Most of my experience is in temperate climates in Northern/Western Europe (for specific plant species info), but I’m happy to help answer management questions in general.
I’m also happy to help put together resources for the community if there’s any plans for that.
Are the grasses people tend to grow in their yards in Northern / Western Europe native? I’m from the North Eastern US and I seem to remember hearing that our lawn grasses aren’t native but rather Asian in origin.
Really depends where you are, in temperate climates the grasses in the US tend to be European, but in hotter climates these can be from hotter places in the world including Asia.
Have any tips for dealing with aggressive/invasive species in a lawn environment? There are so many weeds in my yard, but I don’t want to kill the clover!
Do you know what species you’re dealing with? If you’re not sure you can upload a few photos. Advice will depend on this.
Normally, aggressive species thrive in an environment with excess nutrients or lots of disturbance. Can you explain your current management/cutting regime? Do you remove the grass clippings after you mow?
How important is it to focus on native vs non-invasive plants in a European context? I live in Scandinavia but come originally from North America and in NA there can be a pretty intense ideal of native plant gardening that I don’t experience the same way here. Ex, lavender is not native to Scandinavia and nobody seems to care.
If you have anything to say on the subject of drought tolerant plants and grasses suitable for Northern Europe I’d love to hear it.
Love this so much, and thank you for your offer to get folks started. I ripped out about 900sqft of my South Florida backyard lawn in April and broadcast seeds for a wildflower lawn. I have a species list, but we like just identifying things as they come up. Birds love our house. Monoculture sucks
@Casualsythe @Saxifraga LOVE THIS! I’m in FL as well and doing similar to you. Trying to keep the HOA at bay about it.
I’ve long wanted to do away with a patch a lawn, but my neighbor on that side is one of those lawn perfectionists. So I haven’t done it on account of not knowing how difficult to control the spread will be. I assume a border of like two feet of rock or mulch or something will be enough, though I’m not looking forward to getting and moving enough of it to fill the border.