How To Create a Low Maintenance, Grass-Free Yard
Imagine a yard that you don’t have to spend time or money to maintain every week. Where you could spend those fleeting summer days doing what you love instead of slaving over a lawn mower and helping the environment while you’re at it.
Make the dream reality by removing the grass!
Once upon a time, suburban America was sold an ideal of a lush green lawn surrounded by a picket fence. This is just as much a part of the American dream as the house in the cul-de-sac and two cars in the garage.
But unfortunately, that picturesque landscape created major issues for the environment and a hindrance for our everyday lives.
Why remove the grass?
There are so many amazing benefits to creating a low maintenance landscape. Less work and expense, more free time and helping the environment are at the top of my list.
1. Less physical labor maintaining your yard
Keeping a lawn requires an incredible amount of work on the homeowner.
Between mowing, edging, weeding, fertilizing, weed whacking, raking, blowing and watering, you’re talking about several hours each week, especially in the summer when it grows FAST and dries out quickly.
Being out there in the hot sun can be incredibly draining. It’s hard work moving those machines around, you get dirty, sweaty and are completely exhausted for the rest of the day.
We should spend those summer days enjoying our yard, not maintaining it.
2. More time for the things you love
There’s nothing worse than having to spend several hours of the precious weekend working on the lawn.
The weekends should be spent enjoying yourself and the activities you love (like DIY projects!!) and relaxing, rather than laboring away on a lawn.
Perhaps you have a landscaper that takes care of the lawn for you. In this case, you won’t have to worry about most of the physical labor or time requirements of keeping up a lawn.
However, those gas-powered machines are LOUD and make it impossible to enjoy your home or yard. They take away from the time that should be spent relaxing in peace, indoors OR out.
They also kick up so many layers of dirt, dust and weeds that if you are an allergy-sufferer, you still can’t relax outside on a nice summer day even after they’re gone until all that junk subsides, which again, takes up your time.
And even if you have a landscaper, you still must take the time to water it, which is certainly time consuming if you don’t have it automated with a sprinkler system or drip.
3. Save money
Whether you’re paying a landscaper weekly or doing the work yourself, you must spend money on the lawn to “properly” maintain it.
Between the landscaper, equipment, fertilizer, pesticides and water bill, it’s not cheap.
And in my opinion, it is a completely unnecessary expense. I would much rather spend my money on plants and vegetables to fill my yard than to have a green carpet.
Plants provide beauty, blooms, food for pollinators and meals for your family! You can’t do that with grass!
4. Help the environment
Maintaining those lush green lawns requires a TON of chemicals like pesticides and fertilizers that are unsafe for kids and pets, kill our pollinators and run down to contaminate our waterways.
Water is wasted trying to keep that grass green during incredibly hot summer days and grass takes space away from the pollinator-friendly plants and vegetables that could be growing instead.
But we can help avoid this situation with simple, strategic moves.
Like removing the grass.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Grass has it’s place, and if you like to have grass at your home, go for it.
It’s a great space for kids and dogs to run around and does create a sense of calm surrounding flower beds. And if you have a very large yard, grass can take up a lot of space easily.
We still have some grass left. It’s mostly clover (which the bees love), and we do not treat it with nasty pesticides or waste any water on it either. This is important to me.
That being said, the grass only looks good in the part of the yard that is shaded during the intense sun in the afternoon. The other areas burn without that constant hydration and fertilizer.
So for all these reasons, we’re removing it for a lower maintenance option.
Low Maintenance Grass-Free Options
There are lots of different options with various price points to choose from when trying to create your low-maintenance, lawn-free garden.
Mulch
Mulch is pretty, easy to lay, helps keep the moisture in the soil and weeds at bay and is inexpensive. It comes in a few different colors and really changes the look of bare soil. Like mascara. It makes everything dark and pretty
Dense Plantings
This is a great way to go which will not only make a beautiful landscape but will block out any weeds from growing as they won’t have space or light to germinate.
However, it can take a few seasons for your plants to grow to maturity, so mulching in the mean time is a great option.
Gravel
Gravel is a great, more “permanent” option that will ensure a low maintenance landscape. It comes in an array of different colors and styles and provides a great “crunch” sound with each step that is so satisfying.
I do recommend laying landscape fabric under gravel as you’ll battle weeds without it, creating the maintenance that you’re looking to avoid.
Pavers or Stone Patio
I absolutely love this option. Large patios for outdoor living space surrounded by plantings is my jam.
That being said, this option can be on the more expensive side depending on the type of stone you choose. Blue stone is just gorgeous but it’s not cheap!
