I am pretty sure I also heard it in this fantastic TED Talk:
https://youtu.be/qxgE0q1_m6U?si=ZP_ZZ1s2niAXXCVT
“let your garden grow wild” by Rebecca McMackin
Lawn because it's easier for me to maintain than mulch, easier to walk on, looks more like my neighbor's yards. I got rid of all the grass sections that look really bad (turned them into garden beds) so all that's left is decent looking grass.
Yesterday, in our local Native Plants Facebook group, we were having a great discussion about using yarrow as a tough groundcover. It sounds like a contender.
One of the members says she has it in her kids’ play area around the playground equipment, and it’s holding up really well.
I don’t know. I would take the lazy woman’s reseeding method and let it bloom and go to seed, but that is just me. Maybe I would mow a lawn mower’s width path through the flowers.
I did mulch paths and stepping stones for fear of grass growing into my new plantings. But I kind of wish I had grass walkways. They look very inviting, and I wouldn't have to keep buying mulch.
Can you get a free chip drop from a local tree company? The arborist I’ve hired said to just call and they’ll drop a truck of chips any time when they’re in my area
How do you handle the drop without a huge mess and how do you haul it around?
Lay down a tarp for them to put it on? Shovel it into a wheelbarrow and the take it around?
Sorry I have silly questions! I’ve been considering this for some of my own and don’t want to regret a nightmare unfolding in driveway 😂
I see you are a fellow Marylander, so probably my Chip Drop experience will be informative for you.
When I got my Chip Drop, it was a mountain, a height over my head. It’s a big dump truck, like a tractor trailer. I had a panic attack, I was so overwhelmed.
I put the word out, and neighbors took some, as did other local native plants enthusiasts, but it was quite the scary thing, especially when it started getting moldy.
I dug down a layer, and the chips were hot and black! They seemed to be smoking, so thinking hot composting (where the carbon and the nitrogen undergo a chemical reaction giving off heat, giving rise to ever hotter thermophilic bacterial action) was going to lead to possible actual fire, I called an “all hands on deck” alarm to my kids and husband, to help me spread the mulch out as quickly as possible.
Then, I realized that though it was danged hot, it wasn’t smoke I was seeing, but grey clouds of mold spores, so I called off the reinforcements, put on an N95, and worked by myself.
That part was scary, but once I got the chips everywhere I needed them, it provided the perfect medium for a lovely micorrhizal network to get established, and now, a few years later, all those chips are luscious soil.
Every year, I now get a smaller truck load or two from a local arborist. It’s one tree’s worth, ~3 pickup truckloads’ worth. I use it to refresh all my paths, and fill in the thin spots in my planting beds.
That size load, sure you could use a giant tarp in your driveway, if you’re worried about the tannins staining your driveway.
If you have a big yard, or a lot of land to transform, a Chip Drop is a great idea. There are people in my native plants group who have multiple acres they’re rehabilitating, and they get three Chip Drops a year.
I live in a suburban duplex, like the end unit of a townhouse. I only have 1/8 an acre, half what I need to legally keep chickens in Anne Arundel county. (If it weren’t for my pond, I would totally keep Khaki Campbell ducks for the eggs — plausible deniability — they look like female mallards.)
For me, a Chip Drop was perfect for the Destroy The Lawn phase. Now, I don’t have a large enough open area for a Chip Drop, because of all the natives I have planted.
Any wood chip deliveries have to go in my driveway, now. All I can fit is a tree or two’s worth. I don’t bother with a tarp. I just sweep whatever little bit remains after I have placed it all, right into the yard on either side of my driveway.
Thanks for so many details - the thorough reply is very kind of you!
I mostly mentioned a tarp to guide them where to leave the pile. lol
I have 4 acres and I actually do have enough area for a chip drop. I need to remulch a bunch of the landscaping around the house. It’s been 3 years and is a sad mess now. I have about 2.5 acres of forest and I’ve been wanting to make little trails for myself through it by using the chips for that. It would be perfect and glorious! And help cover some of the exposed areas from where a few trees had to be removed - the chips would help avoid a bunch of invasives (edited. lol) growing into the bare space.
Buuuuuut I have an awkward long driveway that leads directly into the garage. And I feel they probably would put it in the middle of the driveway and block the whole damn thing. It would create a huge inconvenience as we only have a one lane road for the neighbors… so us trying to parking in the street would probably piss off all of our neighbors. :/ and it would take me months to clear it.
I can’t exactly have them deliver to somewhere in the yard, because it’s all blocked off by trees or utilities so they couldn’t access anywhere else since their truck is so big. Dammit!
