Transitioning from Lawn to Meadow the Easy Way

I have been gardening organically since 1968, but my garden is nothing to brag about; golf has distracted me from gardening. I am a gardening minimalist.

Meadows are hip these days. I am all for them! A meadow is simply a grassy area that grows without human intervention. Residents of Los Altos Hills, consumers of too much water, are being advised to transition lawns into meadows.

My yard is 95 percent wild grass meadow. I have a very small area of traditional lawn—you could cover it with three tablecloths. I keep this small area as lawn, because we like to lie on green grass in the summer and look at the sky and soak up the sun. I weed it by hand, and, frankly, the weeds are getting the best of me. I water it once a week and keep it just barely alive and greenish through the summer.

In the rest of the yard, I let nature take its course.

If you are among those tempted to transition your lawn to meadow, be advised that the transition will happen if you simply stop doing all the things that you do to keep your lawn a lawn. Stop watering. Stop applying herbicides (Roundup). Stop applying petrochemical fertilizers and pesticides (the ones that say “Danger” on the package). Stop mowing. You will have to cut down or plow any dry meadow in late spring, by order of the fire department.

Here is an account of letting a lawn go to seed, “Honey, I'm not going to cut the lawn this year.”

My dear friend and organic garden designer, Jody Main, tells me that a little bit of work would result in a much nicer meadow. She recommends bringing in a crew once or twice a year to get rid of noxious invaders such as star thistle, planting some native grasses, and . 

However much work you put into your meadow, if you want to stay on the good side of Mother Nature, manage your meadow and the rest of your yard organically.

For learning the basics of organic gardening, I recommend a hands-on class for the best visual and tactile experience. You could take classes with Jody Main, Rosalind Creasy or anyone else at Common Ground, the decades-old center for organic-sustainable gardening. Also, Hidden Villa has some excellent classes for kids, teens, adults, and families.