It’s worth saving up for as it will certainly create a low maintenance and beautiful garden.
Food Forest
An awesome way to utilize your yard is to create a food forest. This is an organic space for food production that mimics nature, so the need for tilling, fertilizing, and irrigation is unnecessary.
It’s a fantastic way to produce a lot of food for your family right in your own yard.
Ground cover
Replacing your grass with a ground cover is a fantastic low-maintenance option as you still have something green and pretty to look at, but you don’t have to worry about all the hassle that comes with grass.
It also helps protect your soil from erosion and blocks out any weeds from popping up.
We will utilize a mix of mulch, stone and dense plantings to create our garden. Let us know below what option you’re going with!
How to Remove Grass
The easiest way to remove grass is to have someone else do it! Seriously, if you have the funds to hire a landscaper, go for it.
The second easiest way is to rent a sod cutter.
While this still requires some work on your part, it makes the job so much easier as you don’t have to cut the roots away from the ground.
If you have a large area of grass to remove, I highly recommend renting this machine. You can typically rent a sod cutter for the day from your local hardware store.
The budget-friendly but most labor intensive way, and the way I like to do it with our small yard, is to use a garden spade and wheelbarrow.
It can be a lot of work, but if you just do a little bit at a time it’s not too bad.
1. Mark the area of grass to be removed
Make a line marking where you want the grass to be removed. This may be a new flower bed or pathway, or an entire section of grass.
If you’re removing all the grass, skip this step.
You can use spray paint for this step but you can also just run your spade over the ground and it will make a faint line. Remember when marking your line that curved or winding edges look most natural.
2. Cut the grass at the line with your garden spade
Take your garden spade and cut through the grass on your line by placing the tip of the spade on your line and stepping on the top of the spade hard.
You can then rock the spade back and forth to ensure the roots are cut and your mark is visible.
Continue this process along the entire line.
3. Detach the roots from the ground
Then, working in from your line, you want to get your spade under the ROOTS of the grass (you must get the roots!!) I find it’s easiest to squat down on the ground to do this (or grab a garden stool if you have one).
Then take your spade and continue to cut the roots of the grass from the ground underneath in the surrounding area. You’ll find that you’ll be able to wedge the grass up with the spade underneath the patch of grass.
4. Remove sections of grass
Then, when you have the surrounding area’s roots unattached, roll the grass back with your hands. It should easily lift as the roots are no longer attached and should come up in a whole section.
5. Remove excess soil from the roots
You’ll find that a lot of extra soil gets stuck to the roots. If you either shake or massage it with your fingers, much of that soil will come loose and you can return it to the ground.
This step is optional. It will help maintain your soil level but does take a bit of extra time to complete. So you have to decide which you want more of: soil or time.
I usually choose soil 😆.
6. Put the grass in the wheelbarrow and dump it
Then you’re going to throw the old grass in your wheelbarrow and add it to your compost pile or any other area of your yard that needs it.
That dirt is usually pretty fertile, so while you can just bring it to the dump, it’s beneficial to utilize it in other areas of your yard if possible (without perpetuating any weed seeds!).
Continue the same process of digging the roots, prying it up, rolling, removing soil as desired and trekking it away.
While this is hard work, it is instant gratification and will create the low-maintenance garden space you’ve been dreaming of.
Hints:
- If you’re planning on removing a lot of your grass and are DIYing it, just do a little bit at a time. It is hard work, so by only taking on smaller areas and spending just about an hour or two at a time, you won’t feel so drained with the task.
This also creates an opportunity to decide how much you want to take out and allows you to create new garden bed shapes as you go.
Our plan is to remove all the grass around our raised beds, but by working a little bit at a time, I’ve been able to enjoy multiple versions of this area, which has been so much fun.
- If you have friends or family to help you, even better. Teamwork makes the dream work.
- Remember that this hard work only has to be completed once to create your low maintenance garden– unlike the labor of weekly mowing! Keep your eye on the prize!
- I typically battle some grass trying to sneak through the first season after removing a section. Make sure to pull the grass out by the root and you will drastically decrease the amount popping up.
Recap
Creating a low-maintenance garden by removing your grass is an environmentally-friendly way to decrease the amount of time, money and back-breaking labor you have to spend tending your yard.
Plenty of options exist to replace the grass such as:
- mulch
- dense plantings
- gravel
- patios
- food forest
- ground covers
And the simple steps to remove the grass can be completed a little at a time.
We hope you love your low-maintenance, grass-free garden and your new free time as much as we do!
Questions? We’re here!
Let us know in the comment box below what grass-free option you’ll create in your space
