Lawn Gone!: Low-Maintenance, Sustainable, Attractive Alternatives for Your Yard

by Pam Penick

A colorful guide covering the basics of replacing a traditional lawn with a wide variety of easy-care, no-mow, drought-tolerant, money-saving options that will appeal to today's busy, eco-conscious homeowner.Americans pour 300 million gallons of gas and 1 billion hours every year into mowing their lawns, not to mention 70 million pounds of pesticides and $40 billion for lawn upkeep. No Wonder the anti-lawn movement is thriving, as today's eco-conscious consumers realize that their traditional lawns are water-hogging, chemical-ridden, maintenance-intensive burdens. Lawn Gone!, from award-winning gardening blogger Pam Penick, is the first basic introduction to low-water, easy-care lawn alternatives for beginning gardeners, written in a friendly style with an approachable package. It covers all the available time-saving alternative grasses, ground cover plants, artificial turf, hardscaping, mulch, and more. In addition, it includes step-by-step lawn-removal methods, strategies for dealing with neighbors and homeowner associations, and how to minimize your lawn if you're not ready to go all the way.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Reference, Nature, Plants, Landscaping

194 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Pam Penick is a Texas garden writer and advocate for climate-resilient design, known for inspiring waterwise, wildlife-friendly landscapes for nearly two decades. She’s the author of Gardens of Texas, Lawn Gone!, and The Water-Saving Garden, and the voice and photographer behind DIGGING, her influential website about gardening in a hot climate.

Her writing has appeared in Better Homes & Gardens, Fine Gardening, American Gardener, and other publications. For 10 years—including during a historic drought—she ran a landscape design business helping Texas homeowners replace thirsty lawns with waterwise gardens. She’s also the founder of Garden Spark, an Austin-based speaker series on design and ecology.

A graduate of Rice University, with a master's in English from NC State, Pam lives in Austin and tends a rather spiky garden under a canopy of live oaks, where she keeps an eye out for the owls, foxes, and other creatures who share it with her.

Reviews

[Annmarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Garden designer Penick offers good inspiration and instruction for getting rid of water hogging lawns and the tedium of weekly mowing and replacing them with lawn alternatives and good garden designs. Similar to another new (2012) book from Timber Press, Hadden's Beautiful No-Mow Lawns. Penick lives in Texas and the pictorial examples she provides are often from western states like Texas and California, with a bit more of a xeric drought tolerant focus, though the advice is applicable across the U.S. Definitely worth a read if you're considering removing some or all lawn.

The book is divided into three parts; part one covers design ideas for grasses (that don't need mowing), ground cover plants, perennials and shrubs, hardscaping with paths, patios, ponds and the like, or simply downsizing the lawn. Part two covers the techniques of lawn removal, installation of hardscape elements, bed preparation and planting, and maintenance tips. Part three offers advice on dealing with HOAs, city codes, skeptical neighbors, ticks, deer, rodents, and fire resistant landscaping. There are 30 pages of regional plant recommendations at the end covering U.S. regions.
This book was provided to me as an e-ARC from Netgalley courtesy of the publisher.

[Laura Gilfillan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked a lot of the ideas here. I like the idea of being able to grow something less demanding than grass for your lawn. But I would still like it to be durable and usable. Most of these ideas are more like turning your yard into a garden. Pretty to look at, but not practical for real use. Or by using a lot of hardscaping. But I don't really want to turn my yard into a patio. Most of the ideas were also very expensive.

[Steph Carpenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow what an interesting read. I learned a lot and found many interesting ideas for changing some areas around our home to cut down on wasted area and wasted water. We are focusing on our front lawn. The road has always been too busy for play when our children were young, it looks terrible, brown, and spotty as it faces West in the warmer months. This book has come to the rescue and we will talk to our landscaper with these new ideas.

The book focuses on different areas of the US equally, and rural, urban, and suburban ideas. We found the book at our library.

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just starting to "dig in" to the gardening thing and get a sense of what's possible. Some useful tips here.

[A_s · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Decent, informative, not preachy.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book. So many wonderful ideas. I got this one from the library, but I may purchase a copy for reference.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

A manual for all things getting rid of lawns. Good for ideas and nice photos. Not necessarily a step by step guide.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave it 3 stars for how it met my objective in reading it--to find a solution for my back yard. After all, the title does say "aternatives for your yard". However, if you are looking for a general overview of lawn replacement, it probably deserves 5 stars.

It gives you basic ideas but many of the suggestions are specific to geographical zones and most would not work in my region. In addition, many of the suggested varieties for my zone do not work because of a difficult microclimate, a steep slope buffeted by cold north winds, a lot of sun, and winter winds off the lake in the winter which remove snow cover protection for any ground cover or grass causing winter kill.

However, the links and suggestions of specific grass types that are low maintenance were very good, resulting in me finding a new grass mix that I think has more promise for my yard. Not an alternative but a lawn...the last thing I expected to find in this book.

I would prefer having ground covers that meant little or no maintenance of this steep slope. I'll keep looking, but in the meantime, I think this one suggestion will make the lawn more successful until I find an alternative that works. That one suggestion made the book worth reading.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview to get one thinking about and started on removing a lawn. Lots of information on how to actually get rid of the grass and how to negotiate with HOAs. Lots of ideas on hard-scaping that can focus one's research. Some good ideas on plants by region, but not exhaustive. All around a boon to anyone thinking about removing a lawn.

