permaculture

[Paul Cereghino <paul.cereghino@comcast.net>]

I have three kinds of surfaces dominated by grass... 1) cut short as 
recreational space - clippings used to spot mulch, 2) rough cut with 
scythe - clippings used to spot mulch, 3) ignored until future 
manipulation. 

I hope to transition to three slightly different kinds of grass 
dominated systems... 1) meadow with woody sub-shrubs edging hedgerow, 2) 
herbaceous meadow of different breeds rough cut for mulch or foraged for 
medicine/dye/herbs, 3)herbal lay dominated by grass, clover and yarrow, 
with flower as secondary yield.

I have been collecting local and exotic prairie species, and am 
considering using a couple native bunch grass as the matrix, but have a 
lot to learn about grass varieties to construct something that is 
persistent but contains niches for other species.

Paul Cereghino

mIEKAL aND wrote:

> We have a number of small lawns on our various properties, and I'm  
> not at all opposed to small green areas that are also social  
> gathering spaces.  For many years we even used pygmy goats to keep  
> one of the lawns somewhat managed tho it never replaced the need for  
> mowing.  However I live in a dairy farming state, where a 2-5 acre  
> front lawn is common, a sign of status (along with having the newest  
> biggest fleet of pickups).  Often these monstrous lawns will have one  
> or two trophy trees planted in them because anything more would  
> hinder efficient mowing.  Not only that but they seem to have to be  
> mowed weekly to make sure everything is perfectly manicured.
>
> When I oversaw the landscape design for the Organic Valley building  
> mentioned in the wolf spider thread, they were originally thinking of  
> having about an 8 acre lawn in front of the building, but I & a  
> couple others convinced the powers that be to put in 5 acres of  
> native prairie & a paradise garden with about 30 species of edibles.   
> There is still quite a bit of green space around the building to make  
> the farmers (who are the owners of the coop) happy.
>
> ~mIEKAL
>
>
> On Jun 1, 2007, at 12:10 AM, Lawrence F. London, Jr. wrote:
>
>  
>
> > mIEKAL aND wrote:
> >
> >    
> >
> > > http://www.foodnotlawns.com/
> > >      
> > What about a nice lawn in the clearing out in your forest garden;
> > could be fescue or a variety of wild grasses with all sorts of  
> > herbs and wildflowers and perennials, plantain, clovers,
> > etc. Mow, to maintain vigor and accessability, with scythe, edge  
> > with sickle.
> >    
>
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