To care for a lawn takes too much time, work, water, effort and money. Keeping a lawn properly, mowing, seeding, fertilizing, and watering might be difficult or impossible. If your lawn is out of control and weeds or bare spots account for more than half of it, you may want to get rid of it all and start over. Or you may simply want a look that’s more pleasing to you than a traditional lawn. Then it is time to try lawn alternatives.
You’ll need to get rid of the grass before you begin your new landscape. Getting rid of your lawn is a big project. There are several methods such as herbicide, digging It up, solarization, composting and smothering. They all require investments of time, money and effort. Some methods have more impact on the environment than others, and some may be more acceptable to your neighbors. Make sure there are no homeowner’s association rules or local ordinances that would affect your plans.
Smothering your lawn kills it and allows it to compost in place, adding valuable organic matter back to the soil. Cover the lawn with landscape fabric. Landscape fabric that is engineered to stop weeds, stabilize soil, control erosion and separates soil profiles. Landscape Fabric encourages the growth of roots by keeping soil moist and cool. It is a good solution for reducing garden maintenance. It is a choice of professional landscapers.
When looking at plant alternatives, consider varieties that are native to your area. Native plants are adapted to your soil and climate. They will typically require less maintenance and have a better resistance to diseases and pests than non-native varieties. Native plants have the added benefit of supporting native wildlife. Also think about light requirements, height at maturity, rate of growth and other characteristics.
While you plan your lawn transformation, keep these tips in mind:
• Look for plants that will attract and support beneficial insects and birds. These valuable creatures add visual and auditory elements to your outdoor space.
• Learn about xeriscaping and other water-wise landscaping techniques. These methods can be good options to make the most of your yard while minimizing impact on the environment.
• Think about how to use your backyard. Since your backyard is typically less visible than the front, you have more freedom to design for family activities.
• Be patient. Many plants can take a couple of years to establish themselves or spread sufficiently to provide full coverage for your landscape.
44 Comments
Great idea, no maintenance saves time and money over time. One thing I'll say though is that I would have considered bordering on the front lawn to keep it look more tidy. 👍
An updated video would be great!
I have to do something like this. My front yard dies every 2 years or so. Whenever there is strong sun for a week I can be guranteed it will die. All that grows are weeds and clovers so it looks like a desert. I have a tree in the middle so it pulls water and a thorn hedge all around that also pulls water. I redid the whole yard a few years back and it was green like a golf course but it slowly started to die again. I have no choice basically.
What kind of weed barrier you use. Thank you
I have done this a few times,
Cardboard, compost , mulch !!
I noticed you didn’t remove the grass. How has that worked out for you at that time and years later?
What brand of landscaping fabric did you use?
Thanks, I might look into this for re-doing my front yard landscape with a mixture of rocks, mulch and possibly some artificial grass. I want to eliminate the costs of maintaining real grass. I have more grass than I want in my front yard. The backyard is a better area for comfort and grass imo.
Lovely!
My father is doing the same thing to his lawn. He got tired of grass dying in the summer time and in the Winter it turns to weeds. So I understand why you did this because it takes too much time to work on the lawn and maintain.
this is just laziness 🙂 come one. grass oksijen, nature , beauty, ….gravel!!!OMG look at this guy…get a sheep or caw or smtg if u can't take cafe of the grasses 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8JxViQfV_o&t=3s
yes…………………..
Hey, I have an old front yard job that the last owner had but they seemed to not used the proper cover under the rocks and now the grass is growing uncontrollable.
Do you recommend taking all the grass and rocks out and then doing this or just put the good cover on top of the old rocks and put new rocks?
what is the name of that plastic you place before adding the stones? Is that recommended first before adding the stones? will that stop the grass from growing through the stones?
Do you think this would work on a sloping yard surface. Would there be a problem with the rocks rolling downhill? Or might there be a way to minimize that problem? Thank you.
