We all know the British are obsessed with their lawns, don’t we? But it’s a fact that lawn size is getting smaller – and lawns are getting dryer – year on year. As climate changes, we’re going to find it every more difficult to keep our emerald green, velvety short swards alive through the summer, and so perhaps now it’s time to give up the lawn altogether and try something else?
For very dry and sunny situations or where a lawn is growing on a steep bank, so people aren’t walking on it, why not try:
Armeria maritima – also known as Thrift or Sea Pink, which forms tufts or hummocks and is a herbaceous perennial. It can be as low as two inches tall and it has rounded pink flowers between April and May. As an added bonus it does well on poor soils
Potentilla alba – locally known as cinquefoil, is a creeping herbaceous perennial. The various creeping varieties may be anything from two to eight inches tall and will bear five petalled white or yellow flowers in the period April to August.
For half shade to full shade, plants to consider include:
Tiarella Cordifolia – the Foam Flower, which is a stunning spreading herbaceous perennial, it is between four and six inches tall and has small white flowers in May and June, but the highlight of this particular lawn alternative is that it forms a dense carpet of maple life leaves which turn red, like
Virginia Creeper, in winter.
Gaultheria procumbens – the Partridge Berry or Wintergreen, which is a little tall at eight inches but has lovely little red berries and the superb advantage of being evergreen.
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