I just finished mowing the lawn. It took a little less than an hour. When we moved to this house nine years ago, the lawn took over two hours. We have a lot less lawn now, and a lot more flowers, shrubs, and vegetable beds. Which is just fine with me. At best, our lawn suffers from benign neglect. At worst, I actively work to get rid of it.
Not only do I prefer other plants to grass, but I'm uncomfortable with what it takes to maintain a showcase lawn. In my gardening, I avoid pesticides and herbicides, and use as little chemical fertilizers as possible. That same strategy makes for an ugly lawn. I take some comfort in realizing that my lawn is not a monoculture of turf grass, but rather a thriving, diverse ecosystem. I noticed dozens of species of plants out there this morning, plus two enormous rabbit (I hope!) holes. There are grasses, but also sedges, clover, violets, mosses, and the odd mushroom. There's even some Virginia creeper and a few red cedars encroaching from the woods. As long as it's mostly green, and it doesn't take too much time, energy, or money, I'm happy with it.
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