{"id":22038,"date":"2023-05-18T13:19:47","date_gmt":"2023-05-18T17:19:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?p=22038"},"modified":"2023-05-18T13:21:30","modified_gmt":"2023-05-18T17:21:30","slug":"what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a native plant that can be used to replace lawn turfgrass?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Question:<\/h3>\n

We’re looking to replace our lawn grass with a low-growing, low-maintenance native plant. The area is about a quarter of an acre, in full sun.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Answer:<\/h3>\n
Jonathan Foster, Special Project Assistant\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n

Common\u00a0groundcover\u00a0alternatives\u00a0to turfgrass include creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum<\/i>), creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis<\/i>), creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera), bearberry (Arctastaphyllos\u00a0uva-ursi<\/i>), and Dutch white clover (Trifolium repens<\/i>), though there are many others. If you are considering a taller class of plants as well as\u00a0groundcovers, there are plenty of native bushes and small shrubs that might serve as well (please see the Buffer Book below).<\/p>\n

Two really great resources on\u00a0alternatives\u00a0to turfgrass:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Univ of Delaware\u00a0Groundcover\u00a0Alternatives<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Penn State Univ Blog on Bee Lawns<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span>While these are both a little south of us, the general principles are the same and they can help you get an idea for what you’d like to do. I recommend\u00a0UMaine’s List of Pollinator Plants<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Maine State Buffer Book<\/a>\u00a0to cross reference any plants you like for Maine environments. Also please refer to our\u00a0UMaine Page on Lawns<\/a>\u00a0for information on low-input care for any grass you’d like to keep, as well as general information on improving the soil quality moving forward.<\/span><\/p>\n

As for removing whatever existing grass or plants you have in the space to be converted, there are multiple avenues available. If you\u2019re 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 (though keep in mind grass can resprout from broken rhizomes–spreading, underground stems–so you may need to be on the lookout for shoots emerging). A less labor intensive, but slower, method is to\u00a0cover\u00a0the grass with multiple layers of thick newspaper or old carpets\u2013this will eventually kill the grass and make it much easier to dislodge and remove.<\/p>\n

Finally, b<\/span>ecause you\u2019re 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: We’re looking to replace our lawn grass with a low-growing, low-maintenance native plant. The area is about a quarter of an acre, in full sun.\u00a0 Answer: Jonathan Foster, Special Project Assistant\u00a0 Common\u00a0groundcover\u00a0alternatives\u00a0to turfgrass include creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum), creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis), creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera), bearberry (Arctastaphyllos\u00a0uva-ursi), and Dutch white clover (Trifolium repens), […]<\/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-22038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask","category-lawns"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is a native plant that can be used to replace lawn turfgrass? - 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\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is a native plant that can be used to replace lawn turfgrass? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Question: We’re looking to replace our lawn grass with a low-growing, low-maintenance native plant. The area is about a quarter of an acre, in full sun.\u00a0 Answer: Jonathan Foster, Special Project Assistant\u00a0 Common\u00a0groundcover\u00a0alternatives\u00a0to turfgrass include creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum), creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis), creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera), bearberry (Arctastaphyllos\u00a0uva-ursi), and Dutch white clover (Trifolium repens), […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-05-18T17:19:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-18T17:21:30+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\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"twood\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518\"},\"headline\":\"What is a native plant that can be used to replace lawn turfgrass?\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-18T17:19:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-18T17:21:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/\"},\"wordCount\":379,\"articleSection\":[\"Ask the Expert\",\"Lawns\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/\",\"name\":\"What is a native plant that can be used to replace lawn turfgrass? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-18T17:19:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-18T17:21:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What is a native plant that can be used to replace lawn turfgrass?\"}]},{\"@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:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"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 is a native plant that can be used to replace lawn turfgrass? - 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\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What is a native plant that can be used to replace lawn turfgrass? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","og_description":"Question: We’re looking to replace our lawn grass with a low-growing, low-maintenance native plant. The area is about a quarter of an acre, in full sun.\u00a0 Answer: Jonathan Foster, Special Project Assistant\u00a0 Common\u00a0groundcover\u00a0alternatives\u00a0to turfgrass include creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum), creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis), creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera), bearberry (Arctastaphyllos\u00a0uva-ursi), and Dutch white clover (Trifolium repens), […]","og_url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/","og_site_name":"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard","article_published_time":"2023-05-18T17:19:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-05-18T17:21:30+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\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/"},"author":{"name":"twood","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518"},"headline":"What is a native plant that can be used to replace lawn turfgrass?","datePublished":"2023-05-18T17:19:47+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-18T17:21:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/"},"wordCount":379,"articleSection":["Ask the Expert","Lawns"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/","url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/","name":"What is a native plant that can be used to replace lawn turfgrass? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-05-18T17:19:47+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-18T17:21:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2023\/05\/18\/what-is-a-native-plant-that-can-be-used-to-replace-lawn-turfgrass\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What is a native plant that can be used to replace lawn turfgrass?"}]},{"@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:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","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":652,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":199,"category_count":652,"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\/22038","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=22038"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22041,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22038\/revisions\/22041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}