Affordable Alternatives to a Grass Lawn

Many homeowners are abandoning grass lawns for lawn alternatives. If you’re tired of wasting time and money trying to grow grass, consider these aesthetic, affordable alternatives to a grass lawn.

There are numerous reasons to abandon the idea of growing grass and choose some affordable alternatives to a grass lawn instead. But the two biggest are time and money.

Caring for a Lawn Is Time-Consuming

Perhaps it seems like you just mowed your lawn, but within days, it’s time to mow again. If you use a gas-powered mower or riding mower, you need to remember to keep gasoline on hand, and, oh, those rising gas prices. Hopefully, your mower blade is sharp enough, the spark plugs are good, and there’s ample oil in the machine.

Maybe you’ve “gone green,” and instead use an electric re-chargeable mower, or perhaps you enjoy the weekly workout provided by an old fashioned push mower. Good for you.

Keeping a Lawn Healthy Can Be Pricey

Besides the cost of the mower, the annual tune-up to keep it functioning at its best, the required fluids, gas and oil, and the time spent to prepare your mower for winter by emptying fluids and cleaning debris off the mower and its underside, have you ever examined how much water you use to keep your lawn looking green and lush?

And, if you pride yourself in having that perfect-looking lawn, what do you spend in time and money for weed and disease control each season?

Lawn alternatives are a growing option for many homeowners.

Affordable Alternatives to a Grass Lawn

A growing number of families are replacing their lawns with affordable lawn alternatives.

1. Plant ground cover in place of grass.

Planting ground cover is one way that homeowners can eliminate the ongoing costs associated with lawn care. “Ground cover plants, when properly taken care of, provide dense soil cover, retard weed growth, and prevent soil erosion,” according to the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension. Ground cover adds beauty to your landscape by providing a variety of color, height, and texture.

Determine if your area is sunny or shady and select appropriate plants, ivy, ornamental grasses, perennials and shrubbery from your local garden center or home improvement store that will grow best on your property with minimal maintenance.

Take a walk around your neighborhood and view how others have replaced their lawns. If you have a nearby Cooperative Extension office, solicit their advice of what would grow best with your climate, soil, and planting conditions. Look online at websites and images for ideas to use ground cover instead of grass around your home.

2. Use wood chips with or without ground cover to reduce the size of your lawn.

You’ve probably noticed wood chips on playgrounds, around trees and shrubs, and in ornamental gardens. Wood chips are simply small pieces of ground trees. They are attractive, functional, and are often free.

If you only need small quantities of wood chips, you can create your own with the use of a shredder-chipper, if you have enough scrap wood to do this. But the cost of renting a shredder-chipper, safety issues, and the fact that the process is highly labor intensive makes other options for obtaining wood chips much more appealing.

Though you can purchase wood chips and even have them delivered for a fee, quite often they are available for free, and “free” is a four letter word that always gets the attention of dollar stretchers!

Most cities have departments, public agencies, and enterprises that periodically trim or cut, often large, trees. Contact your city’s public works department and inquire about free wood chips. Or call your local park district. One city’s gas and electric company regularly trims trees to expose power lines and will deliver a load of wood chips for no charge, not even a delivery fee.

It’s definitely worth making a few phone calls. Pay attention as you are out and about running errands and make note when you see tree cutting or trimming.

Wood chips can be quite attractive. But wood chips can also be very practical in their ability to absorb rain water and reduce weed growth.

What Are Your Annual Lawn Care Costs?

Before you dig up your lawn, as any prudent dollar stretching person would do, research your options thoroughly. Calculate the yearly costs of your current lawn mowing and watering. Then determine the cost of planting practical, affordable alternatives to a grass lawn. Your results should provide you beauty for the years that you live in your home and increase your home’s value when you are ready to move on.

Related:

• 12 Frugal Landscape Tips for Filling Out Your Yard With Plants
• Inexpensive Landscaping Ideas for the Frugal Homeowner
• DIY Landscaping for Less
• Cheap and Free Sources for Landscaping Materials

Reviewed August 2023

About the Author

Debra is an occupational therapist, accountant, teacher and freelance writer. She is a writer for Advance for Occupational Therapy Practitioners. She also writes for Grand Magazine, has some items (fiction and non fiction) selling on Amazon (Kindle), has written several travel articles for the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette and several articles for freelancewriting.com and volunteers as a money mentor for the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension money mentoring program. Learn more about her at DebraKarplus.blogspot.com.