Rethinking the Front Yard: Fort Avenue

by Josh Wood Monday July 28, 2008

Keeping Off The Grass
Here’s a no-lawn front yard on the extreme eastern side of Cranston bordering the bay. It’s a micro yard, making the installation and upkeep relatively easy.

This lawn alternative gets a lot of coverage from rugged plants, like ivy, iris, daylilies, and vinca. All of those plants can tolerate abuse. Roses and clematis are added as accent plants, and evergreens with military haircuts are used as backdrops along the foundation. While some time is probably spent on keeping the vines in check and the evergreens shaved, the rest of the yard could be mostly ignored.

It’s a no mow, no frills garden.

[where: 02910]

Comment

1. Hey Josh—

   Nice blog (maybe there’s hope for Cranston yet!)

   Re: lawn alternatives, this is something I’ve been grappling with for sometime, mainly because our front lawn faces south and gets slammed with sun at all times of the day. (Read: Water or die!) If you’ve spotted any solutions for the hot/dry plot, let me know.

   L.

   — Lisa Agustin · Jul 29, 10:15 AM · #

2. I just read how California is starting to make use of their front yards with vegatable gardens and the like. I like the idea.

   — Suzanne Arena · Jul 29, 05:17 PM · #

3. Lisa, thanks for the note…

   A south-facing yard is a challenge. It seems that unwatered lawns exposed to full sun make a slow transition into desert (or beach) – especially during the annual Rhode Island/SE Mass summer dry spell.

   I’ve seen a few interesting solutions for sunny, exposed yards – yards that use native grasses, rugged groundcovers like creeping junipers and cotoneasters, and yards that chip away at the amount of lawn coverage with the introduction of tougher, native shrubs. There’s even a house you’ve probably seen on Park Avenue by the Park View School that has taken the sunny yard to an extreme and has created a “sand garden” with beach plantings. Hopefully I’ll post some of these examples in the coming weeks.

   If you need a lawn alternative that holds up to some foot traffic, I’ve heard of yards planted with creeping thyme. But I haven’t seen any examples locally. The tough thing about creeping thyme is that it prefers not to sit in too much water, and a wet winter could do some damage. Another option is to use an alternative grass like buffalo grass, which needs significantly less water. I’ll write up and post a list of alternative grasses along with some sources to purchase them from.

   — Josh Wood · Jul 29, 08:32 PM · #

4. Suzanne – I’ve noticed more front and side yard veggie beds around Cranston this year. The edible yard. It makes sense – if you’re going to water it, you might as well eat from it.

   — Josh Wood · Jul 29, 08:44 PM · #

5. About veggie beds— one thing to keep in mind when considering planting anything edible fairly close to the house and directly in the ground, you may want to get your soil tested first. I did so to figure out the acid level, and got results that said the amount of lead in the soil was pretty high (not surprising given the age of the house). Of course raised beds with imported dirt can take care of this issue.

   — Lisa Agustin · Aug 1, 09:17 AM · #

6. That’s a great point about testing the soil before planting edibles. URI offers soil tests: http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/soiltest.html

   — Josh Wood · Aug 2, 08:07 PM · #

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