Sustainable gardens: A case against lawns

The great Australian dream seems to have become inexplicably tied to the idea of having a lush green lawn, but do we ever stop to think about the environmental repercussions of maintaining these grassy spaces?

It's easy to forget that those green patches of turf can often be a huge drain on resources, requiring constant watering, mowing and fertilising.

Renowned garden designer and owner of Sydney's iconic outdoor store Garden Life Richard Unsworth caught up with ninemsn Homes on ways we can ditch the lawn and keep our yards green, in both the sustainable and literal sense.

Ground cover plants

Sprawling green lawns go hand in hand with wet climates — think Scotland's lush pastures and intense green rolling hills. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) Australia doesn't benefit from the same drizzly climate, so lawns and mossy ground covers are right out.

This is where natives and drought-friendly plants come in, as they generally thrive in their natural climate, with little water and care required.

For some gorgeous ground covers, Unsworth suggests kidney weeds (dichondra), banksia 'roller coasters' (banksia integrifolia 'roller coaster'), and spider flowers (grenvillea), but admits this solution may not have the same convenience as a lawn.

"Lawns are very practical in the sense that you can walk on lawns, you can sit down on lawns. You can't really walk on these plants. You've got to think about the practicality of these areas too."

Astro turf

Gravel and paved surfaces

Before you dig up that pretty patch of green for a concrete slab and a rock garden on sustainable grounds, Unsworth points out that once lawns are established they don't always require a huge amount of maintenance, and paved surfaces can raise some environmental flags as well.

"Are they locally sourced? Have they come from China or overseas? That affects their sustainability, how they've been made and the energy it takes to transport them," Unsworth says.

Paving large areas can also increase the temperature of your yard and "run off", he adds.

"When you have a storm or a big downpour, the water just runs off into the gutter, into the storm water system, which is already quite overloaded."

He suggests connecting your paved areas with surrounding gardens beds to reduce run off, and opting for locally sourced sandstone steppers and nepean gravel, which is quarried locally.

"You can incorporate these with gravel and pebbles of different sizes to create interest."

Pot plants

Decking

If ground cover plants aren't that practical for your space, i.e. you still need to walk through the yard, you may consider building a deck.

"Using a deck, which is raised up over the garden, still allows water to penetrate into the soil below and reduces  water run off."