outraged by it.. i love a green lush looking lawn..although the way mine is looking at mo i am inclined to agree with her..
I got rid of our front lawn early this year, it was a pain to cut and wasn't used for anything (and a rather small patch too). It now has an attempt at a wild flower garden on it, I haven't been amazed by how well it's come up, but I think it's ok and a lot more interesting than having an unused patch of lawn.
We got rid of the one small area of grass at the back of our house because it just too shady and always full of moss no matter how much attention we gave it. We replaced it with gravel and made several features with reclaimed terracotta tiles, a small patio, and a raised bed at the back with an ornamental hedge, so that the gravel doesn't dominate.. The gravel hardly takes any looking after as anything that seeds is easily pulled up or transplanted we do not use weedkiller . In another part of the garden we have retained a small lawn which is fed and weeded Spring and Autumn. Because it gets adequate light and water it looks good. Mown about once a week. Bob Flowerdew is an organic gardener who uses all sorts of reclaimed things in his garden,old tyres, wash tubs etc. I wouldn't want that in my garden, but each to his or her own. My small lawn stays.
Does nobody else have children? I'm as eco-friendly as the next person, but as a mum one of my garden's main roles is to provide a safe and interesting environment for two small boys to play in. They're out there rain or shine and are fast becoming little biologists - forever dibbling in the wildife pond, grubbing for interesting bugs and learning about the plants (they're fascinated by the way things are alive and change week to week). I don't water my lawns and use an electric mower as infrequently as possible (because I can't be faffed), but I'd never be without grass entirely. I do think front lawns are generally a bit pointless - every one I've had I've removed in favour of weed membrane and stone chips (cat's don't poo in it, unlike gravel). Then I plant decent beds of tough, low maintenance plants (though not necessarily boring), and perhaps some hedging for extra green. That way I get a pretty frontage but no watering and little maintenance, which I resent doing on an area I only see to pass through especially as taps tend to be round the back!
@lovetogarden.. i hve one side of the garden like that.. i have made a woodland garden and this autum will cover the grass or moss as it is in the winter and most of the year with bark.. for a natural looking path through..
i have a 6 year old auntie betty and he using back lawn.. but filled with climbing frame and trampoline mainly.. he loves the garden and digging in the veg plot with his diggers and helping sow seeds and veg.. he has become very good at dead heading my flowers now.. after some few weeks of lessons and is a dab hand at filling pots and watering.. he also loves watching and messing about with the insects and bugs.. he loves watching the butterflies (thou not had many this year) and watching hte birds on the feeders.. last week he found a huge white larvae bug thing under the lawn with a brown head and 6 legs on it..dunno what is was..
santa got him a childrens bug microscope for xmas and it it is brilliant.. put it on the tray and it magnifies very big and you can see top and underneath.. me not so keen to look at them they very large. its called a" creature peeper" the over and under insect magnifier.. it is great got it on amazon i think.
if they love bugs this is a must have..and not expensive either..
I guess it all depends on the type of lawn you have? Mine is full of daises, clover, etc and the birds and bees love it! I love the daisies particularly and would hate not to see all the bees buzzing around them. I am out there a lot and think the green is much more relaxing than any sort of paving/decking. I have a huge veg patch and lots of shrubs and perennials and think it all works very well together. Gardens are such an individual thing and I think you have to just go with what suits you and you are able to manage.
Posts
As I recall from previous appearances on GW, Bob Flowerdew thinks gardens are productive places for growing food and keeping hens. He is not too bothered with aesthetics and thinks nothing of filling his garden with od fridges and freezers and piles of tyres inorder to make cold frames and water reservoirs.
Clearly, for him, a lawn is a waste of space.
I can see that a lawn may be an uphill task in dry places where they go brown every summer and sitting and relaxing areas are better served with a terrace and table, chairs and lounger or hard to keep well in poorly drained and northerly aspects where they just grow moss but for most of the UK there is an adequate supply of rain to make a span of grass, even one that's mostly green from clover and other weeds, a thing of beauty that is easy to maintain, sets off the borders to perfection and provides a safe playing surface for children, pets and doddery relatives as well as a place to lie and enjoy the sun, read a book or just relax with family and friends.