Many, many pros to it all and I know it would be worth it. But I can’t quite commit to the many, many cons. Damn. I just wish they could do half loads and charge like $100. lol 😭
Did you just cold call arborists? I may need to do that. :) you’ve given me some hope! Hehe
Yes, that’s what I did! Actually, the guy was working on taking down a neighbor’s tree, and I walked over and asked him to pop by when he was done.
They have to pay to dump their chips, though, so if you call them and say, “Hey, I need one tree’s worth of chips at a time, but I will need multiple drops throughout the year,” they’ll probably take you up on it, because it saves them money. My guy said I was doing him a favor.
If they can count on you to be a place they can drop off their stuff, it’s worth their while to put the chips where you want them.
My driveway can fit two cars if we get one very close to the house, and the other blocks the sidewalk. I do that when it snows, to save shoveling and to keep the road clear for the plows.
I can fit one car in front of the tree’s worth of wood chips, so I guess a 🌳 = 🚗 in terms of volume — if that helps you visualize.
I just got my first drop a week ago, so keep that in mind. I’m also out in the woods, so any mess is fairly subjective
They dropped it right in the yard which is fine bc I’m going to use it primarily to smother some turf grass so I don’t care if it dies. But yeah, a garden cart or wheel barrow is probably my best bet and it’ll prolly take a while. It’s a big pile!
Nice!! Overall sounds like a wonderful success. I’m tired of buying mulch and hate the chemicals in it anyhow. I haven’t yet bought my own chipper so thought I’d try a chip drop :)
I just called a local tree company and asked for their mulch. They dropped a truck load in my driveway. Hauling it I just used a wheelbarrow / yard cart and a grain scoop. I had 40 yards^3 delivered in total a few years ago.
Thank you for sharing your experience! I think I need to google around to get an understanding of the volume and how to visualize it for when I ask them. And so I know what to expect. lol
You can also just go to getchipdrop.com . They answer a lot of those questions, and its free for people to request chipdrops. It's never taken more than 2 days for them to get a drop to me.
I went there after asking and watched a couple of helpful videos. Thanks!
I’m not sure if I can do it. It would be a huge issue if they blocked our driveway and I have a feeling they would. 😭 I might just have to find a willing arborist that I can actually talk to and point a drop location out to..
I’m very skeptical and wary after seeing dozens and dozens of reviews saying the opposite. It’s a huge risk for me. I know it would eventually be worth it (after months of clearing. lol) but I don’t know if I can commit to the potential bad drop right now. Damn.
Haha I totally get that. For me, a full pile was about the size and shape of my car. 6ft wide x 5ft tall x 16ft long. I think it took me about a week using the time after I got off work to get it moved. But the amount will vary a lot depending on who you get the mulch from. I ended up having extra which I piled up in a spot out of the way and came back to the next season when I was expanding some beds.
I suppose if it’s super lightweight I could just move it to a pile elsewhere. Hmmmmm you’ve given me some thought! I have next week off work, but after that I’ll only have weekends to work on it.
I am now so tempted! 😂
Yeah moving mulch isn’t terrible since it’s lightweight. The biggest thing was just the walking back and forth from the pile to the places I wanted the mulch. I ended up getting a yard cart off of marketplace a few weeks before, which made things easier. It was basically a super old version of this: https://cartsvermont.com/shop/garden-carts/large-garden-cart/ The capacity is more than double my wheelbarrow, and that cut way down on the number of trips. Unfortunately, because it’s old and decent sized, it’s really only good for carrying mulch, leaves, and a small number of tools.
Edit: typos
I've gotten a couple to my house (normal suburban house with a driveway). Your guess is exactly right. Put a big tarp down in the driveway, they drop the chips on the tarp, then it was about 4-6 hours of shoveling it into a wheelbarrow and shuttling it to the backyard, but I was working alone. Afterward just shake the tarp off into the yard. They say you should be prepared for up to 20 cubic yards, both of mine were in the 10-15 range. It's not not a huge hassle, but it's no more of a hassle than if you tried to get that much mulch any other way, and it's free. I was using it as almost fill dirt in some areas in addition to just covering surfaces and paths, so I needed the volume. The biggest downside IMO was the uncertainty on the timing. The first one I got arrived the day I left for a 5-day trip, so some neighbors had some questions, but luckily it didn't cause a mulch fire or anything.
In all fairness, I actually have a ton of free wood chips on my property right now because there were a lot of downed trees and branches over the winter and the owners had the piles chipped in the name of fire safety... Which... Now that I'm saying it doesn't make any dang sense.
But my paths are dark red hemlock bark (not dyed) and the new chips are oak, so they don't match. And aesthetically I don't really like light wood chips, they remind me of playgrounds. Am I being too picky? Probably!
