Rethinking the Front Yard: Dale Avenue

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Staying Off The Grass
Here’s another example of a yard that breaks the shackles of a resource-hungry lawn. This non-lawn front yard on Dave Avenue in Eden Park is attractive and quirky, even in the Nashville-worthy heat of this June morning. The garden has a good selection of carefree plants, including the nasturtiums, creeping phlox, arborvitaes and junipers – all of which do well in dry, sunny conditions. The nasturtiums, a self-seeding annual, are especially adaptable to poor, dry soil. Ivy and cedar mulch fill the gaps between the plants to help to retain moisture and reduce weeds.

The water usage on this yard is probably negligible, and most of the plants can be found at any garden center. Outside of the occasional time spent on weeding, freshening up the mulch and keeping the ivy in check, this is practically a hands-free garden.