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great resource to help you plan your escape from the "traditional" American lawn! Region-specific advice included.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book to serve as design inspiration for what to do with the non-grassy areas of my yard. I found the book talked more about plants for California and regions where there isn’t a lot rain and I found the politics to be left leaning and preachy which was off putting. The pictures were nice, especially the before and afters, the stages explanations, and it was fun to see different plants.

The most useful three sentences in the entire book are these: Although the temptation to put plants in the ground may be great when you see dead lawn or bare dirt, stay away from the garden center for now and focus first on paving. Otherwise, you will find yourself - or your contractors - trying to dig, move dirt, haul in supplies, and spread materials around your yard, all the while watching out for baby plants. Many contractors seem to wear plant blinders;they just don’t see them, and you’ll make their job harder (and possibly cause them to charge you more) if they have to work around fragile new planting beds.

Overall I think it’s a decent book, especially if you really want to get rid of your grass.

[Steve H · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good thought provoker, idea starting book with some practical information, but not too comprehensive. You'll learn why it's good to get rid of lawn and some things you can do to fill that formerly mowed space (hardscape, gardens, grass-like substitutes), but there's not a lot on each of these topics. There's a regional plant recommendation list, but for most areas there are only 5 plants suggested, and quite a few aren't natives to the areas. So, good for what it is, but you might want to supplement with books focusing on specific types of gardens or creating hardscapes, etc.

[R C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a helpful read on preparing to transform a lawn into a sustainable garden. I will definitely be returning to this book to help guide me in the process as I work to update our yard. The information was clear, succinct and apt. Each section has a clear focus and gets to the point without being too verbose. The visuals also helped greatly in understanding different ideas and processes.

[Amberwench · Rating 4 out of 5]

Want to give up your mower? Or maybe you want less lawn, but are not sure you're ready to go completely lawn-free? Start here! Ideas on no or small lawns that still allow you to have green plants and attractive landscaping. From concept to completed project, this book covers each step, including lawn removal, plant selection by region, dealing with skeptical neighbors, and special concerns like pests and drought. 'Lawn free' doesn't have to mean 'a yard of nothing but gravel and rocks' anymore!

[Peter Wolfley · Rating 4 out of 5]

If only all DIY books were this helpful. The author has thought of everything you need to go from a basic water-hogging lawn to an interesting garden type lawn that saves on water, maintenance and hassle. I've been on a quest all summer to find a new direction for our front yard and this book has given me the confidence to move forward with it.

[emyrose8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found a lot to take notes on, being a new homeowner with little knowledge about lawns, patios, and pathways. It gave me good ideas and steps to implement them. I wish there had been more about specific types of grass to plant for no-mow lawns, but it varies quite a bit in the different zones. A book I'd check out again.

[Gib · Rating 4 out of 5]

The typical American lawn is far more consumptive of resources than it need be. By converting lawns to native plants that are indigenous to the area, we can help numerous species survive and thrive. My suggestion would be that she recommend only species that belong in the landscape and that we are sure will not invade native habitats.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so useful! That's a step-by-step guide for how to turn all lawn into a more interesting and usable space. It gives everything from practical to ecological to botanical advice. I checked it out from the library, but this is one that I'd like to own.

[Jennie Morton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smart and practical. A great introduction to why traditional lawns do nothing other than hog resources and alternatives to turf. I'm at the beginning of my zero lawn journey and this helped point me in a concrete direction to get started.

[Kami · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine, but didn't find particularly helpful as it was fairly basic info that's on every webpage/book ever written on the subject. However as that's the focus of the book I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I just expected MORE as it is a whole book not a brief webpage instructible.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I am not ready to take the plunge to eliminate my lawn, this book gives practical information on how to make it happen and possible materials. Gradually making change is okay! The pictures were very helpful!

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, with some interesting design ideas and great photographs.

[Dustin Dwiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have much work to do...

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creative landscaping ideas even if you aren’t intending to eliminate your lawn. Good pointers for paths, sitting areas, water features, and more!

[Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource, lots of broad suggestions allowing for your own creativity to work.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ideas and steps to achieve them.

[Kim McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful resource for ideas of replacing lawn and growing a local scape instead.

[Ethan Moehn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read. Pretty easy to use as a reference book. Why do we love our lawns so much??

[Bert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ideas

It's sometimes hard to step into the idea of a non-standard yard. This book shows a lot of good ideas for making it happen.

[April Franklin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very inspiring - the many beautiful photos of lawn-free landscaping made me want to tear out my whole lawn right away. Actually, that's not entirely true. I already wanted to tear out my whole lawn. This book just gave me proof that doing so can lead to a prettier, easier yard. I'm not crazy about lawns in general. They require so much watering and mowing and fertilizing. I also think lawns smell bad and are itchy to touch. So I love the idea of getting rid of the whole thing and planting native, low-maintenance, visually interesting plants instead. The only things stopping me from tearing my lawn out are the cost of new plants and the time required to plant them. But someday I'd love to have a garden like the ones in this awesome guide!