Introduction to Eco-Lawns

I remember when my wife told someone that I was interested in permaculture. The first thing that person said was “oh, he does not like lawns then”. Truth is I don’t like lawns—at least traditional lawns. But I love eco-lawns!

An eco-lawn can be defined in many ways but in my opinion an eco-lawn is a lawn that:

1. Minimizes inputs, such as watering and fertilizer.
2. Minimizes mowing.
3. Eliminates all chemical weed and pest control.

Both otherwise an eco-lawn is just that—a lawn.

This week’s blog post – How to Transform Your Lawn into an Eco-Lawn – is all about eco-lawns and how to transform your lawn into one.

The blog post covers 2 main methods for transforming your lawn into an eco-lawn:

1. Fully replacing your existing lawn with a brand-new eco-lawn.
2. Managing your existing lawn to turn it into an eco-lawn overtime.

Both options can work but it depends on how long you want to wait for your new eco-lawn. On my own wild homestead, I decided to go with the 1st option. I wanted an eco-lawn sooner rather than later to reduce the time I spent mowing and so my family and I could enjoy the new eco-lawn.

But let’s get back to the comment from the person when they learned I was interested in permaculture.

Why I Love Permaculture but Still Want an Eco-Lawn

Lawns have really become the symbol of everything that is wrong with the way people manage their properties in an urban setting—and let’s face it sometimes in rural areas too.

This is due to all the resources that are pumped into lawns that often go mostly unused and are just there for the look and sometimes to meet local legal requirements.

I really don’t like this type of lawn either and I wish more people would grow food in their front lawns. My front lawn has been turned into a food forest!

But I also want my wild homestead setup to be a place for my family and I to enjoy and I want us to have space to sit outside and enjoy nature when we are not working on growing food or managing our land.

An eco-lawn is a nice thing to have for this. I remember playing with my son when we was a bit younger (he is only just over 2 and a half years old even now) on our eco-lawn. The lawn has a bit of a slope on it and we were “log rolling” down that slope. I remember rolling down the slope with my son chasing me laughing his little head off. It really is a great memory.

We were also both barefoot—the soft grass felt great under our feet.

Moments like this is why I have an eco-lawn and why I went through a good amount of effort to create mine. But now I have a lawn that is relatively small (1,300 square feet or 120 square meters) is quick to mow and takes no watering or fertilizer or really any other inputs.

I only pull out some prickly weeds but I expect them to not be an issue as the eco-lawn matures—it’s still only just about 1 year old.

But despite being relatively new the lawn is established and looks great and needs very little time from me.

My family and I really like our little eco-lawn. Plus, we can eat the dandelions that grow in it and we love seeing the micro-clover when it’s in bloom! It really is a nice addition to our wild homestead.

What About You?

What do you think about eco-lawns? Do you manage your lawn as an eco-lawn? Do you go out and pick the dandelions that grow in it?

Please leave a comment below sharing what you think and I would love it if you checked out my blog post all about eco-lawns.

If you want to transform your lawn into an eco-lawn then the blog post will help you know where to start.

Thank you!

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And check out my blog - www.wildhomesteading.com for weekly in-depth posts on how to work with nature, grow your own food, and build a wild homestead. When you work with nature, nature works with you.