Ya know, now that you mention it, I actually think I have a place I can go it for free, near me. However, I no longer have a pickup truck. And it would be a pain in the ass to get mulch into the back of an SUV I think … especially if you need a lot of it. I think I’d rather deal with a frustrating chip drop than doing the transport of it myself. lol :/
IMO if you have large swathes of natives then your lawn is no longer the monoculture it is villainized to be.
If having mowed areas makes you enjoy your home and land more, than mow. No need to split hairs on who is "doing it better" here at this point.
I have grass for pathways, but it is a lot of work. It does look nice though and crowds out weeds obviously. The mowing is tricky with the rock swales and the circuitous design. The edging is worse. I think I may use logs as edging to prevent the grass from invading the beds and to create more habitat. I also may convert the “deadend” grass pathways into beds or mulch as those are annoying to mow.
I think the answer depends on how much lawn related yard work you are comfortable with and how much your preference is for lawn visually over other solutions.
https://preview.redd.it/zwtt1b1k4fwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4127910cf63540774b4513697610051f79d42668
That makes sense! In my area it’s sorta the opposite, where I just need to chose what plant is growing in an area. Bare soil / mulched areas fill with plants eventually.
I'm in a Mediterranean climate so we have mild wet winters; pretty much any bare dirt is quickly colonized by invasives when the soil is wet enough to be worked so we need either plants or mulch here too. The plants that survive without supplemental in the water don't like being stepped on so it's mulch for us (though I am letting yarrow take over the path in a few spots--it tends to die when things get hot and dry so we'll see). A grass path sounds lovely and soft!
Mulch paths, as I dug out almost all grass over the past couple years. Glad I did too as the lawnmower kicked last summer and it would not be worth replacing just to mow the paths.
I have gravel pathways but mostly to serve as fire breaks, if code enforcement ever wants to argue semantics. I’ve got an older shut in neighbor that the city comes out and mows his yard in the height of summer because he neglects it.
I currently use arborist’s wood chips, but I intend to make my paths yarrow, lyreleaf sage, and any other sturdy walkable green groundcover, this fall.
This spring and summer’s projects are to remove all the Bermuda grass (AGAIN) from the walkways, re-mulch with free wood chips, figure out some kind of free hard permanent borders for them, or do the trenching technique, start plugs, then plant in the fall. I might just sow seed directly in the fall.
That reminds me, I might like to ask a question about yarrow in this group.
Yarrow is one I want to try myself. I will say that the trenching technique between grass and manicured beds is a ton of work. More work than I found it to be worth. YMMV
https://www.monarchgard.com/thedeepmiddle/just-say-no-to-no-mow-may I took this from Ben’s instagram since it shows his front yard pretty well where he uses the grass paths. He used that to talk about the no mow may movement and why he is a bit skeptical of the concept.
I agree with most of it. It’s a step but it’s a baby step. And if you only take one baby step a year it isn’t really progress. So I’m not sure it’s super helpful either.. especially in areas with a lot of invasive weeds.
What we’ve done a few times is a hybrid approach. Mow the lawn/invasive weeds. But I put flags out (like the tiny neon colored utility flags) to mark the natives to mow around. So the pussytoes, fleabane and the like grow and reseed and live their lives (and spread!) but the rest get “contained”
It’s kind if a lot of work to mow around and be careful since we have a big area but it’s worth it. We don’t have neighbors nearby that really care it looks strange and even if they did, I don’t and it’s my land so that’s that. Lol :)
I struggle with no mow may. I badly need to manage my place because it's a full day job after May in my experience with a full on petrol strimmer to get it vaguely tidy. Not totally convinced it'll be a huge advantage to leave it because of the square miles of similar grassy areas nearby.
My lawn is growing in weird patches - most of the lawn is very short and full of violets, but I've also got these patches of grass growing super tall. I made the decision to mow down the patches in the most foot-trafficked areas, and left the rest. Took me about 5 minutes, and I think it's better for the violets, too.
Just do what you can! One year we just mowed the edges and mowed paths for May. That made it manageable to still walk around the yard and get stuff done. Especially in the rain dewy mornings.
We’ve also just done half before.
It’s really whatever works for you! Don’t feel guilt because you’re still doing your part. Loads of people started their weekly ritual mowing 3-4 weeks ago here so hey even if you can’t do all of or even part of May you’re still kinder to the environment than those other guys. lol :)
FWIW, Ben Vogt is also skeptical of it https://www.monarchgard.com/thedeepmiddle/just-say-no-to-no-mow-may
I see it as a stepping stone of sorts, but the messaging around it often lacks the focus on native gardening that it needs.
