{"id":21029,"date":"2022-11-16T11:50:56","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T16:50:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?p=21029"},"modified":"2022-11-16T11:53:58","modified_gmt":"2022-11-16T16:53:58","slug":"what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/","title":{"rendered":"What are some low maintenance groundcovers to replace a turf lawn?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Question:<\/h3>\n

In front of my home on a city street, there is a smallish patch of lawn facing south and east that I would like to get rid of. Can you recommend a few low-maintenance, easily spreading groundcovers and flowering perennials? What is the easiest way (and the best time) to remove the grass? I am not an experienced gardener.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Answer:<\/h3>\n
Jonathan Foster, Community Education Assistant<\/em><\/div>\n

Based on your question, you may already be aware that\u00a0while a nice, lush lawn of grass can be a beautiful thing, there are a number of reasons why an alternative might be more desirable. Maintenance, light, water demand, need for fertilizers, and weeding all come into play when deciding what’s best for your space.<\/p>\n

Common groundcover alternatives to turfgrass include creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum<\/i>), creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis<\/i>), creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera), bearberry (Arctastaphyllos\u00a0uva-ursi<\/i>), and vinca (Vinca minor<\/i>). If you are considering a taller class of plants as well as groundcovers, there are plenty of native bushes and small shrubs that might serve as well (please see the Buffer Book below).<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
There is excellent information available on the topic of grass alternatives in the following\u00a0publications:<\/div>\n

Univ of Delaware Lawn Alternative Fact Sheet<\/a>
\nPenn State Univ blog entry on lawn alternatives<\/a><\/p>\n

Because those are both more southerly resources, I recommend checking\u00a0out the\u00a0Maine State Gov Buffer Book<\/a>\u00a0to cross reference any specific plants. Natives for Maine are included there, as well as information on various environmental tolerances that may help you pick the appropriate plants for your yard.<\/p>\n

As for removing the existing grass, there are multiple avenues available. If you’re in a hurry and have the tools, you can spade up the turf and physically remove it, or use a rototiller to\u00a0churn it under. A less labor intensive, but slower, method is to cover the grass with multiple layers of thick newspaper or old carpets–this will eventually kill the grass and make it much easier to dislodge and remove.<\/p>\n

Because you’re removing the old plants wholesale and putting in new\u00a0ones, I recommend taking that opportunity to get your soil tested at the\u00a0UMaine Analytical Laboratory<\/a>. This will give you an idea what changes might need to be made in order to give your new plants their best start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: In front of my home on a city street, there is a smallish patch of lawn facing south and east that I would like to get rid of. Can you recommend a few low-maintenance, easily spreading groundcovers and flowering perennials? What is the easiest way (and the best time) to remove the grass? I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199,206],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask","category-lawns"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat are some low maintenance groundcovers to replace a turf lawn? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What are some low maintenance groundcovers to replace a turf lawn? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Question: In front of my home on a city street, there is a smallish patch of lawn facing south and east that I would like to get rid of. Can you recommend a few low-maintenance, easily spreading groundcovers and flowering perennials? What is the easiest way (and the best time) to remove the grass? I […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-11-16T16:50:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-16T16:53:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"twood\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"twood\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"twood\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518\"},\"headline\":\"What are some low maintenance groundcovers to replace a turf lawn?\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-16T16:50:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-16T16:53:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/\"},\"wordCount\":394,\"articleSection\":[\"Ask the Expert\",\"Lawns\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/\",\"name\":\"What are some low maintenance groundcovers to replace a turf lawn? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-16T16:50:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-16T16:53:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What are some low maintenance groundcovers to replace a turf lawn?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/\",\"name\":\"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard\",\"description\":\"Information you can use. Research you can trust.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518\",\"name\":\"twood\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"twood\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/author\/twood\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What are some low maintenance groundcovers to replace a turf lawn? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What are some low maintenance groundcovers to replace a turf lawn? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","og_description":"Question: In front of my home on a city street, there is a smallish patch of lawn facing south and east that I would like to get rid of. Can you recommend a few low-maintenance, easily spreading groundcovers and flowering perennials? What is the easiest way (and the best time) to remove the grass? I […]","og_url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/","og_site_name":"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard","article_published_time":"2022-11-16T16:50:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-11-16T16:53:58+00:00","author":"twood","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"twood","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/"},"author":{"name":"twood","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518"},"headline":"What are some low maintenance groundcovers to replace a turf lawn?","datePublished":"2022-11-16T16:50:56+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-16T16:53:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/"},"wordCount":394,"articleSection":["Ask the Expert","Lawns"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/","url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/","name":"What are some low maintenance groundcovers to replace a turf lawn? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-11-16T16:50:56+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-16T16:53:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/11\/16\/what-are-some-low-maintenance-groundcovers-to-replace-a-turf-lawn\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What are some low maintenance groundcovers to replace a turf lawn?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website","url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/","name":"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard","description":"Information you can use. Research you can trust.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518","name":"twood","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"twood"},"url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/author\/twood\/"}]}},"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":199,"label":"Ask the Expert"},{"value":206,"label":"Lawns"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"twood","author_link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/author\/twood\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":199,"name":"Ask the Expert","slug":"ask","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":199,"taxonomy":"category","description":"This is the top level category for all posts submitted to our Ask the Expert gardening questions form.","parent":0,"count":653,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":199,"category_count":653,"category_description":"This is the top level category for all posts submitted to our Ask the Expert gardening questions form.","cat_name":"Ask the Expert","category_nicename":"ask","category_parent":0},{"term_id":206,"name":"Lawns","slug":"lawns","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":206,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":199,"count":31,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":206,"category_count":31,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Lawns","category_nicename":"lawns","category_parent":199}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21029"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21029\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21033,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21029\/revisions\/21033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}