So helpful—I’m really interested in your advice to plant directly into turf grass rather than try to remove it. Is the idea that the native plants will eventually overpower the turf grass? I’m in the Hudson Valley and have a shadier area that is a mixture of violets (great) and turf grass and I haven’t wanted to mess with the violets but want to get rid of that grass. Was thinking of putting in other aggressive spreaders such as Canada anemone, etc, but thought I should remove grass first—not doing that would sure save me a lot of work!
Yes, your idea of planting Canada anemone etc. directly into the turf is spot on. Removing grass will only stir up the seed bank and potentially invite invasives to spread.
Benjamin Vogt recently wrote about planting into grass in his newsletter. I can't find a link to it on his site, but the gist of it was that the tall fescue lawn got out competed easily. I agree with Heather and think you could just plant into it.
Thought provoking. Rethink redbud trees. In Gville even though there is a nice show this spring unfortunately due to ?? Climate change and ? Fungus they are dying. Same with our beloved dogwoods.
Thanks for so much valuable information! I like how one of the multiple benefits of planting native plants is the ability to skip so many steps that are part of conventional gardening. The letter writer is fantastically lucky to be so close to Roy Diblik's nursery, too. At least the rest of us can read his book, The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden.
“Rather than removing turf, consider treating it as a cover crop and plant into turf.” Would this also be the plan if replacing turf with native grass? I’m planning to replace St Augustine with native Buffalograss. Everyone says to till the soil but could I just mow low and then seed heavily right over the turf without disturbing the soil?
Tim, St. Augustine is more tenacious than northern lawn grasses and I doubt seeding buffalograss will be enough to replace it. I am currently planting trees, shrubs, and aggressive perennials into St. Augustine and expect I may eventually have to pull it out from around the plants… Doing my best to discourage it with piles of live oak leaves. Good luck!
So helpful—I’m really interested in your advice to plant directly into turf grass rather than try to remove it. Is the idea that the native plants will eventually overpower the turf grass? I’m in the Hudson Valley and have a shadier area that is a mixture of violets (great) and turf grass and I haven’t wanted to mess with the violets but want to get rid of that grass. Was thinking of putting in other aggressive spreaders such as Canada anemone, etc, but thought I should remove grass first—not doing that would sure save me a lot of work!
Yes, your idea of planting Canada anemone etc. directly into the turf is spot on. Removing grass will only stir up the seed bank and potentially invite invasives to spread.
Benjamin Vogt recently wrote about planting into grass in his newsletter. I can't find a link to it on his site, but the gist of it was that the tall fescue lawn got out competed easily. I agree with Heather and think you could just plant into it.
Great stuff!
Thought provoking. Rethink redbud trees. In Gville even though there is a nice show this spring unfortunately due to ?? Climate change and ? Fungus they are dying. Same with our beloved dogwoods.
Hmmm, I’ll have to look into that. Thanks for letting me know
Thanks for so much valuable information! I like how one of the multiple benefits of planting native plants is the ability to skip so many steps that are part of conventional gardening. The letter writer is fantastically lucky to be so close to Roy Diblik's nursery, too. At least the rest of us can read his book, The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden.
I so agree re omitting steps—and Diblik’s excellent book
Thank you so much for the great and timely info and intro to Northwinds!
Glad it’s helpful! I look forward to hearing the results.
“Rather than removing turf, consider treating it as a cover crop and plant into turf.” Would this also be the plan if replacing turf with native grass? I’m planning to replace St Augustine with native Buffalograss. Everyone says to till the soil but could I just mow low and then seed heavily right over the turf without disturbing the soil?
Tim, St. Augustine is more tenacious than northern lawn grasses and I doubt seeding buffalograss will be enough to replace it. I am currently planting trees, shrubs, and aggressive perennials into St. Augustine and expect I may eventually have to pull it out from around the plants… Doing my best to discourage it with piles of live oak leaves. Good luck!
The Brits seem to be so are so in love with bad soil that they're trucking it INTO their gardens.
I know! That seems weirdly unsustainable to me. Crushing cement paving on site is one thing, but trucking it in to make your soil less fertile?!
Such a great blog! Thanks Heather. ❤️
Thank you!