On Lawns

JodiPrince

How big should a lawn be? Do you agree that less is better? 

Fairygirl

How long is a piece of string....

It depends how big the plot is, whether you want or need grass, whether the site is right for it, what else you want  to grow, how much time you have to maintain it.....and so on.

Less is only better if you don't want grass. 

Not really sure where you're going with this query....

Clarington

I find that when the flower beds encroach onto the lawn too much the grass tennis court is much harder to maintain.

Stevedaylilly

There's no real answer. Personally, i love to see gardens with an expanse of lawn. My own garden has 2 sections of lawn, one that is a curved pathway between shrub and perennial boarders that finishes at  a stepping stone pathway through a shaded area that brings you on to a second wider scupltured lawn  that leads to my greenhouse and shed area. Basically, my lawns make up about 20% of my overall garden. The rest being planted boarders and work areas. 

That does not answer your question buts as Fairygirl has said you have to consider maintenance and possibly other factors 

Mary370

I have gotten rid of my lawn in the back garden, one half of the lawn was dug up and I planted 3 new beds, and a patio/seating area.  The other half is currently (since March) smothered with wet newspaper and bark mulch, doesn't look so bad IMO, better looking than a weedy, patchy lawn, which seems to be the case with most lawns, unless they are very well cared for.

I feel that in order to have a good lawn, it takes way too much time, money and energy.  I also plan on getting rid of my front 'meadow', aka very overgrown grass, I have noticed that my 'meadow' is made up of about 5 different types of grasses, as it has all gone to seed.  My neighbours are probably not delighted with my 'au natural' garden, but it does attract lots of little birds, my direct next door neighbour just doses all this back and front with weedkiller every May, so he can't really complain about mine.  

I will concentrate on the front next year, as it has taken the 4 years I've lived here to attempt to grow a garden in what, the previous residents, used the back farden as a rubbish dump!!  We have found/dug up a ladder, clothes, shoes, glass bottles of all shapes and sizes, lots of black sacks, carpet and mats, 5 mummified cats, in various degrees of decomposition in plastic bags, lots and lots of fire ash and embers, pieces of washing machines, childrens toys, I could go on...........and still the glass and plastic keeps coming up, only yesterday while planting annuals I found this, see pic. OH believes it is some sort of empty shell from the war.  Sorry for rambling, but, you may have realised that my back garden is definitely a labour of love, but worth every minute of time and money spent to date.

Mary370

Oh I forgot to mention, I'm going to attempt to grow a creeping thyme lawn, approx. 3mx3m, just started new link to see if anyone else has done one.  Little or no maintenance, definitely no weekly/biweekly cutting!