Three Eco-Friendly Lawn Alternatives that Save

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our new website:

CaliforniaLawnAlternatives.com

The sheer size of the 77 billion dollar a year lawn industry in the USA is a good indicator that most of us love lawns, but are we hooked on turf?   

Lawns are a key feature in gardens, parks, schools, and other public, private, and commercial spaces. They can be pleasing to look at, comfortable to relax on, are useful for sports and recreation, and provide physical cooling effects. But we feel it is time to rethink the use of turfgrasses as the default lawn selection.

Why? Because we think it’s ridiculous how much water, fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides, fuel (mowing), time, and money is spent on maintaining a green lawn. Especially when considering how little use most of these lawns actually get! Furthermore, it is frustrating to see so many residential lawns that are given up on, appearing run-down and serving as depositories for weed seeds that will happily invade neighboring properties.

One industry thinks that synthetic turf is the answer. We at California Lawn Alternatives prefer lawns that are living, oxygen producing plants. Synthetic lawns turn into yet another source of plastic waste and pollution. These manufactured carpet-like products also add to the urban heat island effect. This means that in times of hot weather, a plastic lawn makes the surrounding areas even hotter, whereas a real living lawn will cool its local environment.

What to do? We believe we need to change our mindset about lawns. The old school turf grasses simply cost us too much in valuable resources including time, water, and money. And while the new wave of synthetic lawns may have their place in heavily used athletic fields, we certainly don’t want to see them take over all of our parks, schools, and neighborhoods.

Selective breeding of more environmentally friendly plants has produced some excellent cultivars that are much more apt for use as a lawn than traditional turfgrasses or sythentic turf. These options are easy to plant and maintain, and they require far less resources than common lawns. They can provide the same functionality with a fraction of the maintenance and water usage.

At California Lawn Alternatives, our mission is to rid California of wasteful, high maintenance traditional lawns, and replace them with sustainable and functional living lawn alternatives.

We provide proven lawn alternatives that use up to 75% less water than traditional turf grasses. This equates to 4x the savings in water, not to mention the savings in mowing and maintenance costs!

So, how do you ditch that thirsty lawn that’s costing you and the environment so much? Well, Spring is upon us and now is the perfect time to take action!

First, you will need to get rid of whatever resource-hungry grass you may currently have, Frequently this will be a tall fescue grass, often with a mixed population of weeds. Keep an eye out for our upcoming blog post on how to do this lawn conversion.

Second, you can order the ready-to-plant plugs from us and we will ship them directly to you!Planting and care instructions are provided with each order andthe planting process with our plugs is simple. It may be undertaken as a relatively easy DIY (do-it-yourself) weekend project. Again, more about that in our next post.

We currently offer three low water and low maintenance lawn alternatives that are sure to keep your yard looking great while saving money and the environment!

‘UC Verde’ Buffalo Grass is our product which is most similar to traditional lawns, such as those that can be found in most residential home gardens and public parks. It is a perennial grass with dense, fine blades that grow 6-7” tall, or can be mowed as low as 1”.

Benefits include:

• Up to 75% less water than traditional lawns
• Extremely durable and handles foot traffic, pets, and play very well
• Reduced mowing and maintenance
• No chemical needs- No known pests or diseases
• Low pollen, allergy-friendly lawn

For more information, visit our ‘UC Verde’ page here.

‘Kurapia’ is our utility ground cover product. It’s an evergreen that grows low to the ground, usually less around two inches in height. ‘Kurapia’ has rich green broadleaves and also small white flowers most of the year which attract pollinators.

Benefits include:

• Up to 75% less water than traditional lawns
• Erosion control on slopes
• Weed suppression
• Tolerant of many soil types
• Flowers attract pollinators

For more information, visit our ‘Kurapia’ page here.

Ruschia ‘Nana’ is our evergreen succulent product. It has an extremely dense and durable, low growing foliage that reaches a height of 1-2 inches. The angular succulent leaves are a beautiful deep green, and are complemented nicely by the white flowers with pink stripes that are present in late winter through early spring.

Benefits include:

• Up to 75% less water than traditional lawns
• No mowing required
• Weed suppression
• Extremely durable
• Low pollen, allergy friendly ground cover

For more information, visit our Ruschia ‘Nana’ page here.

 

A residential lawn is a personal choice, but we want the public to know that there are eco-friendly options out there! What kind of lawns we have is not just a decision to make regarding our personal environment, but also the environment as a whole. Give our Facebook page a like and check it out for updates at www.facebook.com/CaliforniaLawnAlternatives.

We’d also like to take this opportunity to offer our readers 15% off the first 15 orders made on our website. Just use the code: FIRST15. We truly believe in our products and want to share the benefits of lawn alternatives with you!

We will be back shortly with a new blog post about how to remove your current thirsty lawn, and replace it with an ecological alternative.