You have have transform your garden into a paradise garden, looking clean neat and beautiful I been doing lawn mowing for 25 years in summer time is ongoing weeding and law mowing is time to do a change Hope soon i can do mine too
What about the wildlife? I don’t like it
thank you…very informative
Wow your front yard and backyard look amazing! 😍 my front yard is pretty big I was planning on fertilizing the dead grass but after seeing your video I'm convinced to use rocks instead.
This idea looks fabulous, I have been through 6 lawn service companies this year alone. They either don't show or don't return after the first job. I pay before they come, I pay what the charge is, I don't know what else to do. We always agree to every two weeks by the 3rd week and 7 inches or more of grass I have to contact them to see if and when they are returning.
So I won’t need to dig up the grass? I can just cover the grass after cutting with landscape fabric and put rocks over it?
Where to get sea rocks? Did you order them or pick from the beach?
I'm doing some research on how to transform my lawn backyard into gravel and this is my first time seeing someone just cover the lawn with Landscape Fabric!!! Did you have any problem with that afterwards? thanks for sharing!!
Thanks for your information
Nice job, amazing, #jardinagemrustica
best video on rock landscape on youtube i watched dozens
Use cement powder to seal off the gaps and space between the pebbles.
Otherwise in one or two years time, weeds will be growing again all over the place.
Hi again. I hope that you and your family have gotten thru the pandemic without any problems.
I was re-watching your video and I have several questions. First, did you ever consider using a herbicide such as Roundup prior to putting down the black garden fabric, and also, what's the level of permeability and should this be a factor? What type/brand/thickness did you use?
Next, people generally put stone/rock down directly on the fabric as you did- essentially standard procedure. I have an area much larger than yours to consider and I was thinking that, to lower costs, perhaps it would make sense to put a layer of (much) less expensive pea gravel under the more expensive river rock to save money. What do you think?
Finally, the 'pros' will remove the top layer (2-3") of soil/dead & living grass before proceeding to put down the stone and of course, this adds greatly to the job if you decide to use a contractor. This will certainly lower the overall height of the new finished stone 'lawn' slightly. Without this, obviously everything will be slightly higher than if you just put the new material and stone over the dead stuff. With the exception of the edges which I guess could be sloped or finished with some sort of edging material I really don't think that the height difference would matter all that much especially as my property is in a semi-rural area rather than an urban area as yours is, and also, I really don't care about the 'country club' look as others might want. Again, what's your opinion?
I look forward to your reply and enjoy the December (and perhaps January) holidays and the New Year. Stay well and of course, stay safe.
Regards,
Amazing
What type of stone did you use here?
I would imagine that if you wanted to add mounds or just raise up your yard level to add texture to the design then you could just put anywhere from 4 to 24 inches of triple mix and topsoil directly over the lawn with no landscape fabric except where you want to apply stones / mulch, etc and no landscape fabric in areas where you are planting schrubs, flowers, hostas, etc…. thoughts
It always looks great right after it's installed. Wait a few years when it's full of debris. You can't rake river rock, you have to get on your hands and knees and clean it
foot by foot. Over two years I have hauled out about 3 tons of this crap river rock by hand in 5 gallon buckets. You can rake pea gravel at least.
BEST VIDEO BEST ADVICE – MUCH GRATITUDE
Does grass grow out? Doesn’t look like you killed grass before you put black material on it.
Such a vibrant woman. 😅 Great clip. Thank you.
Wow looks nice. I have crazy unwanted weeds growing. Will this stop them from growing?.
Terrible idea to kill nature, tell the bugs birds no more food for them from your garden, what would you say, if you go to grocery stores, and opps no food for your family!!!! Shame
Lazy people!!!!
Beautiful 🥰…Your urns are gorgeous 😍
I have to dig up all the lawn to have 3 inches or so below the surrounding areas. Otherwise the drainage isn't good and the rocks will lean against fences and fall onto the surrounding area.
Do you still recommend this?
you did the right thing.
You make it look easy im going to try this i have hard dry grass out here Tx. Its like im just mowing weeds and and dirt every 3 weeks.
Wow this video was very helpful thank you! I was wondering if the grass grew through the weed mat after sometime? Also did you spray any herbicides to kill the grass before laying the weedmat?