Hi! We have an lawn area of around 700 sq feet that we want to replace with ground cover. Some options that we are considering are: creeping phlox and green carpet herniaria. The area gets full sun and has good drainage. We want something that is very low maintenance, can be walked on, spreads quickly but won't take over everything, although we have existing barriers on at least three sides. We are motivated to appeal to pollinators, cut down on water use but that stays interesting year round (including at least surviving our changing winters in Vancouver. Are these good choices or should we plant other things? (ps. white clover is not our favourite). Thanks for any advice!
I think read around West Coast seeds website they are out in Ladner area start here https://www.westcoastseeds.com/coll...MlFKPbuLY3H-fr7qbDqPh7NvRFSXFw6v7u4RUHkdFz13B
Further to above - 1. I have no connection to west coast seed other than buying their good product 2. we don’t water our lawn at all so it’s brown right now 3. Remember your goals - do you have young people and or pets — make sure your choice is safe non toxic to all
Something to consider when turning a lawn over to alternative plants, is how you plan to keep less-desirable plants out ie. weeds. Unless you will embrace them all like some people do. But, for the sake of argument, what if you want to plant your 700 sq. ft. with creeping phlox and weeds start to infiltrate . . . dandelions, buttercups, various grasses . . . the possibilities are endless depending on the seeds already in the soil or in the neighbourhood. At the very least, I would cover the whole area with a sterile (as possible) soil mix so you will have the advantage of establishing your lawn-alternative before weeds move in. Eventually the new plants will hopefully out-compete invaders but you will need to be vigilant. Frankly, in my garden, I think my lawn (moss/grass) is the best maintenance-free ground cover I could ever expect. It is brown in the summer, yes, but it tolerates a lot of abuse from dogs and kids (not just being tenderly walked on), needs little water or fertilizer and serves as a beautiful contrast to the garden beds even when it isn't bright green. Sometimes I wonder if lawns are being given a bad rap from people who assume all lawns are, by definition, environmentally unfriendly. Not all are.
A ground cover planting (other than mown turf) less than 1-2 ft. deep and not also quite dense is going to need tedious hand weeding or spot applications of herbicidal sprays into perpetuity. And even when a cover is tall and dense kinds like alder and blackberry will seed in and fight their way up through it here and there periodically - look at lawns where you are with weeds in them and then picture that same situation without any mowing being involved.
