Alternative Lawn Mix - Shade

Alternative lawns are becoming more and more popular as people realize that non-native turf grass does not support much life - no flowers for the birds, no host plants for the butterfly caterpillars, no food insects for the baby birds, and no seed for the adults. In addition, traditional mono-species lawns suck water and require pesticides and herbicides (and time) to keep them looking like carpet. Lawns also do a poor job soaking up rain water or carbon and storing it in the soil. All of those conditions can be improved by incorporating native plants into your lawn.

Of course, the best solution for the environment is to turn lawn space into meadows or otherwise mimic a native environment, but most people want at least some open lawn for aesthetics or play space. A solution is to incorporate this mowable lawn mix into your landscape.

This mix contains several species of wildflower plugs which you can plant right into your lawn. Mow the lawn in the spring on a medium to high mower setting (if earlier blooms are desired, mow around the plugs). When the grass goes dormant in the heat of the summer, the flowers will burst forth. If the conditions are right (the grass is not too thick to outcompete the flowers), they will spread and create significant habitat. NOTE: if you want to turn your lawn into a wildflower meadow that you don't mow, you must kill the grass first. Turf grasses became popular because they are good at being a monoculture. They will not be out-competed by a few wildflower plugs, and your meadow will end up looking weedy with lots of non-native grass (cue the Weed Police). Either control the grass by continuing to mow it and the flowers, or kill the lawn before you plant.

To facilitate flowers within a maintained lawn, mow only in the early part of the season to control grass height. Mow occasionally if needed in the late season. Do not fertilize; fertilizer forces grass growth which causes it to outcompete the flowers and contributes to surface and groundwater pollution. Do not use herbicides; they will kill the flowers. Do not use pesticides. Attracting pollinators and insect bird-food to your lawn is inconsistent with using lawn pesticides of any sort, even mosquito spray; pesticides kill the insects you need in your habitat. Water the plugs regularly when first planted and during drought the first year, then eliminate watering. Drought stress will reduce grass and promote the drought-tolerant wildflowers.

This economical kit includes 38 plugs. Spacing depends is dependent on your preference. If your lawn is fairly bare and you want more flowers, you could do a 1 foot spacing, 38 square feet - a 4'x9.5' area. If you just want to introduce a little habitat into what is primarily lawn, we recommend that the plants be spaced 2 to 3 feet apart, 152 or 342 square feet, respectively. This kit comes with planting tips. Each plant is individually tagged for identification. Part shade is defined as less than 6 hours of direct sun per day. Full shade is less than three hours of direct sun per day. All of these plants need light to live, but several will do well with bright shade and no direct sun, as on the north side of a building. The shade mix includes 3 to 8 plugs each of:

Black Eyed Susan - a hardy biennial that readily reseeds and is tolerant of drought and nearly full shade (needs a touch of direct sun). Note that you must allow these to flower and drop seed in order to have them in the future. Mow around the blooms if late-summer mowing is needed. Traditional yellow flowers with brown discs.
Northern Heartleaf Aster (4th picture) - flowers appear once mowing is stopped. Great late season pollinator plant and host plant for several butterflies. Full to part shade. Great on the north or east side of buildings. Calico Aster may substitute.
Common Blue, Wood, or Sweet White Violet - good early season nectar source. Violets are the host plant for Fritillary butterflies. Full to part shade.
Pussytoes - my favorite lawn plant (6th picture). Interesting foliage and early blooms popular with Azure butterflies. Host plant for Painted and American Lady butterflies. Full to part shade (a bit of sun needed). I suggest mowing around the flowers in the spring in order to enjoy the spring butterflies. The stalks disappear once flowering is done. If you see leaves clumped together with silk, those are the butterfly caterpillars hiding from predators during the day.
Coreopsis - excellent pollinator plant with low foliage and long flower stalks. Canada Mayflower will substitute if we have it.
Pennsylvania, Ivory, Necklace, or Longstalk Sedge - they look like grass but they have interesting flowers if allowed to bloom in spring. Part to full shade. Ivory and Pennsylvania prefer dryer soil and part shade, while Necklace and Longstalk prefers medium to moist and full shade.