I have a large garden with large borders, a veggie patch and a terrace and we need a sit on to cut our grass but it consumes at most 5 litres a month of petrol and gets a weed and feed maybe every 2 years so isn't an ecological disaster. It will get smaller when the next phase of house renovation starts but will still be an essential feature of our garden.
,
i rememeber carol klein saying to get rid of lawns.. they are out of date on one programme last year.. and i was outraged by it.. i love a green lush looking lawn..although the way mine is looking at mo i am inclined to agree with her..
I got rid of our front lawn early this year, it was a pain to cut and wasn't used for anything (and a rather small patch too). It now has an attempt at a wild flower garden on it, I haven't been amazed by how well it's come up, but I think it's ok and a lot more interesting than having an unused patch of lawn.
I do like having a lawn out the back though.
We got rid of the one small area of grass at the back of our house because it just too shady and always full of moss no matter how much attention we gave it. We replaced it with gravel and made several features with reclaimed terracotta tiles, a small patio, and a raised bed at the back with an ornamental hedge, so that the gravel doesn't dominate.. The gravel hardly takes any looking after as anything that seeds is easily pulled up or transplanted we do not use weedkiller . In another part of the garden we have retained a small lawn which is fed and weeded Spring and Autumn. Because it gets adequate light and water it looks good. Mown about once a week. Bob Flowerdew is an organic gardener who uses all sorts of reclaimed things in his garden,old tyres, wash tubs etc. I wouldn't want that in my garden, but each to his or her own. My small lawn stays.
Does nobody else have children? I'm as eco-friendly as the next person, but as a mum one of my garden's main roles is to provide a safe and interesting environment for two small boys to play in. They're out there rain or shine and are fast becoming little biologists - forever dibbling in the wildife pond, grubbing for interesting bugs and learning about the plants (they're fascinated by the way things are alive and change week to week). I don't water my lawns and use an electric mower as infrequently as possible (because I can't be faffed), but I'd never be without grass entirely. I do think front lawns are generally a bit pointless - every one I've had I've removed in favour of weed membrane and stone chips (cat's don't poo in it, unlike gravel). Then I plant decent beds of tough, low maintenance plants (though not necessarily boring), and perhaps some hedging for extra green. That way I get a pretty frontage but no watering and little maintenance, which I resent doing on an area I only see to pass through especially as taps tend to be round the back!
Without my lawn where would the green woodpeckers go to rootle about for ant larvae?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Hah, I say rootle as well! Thought I was the only one. I call insects and all things leggy grobies. You?
@lovetogarden.. i hve one side of the garden like that.. i have made a woodland garden and this autum will cover the grass or moss as it is in the winter and most of the year with bark.. for a natural looking path through..
i have a 6 year old auntie betty and he using back lawn.. but filled with climbing frame and trampoline mainly.. he loves the garden and digging in the veg plot with his diggers and helping sow seeds and veg.. he has become very good at dead heading my flowers now.. after some few weeks of lessons
and is a dab hand at filling pots and watering.. he also loves watching and messing about with the insects and bugs.. he loves watching the butterflies (thou not had many this year) and watching hte birds on the feeders.. last week he found a huge white larvae bug thing under the lawn with a brown head and 6 legs on it..dunno what is was..
santa got him a childrens bug microscope for xmas and it it is brilliant.. put it on the tray and it magnifies very big and you can see top and underneath.. me not so keen to look at them they very large. its called a" creature peeper" the over and under insect magnifier.. it is great got it on amazon i think.
if they love bugs this is a must have..and not expensive either..
I guess it all depends on the type of lawn you have? Mine is full of daises, clover, etc and the birds and bees love it! I love the daisies particularly and would hate not to see all the bees buzzing around them. I am out there a lot and think the green is much more relaxing than any sort of paving/decking. I have a huge veg patch and lots of shrubs and perennials and think it all works very well together. Gardens are such an individual thing and I think you have to just go with what suits you and you are able to manage.