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7. I don't like only grass in front of my house.
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| Beautiful front garden |
Many homeowners, like this one in River Oaks, are forgoing the traditional lawn altogether instead using the space to create
gorgeous gardens.
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| Small front garden |
These gardens can be as simple or complex as you like, incorporating everything from ground covers to trees and from ornamental
bushes to edible herbs. Certainly one strong trend we have noticed during our yearly organic gardening contest tours is that
many gardens are companion planting vegetables and fruit in among their flowers to create a garden that appeals to all senses
- even taste.
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8. What is a mixed meadow?
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| Mixed meadow |
Mixed Meadow Edit Text
flowers.jpg Edit Picture
An excellent alternative to a traditional lawn is to plant a variety of plants and grasses that give you a green carpet while
maintaining good biodiversity. These bio-diverse lawns tend to be more drought and pest resistant.
One way to do this is simply stop using herbicides and dig out undesirable plants while encouraging clover and low growing
wildflowers like Butter and Eggs. Edit Text
List of some of many perennials Edit Text
edithgarden.jpg
Edith's garden Edit Picture
If you want to replace your lawn with some easy care perennials here are some suggestions.
Astibe, Garden Spirea Can take full sun but does best in partial shade blooms midsummer to end of August
Bishop’s Hat, Barrenwort (Epimedium species) Moist soil in open shade, will tolerate some sun blooms in April, May
Bugleweed (Ajuga) Full sun or partial shade blooms May, June
Crane’s Bill (Geranium species) Full sun, light shade blooms spring to summer
English Ivy (Hedara helix), hardy varieties Baltica, Bulgaria, Hebron, Rochester, Thorndale & Wilsonii full sun to heavy shade
Houttuynia (Houttuynia cordata) ‘chameleon’ variegated leaves Sun and shade Blooms in summer – small white
flowers
Knotweed, Himalaya Fleeceflower (Polygonum affine) full sun blooms late summer into fall
Lungwort, Jerusalem Sage (Pulmonaria terminalis) Partial to full shade, moist soil Blooms in spring – pink flower fading
to blue
Pachysandra, Japanese Spurge (Pachysandra terminalus) Shade, moist soil Blooms in spring – greenish-white flowers
Periwinkle, Myrtle (Vinca minor) Light or partial shade Blooms early spring, blue flowers, ‘Alba’ is pure white
Self-heal (Prunella webbiana) ‘Purple Loveliness’ Full sun, shade Summer bloom
Sweet Woodruff (Galium ovoratum) Very fragrant Full shade to partial sun White flower
Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) Full sun to partial shade in poor to average soil excellent ground cover –a thyme lawn would
be very effective leaves are useful for cooking, lotions, baths, potpourr
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