Anyone have experience with eco-lawns or meadow mixes?

[oldbuzzard]

Ideally, I'd like something that looks similar to a wildflower meadow, without being too tall, that needs as little mowing as possible, as little water as possible, while staying green enough year round to reduce wildfire danger. It should require zero fertilizer beyond mulching the grass clippings. If I have to spend time or money on a lawn, at least it'll be pretty and useful to the bees and butterflies, instead of basically organic astroturf. Doesn't need to be resistant to high traffic or be tough at all, the dog runs around out there and the occasional mowing is the only traffic it will get.

If it needs to be mowed every month or every other month, that can work out. I'll be looking at modifying my mower to mow at 8-10" tall, so the wildflowers have a shot at survival. Likewise if it needs watering during the middle of summer to stay green, that can be work out, but the goal is no mowing and no watering. Even incremental improvements heading that way would be hugely acceptable.

Looking at overseeding with something like this:
https://northwestmeadowscapes.com/collections/eco-lawns/products/pollinator-lawn-overseeding-mix

These would also be options:
https://ptlawnseed.com/collections/eco-and-alternative-lawns/products/fleur-de-lawn
https://ptlawnseed.com/collections/eco-and-alternative-lawns/products/pt-770-water-less-eco-lawn

Please share your thoughts or ideas.

I don’t see where you live in Oregon? You want to pick native species that will do well in your climate. There are probably Native Specie Garden Clubs in OR, or contact your county at agent, or maybe a local college. There are LOTS of groups now trying to restore the natural landscape. I live in Colorado and I can buy packets of true native specie grass seeds from various sources.
But be warned, visually you might not like what you get. I have a yard of natural grasses and it looks over grown and unkept. Fortunately that is acceptable here. In CO there is a big push to grow native and take out anything that has to be watered.
This can also be a little more of a fire hazard, IMHO. I would definitely look at adding some rocks in to your landscape, especially right next to your house.

 

[muddy42]

In my experience wild flowers with no effort is a myth. The main obstacle is subduing vigorous grass growth. You either need to cut and remove grass or ideally go back to bare earth. Depending on what you want to plant, lowering the fertility and increasing the acidity of the soil can help. Even after you plant you need to monitor it and weed out grass, just like a flower bed.

 

[OM617YOTA]

I don’t see where you live in Oregon? You want to pick native species that will do well in your climate. There are probably Native Specie Garden Clubs in OR, or contact your county at agent, or maybe a local college. There are LOTS of groups now trying to restore the natural landscape. I live in Colorado and I can buy packets of true native specie grass seeds from various sources.
But be warned, visually you might not like what you get. I have a yard of natural grasses and it looks over grown and unkept. Fortunately that is acceptable here. In CO there is a big push to grow native and take out anything that has to be watered.
This can also be a little more of a fire hazard, IMHO. I would definitely look at adding some rocks in to your landscape, especially right next to your house.

Been following this. Luckily there's an extension office less than an hour away, working on this exact issue, and anything that works for them will work for me.

https://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/techniques/ecolawn-less-work-water

 

[sean donato]

In my experience wild flowers with no effort is a myth. The main obstacle is subduing vigorous grass growth. You either need to cut and remove grass or ideally go back to bare earth. Depending on what you want to plant, lowering the fertility and increasing the acidity of the soil can help. Even after you plant you need to monitor it and weed out grass, just like a flower bed.

soils amendments would be area dependat and species dependant. Going bare earth doesn't work in some situations either. So hen pecking what you don't want to grow is the only option.

 

[OM617YOTA]

In my experience wild flowers with no effort is a myth. The main obstacle is subduing vigorous grass growth. You either need to cut and remove grass or ideally go back to bare earth. Depending on what you want to plant, lowering the fertility and increasing the acidity of the soil can help. Even after you plant you need to monitor it and weed out grass, just like a flower bed.

Weeding beyond an occasional killing of whatever pops up and shouldn't be there is a non starter. If that means we go full circle with this experiment and in the end I'm stuck back at a traditional lawn and paying the neighbor girl to mow, so be it. The goal is me having to care about it less in the end, not more.

 

[John Lyngdal]

When I over seed pastures I make a visit to:
Hayworth Seed
23460 OR-99E
Harrisburg, OR 97446
(541) 995-6712
They will blend the seed mixes to your specifications from an extensive list of seed inventory.

 

[OM617YOTA]

@OM617YOTA
What does your yard look like now?
Shade, full sun, hilly, level, dry, wet?
How large an area are you talking about covering?

Some areas partial shade, couple areas full sun, level, dry in the summer, wet in the winter. It's the PNW, we get 9 months of rain, a month and a half of nothing, and partial rain shoulder seasons.

Pics are from five minutes ago, a quick walk through the yard that hasn't been mowed in a couple weeks. We mow on the highest setting all the time, and I'd like to modify the mower to mow even higher and see what happens.

One section was graveled at one point, here's a pic from where one corner of the solar panels drips steadily and washed away the soil.

Rest of the pics are attached, but I won't bother inserting them.

Thanks everyone, appreciate the help.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Your yard looks gorgeous to me. I see some of the same things growing there as here - but you have a lot more actual grass than I do!
Why not just try mowing once a month at the higher setting and see how it goes?

I found six maple sprouts this afternoon - and a bazillion maple "helicopter" seeds all over the yard!
This is the first they have put out seeds since the pesticide contamination two years ago.
(They haven't sprayed yet this year.)
Heck, I might not mow at all this year and let all the volunteer trees grow where they sprout!

 

[sean donato]

Even cheapo mowers will mow 4-5 inches. Generally speaking 3-4 is a pretty good mow height. Not really gaining much my letting it get higher then that. Starts looking like a mini jungle. Believe me I passionately hate mowing, so I like a low maintenance yard.

 

[OM617YOTA]

No clue what height my mower will go up to in inches, I've always mowed at max. I want the extra height to try and let the wildflowers or whatever have a reasonable chance at growing.

 

[OM617YOTA]

You can have a nice looking yard without spending a dime on seed - just let it grow and see what comes up!

This was exactly the right path. Just let the lawn go for a bit and all kinds of stuff besides grass has been coming up.

Maybe the extras have been there all along, I've never looked at the lawn before. It was just an annoyance to be ignored as much as possible, and dealt with when necessary.

Been working on raising the mower as well. With only some PITA I can double the cut height to 6" or so, but would like to be a bit taller than that. Debating what permanent changes I want to make to my mower, if any. Very thankful to have a battery electric mower, don't have to worry about which way I tip it or spilling fluids.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

This was exactly the right path. Just let the lawn go for a bit and all kinds of stuff besides grass has been coming up.

Maybe the extras have been there all along, I've never looked at the lawn before. It was just an annoyance to be ignored as much as possible, and dealt with when necessary.

Been working on raising the mower as well. With only some PITA I can double the cut height to 6" or so, but would like to be a bit taller than that. Debating what permanent changes I want to make to my mower, if any. Very thankful to have a battery electric mower, don't have to worry about which way I tip it or spilling fluids.

Have you been able to ID the new plants? That's the fun part.
Pretty sure I see henbit and maybe spring beauty in your pics?

 

[OM617YOTA]

Have you been able to ID the new plants? That's the fun part.
Pretty sure I see henbit and maybe spring beauty in your pics?

I haven't looked yet. If this works out, I probably won't.

 

[ChuckMI]

Have you been able to ID the new plants? That's the fun part.
Pretty sure I see henbit and maybe spring beauty in your pics?

I use the app PictureThis to ID plants, besides sometimes a field guide. The subscription version of PictureThis works a lot better than the free version. Many people use some version of iNaturalist.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

I use the app PictureThis to ID plants, besides sometimes a field guide. The subscription version of PictureThis works a lot better than the free version. Many people use some version of iNaturalist.

I've heard of that, and would probably get a lot of use out of it, but I don't have a smart phone.

 

[capetrees]

Ideally, I'd like something that looks similar to a wildflower meadow, without being too tall, that needs as little mowing as possible, as little water as possible, while staying green enough year round to reduce wildfire danger. It should require zero fertilizer beyond mulching the grass clippings. If I have to spend time or money on a lawn, at least it'll be pretty and useful to the bees and butterflies, instead of basically organic astroturf. Doesn't need to be resistant to high traffic or be tough at all, the dog runs around out there and the occasional mowing is the only traffic it will get.

If it needs to be mowed every month or every other month, that can work out. I'll be looking at modifying my mower to mow at 8-10" tall, so the wildflowers have a shot at survival. Likewise if it needs watering during the middle of summer to stay green, that can be work out, but the goal is no mowing and no watering. Even incremental improvements heading that way would be hugely acceptable.

Looking at overseeding with something like this:
https://northwestmeadowscapes.com/collections/eco-lawns/products/pollinator-lawn-overseeding-mix

These would also be options:
https://ptlawnseed.com/collections/eco-and-alternative-lawns/products/fleur-de-lawn
https://ptlawnseed.com/collections/eco-and-alternative-lawns/products/pt-770-water-less-eco-lawn

Please share your thoughts or ideas.

try lawn site .com

 

[BeatCJ]

Been working on raising the mower as well. With only some PITA I can double the cut height to 6" or so, but would like to be a bit taller than that. Debating what permanent changes I want to make to my mower, if any. Very thankful to have a battery electric mower, don't have to worry about which way I tip it or spilling fluids.

Have you considered swapping the wheel's/tires for something like a wheelbarrow tire? Hazard Fraught has some that use a solid tire, so you wouldn't have a problem with thrown debris puncturing a pneumatic tire. If that size is too big, they also have a smaller one.

 

[OM617YOTA]

Have you considered swapping the wheel's/tires for something like a wheelbarrow tire? Hazard Fraught has some that use a solid tire, so you wouldn't have a problem with thrown debris puncturing a pneumatic tire. If that size is too big, they also have a smaller one.

Yes, that came to mind first. It was a lot like putting larger wheels on a pickup truck - how big can you run without a lift? Turns out on a mower, not much.

 

[BeatCJ]

It depends on what mower you are speaking of, but that's probably accurate.

 

[ElevatorGuy]

Your yard looks gorgeous to me. I see some of the same things growing there as here - but you have a lot more actual grass than I do!

That yard is gorgeous? I see almost no grass lol. Plenty of dead nettle, clover and other weeds.

To the op, I have no idea what to recommend with you being in the PNW. You probably could start will a heavy dose of Pelletized dolomitic limestone. It’s been over 20 years since I’ve treated lawns professionally but with that mess I’d start with that after a soil test. You probably need 25-50 pounds per 1000 sq ft based on those pics.