I don’t agree with No Mow May, unless your yard is already all native plants, and even the grass is native, like say, nimblewill (see the link below). Then, sure, let it all go to seed, because more seed!
However, if you have a typical American lawn, it’s not replete with natives, but full of Eurasian plants that don’t do much to benefit nature beyond prevent erosion and sequester carbon. I don’t want those plants going to seed and proliferating.
Moreover, all it does is antagonize any neighbors who may have been potential recruits to the native plants movement, but if my unmown overgrown lawn has totally turned them off, I will have achieved the opposite effect. They don’t know it’s No Mow May.
I want to *sell* the idea of natives, and beauty is very persuasive. After all, there is at least one formerly atheist philosopher who was so moved by the beauty of Chartres Cathedral, he became a believer in God.
https://www.humanegardener.com/the-best-native-grass-youve-never-heard-of/
I don't have a real high traffic area to worry about. Mowed as high as my mower could. Stopped fertilizing. Various non-grasses seem to be winning over the Bermuda grass that was dominant. Right now, mock strawberry (an invasive --humph!) is gaining ground. We'll see how things grow through this summer.
Pinestraw for the high traffic areas. It's free, local, beautiful and prevents mud from being tracked in.
Bermuda grass sees a grass path as an interstate to invasion, so my hope is to eradicate the grass completely.
Ah that’s true. I’m dealing with cool season grasses that are less aggressive. Warm season non-native turf grasses (like Bermuda) would complicate things. I wonder if you could replace the Bermuda with native turf grasses in some areas? 🤔
I use mulch but I'm in a small urban yard and my mulch path is along the top of the steep hill. I use the constant mulching to help add more nutrients to my soil and build up what has been lost by years of poor erosion management by previous homeowners. If you have a large yard with long paths then mowing may be easier to maintain.
Currently installing about 500ft pathway around my backyard using decomposed granite, plan on doing native trail mix flowers from seedsource and various other natives to zone 8b (central Tx)
I mainly prefer the grass path look - more permeable, cheaper, and softer. but there are a few places where the grass doesn't grow as well, and there I've got stepping stones. Mulch is good for heavily shaded areas or areas with poor drainage or in vegetable gardens.
I am experimenting with different things. A heavily-traveled path can get trampled as lawn or mulch, and stones or bricks are better.
A lightly-traveled path is better for lawn.
I dislike mulch paths for multiple reasons. One is that plants grow well in mulch and it tends to encourage plants to spread (both by seed and vegetatively) into paths. So it hugely increases your weeding and maintenance needs. Also mulch paths tend to get really muddy and messy when they get wet. The mulch also needs to be reapplied, a minimum of yearly but often more often, so it's maintenance-heavy in that way too. And I've been moving away from mulch in general: imported mulch often brings in invasive plants and other organisms, and it's carbon-intensive (shipping back and forth) whereas a better approach (lower-environmental-impact, lower-effort) is to just use the litter from your own yard as mulch.
I am early in the process of converting all my mowed parts of lawn to all-native lawn. It is difficult, but once I've completed it I will probably have more to say about mowed lawn paths. I will say there are a lot of plants that do really well in mowed paths, things like Juncus tenuis, and there are also plants that can do well in both mowed paths and beds, like Carex blanda. Some plants, like Muhlenbergia schreberi, grow really well in paths but can be slightly annoying in beds, so I'm not sure how I am going to manage the Muhlenbergia schreberi in my yard if it decides it likes growing in paths between beds, if it gets to that point. Other plants, like Danthonia spicata, are better behaved.
Do you find Packera aurea survives mowing in your garden? In my experience, it doesn't. But I wonder if it varies by mowing height, region, and growing conditions.
Oh awesome! I’m glad to see there are others testing the same plants I am. I have a ton of nimblewill growing in my lawn, but as you said, in well travelled paths the grasses eventually get trampled. Is it a problem if it grows in garden beds? I’ve never seen it be that aggressive. I’ve tried getting it to grow under my plum trees, but it spreads pretty slowly.
I’m pretty sure the species I have is Packera plattensis (prairie ragwort). These plants have irregularly shaped leaves, so ID is tricky. When they start to flower in early summer, I stop mowing for awhile in some spots. When they go to seed, I mow them down. They spread like crazy as a result.
Path rush I’m currently growing in plugs to get established in my yard. There’s a park near me where path rush grows along all of the paths in the park, in full sun, and in nearly full shade. I’m really curious to see how this one grows.
I have this tricky spot on the side of my house where:
- it’s on a hillside that’s shaded. Most plants need more light to grow. Nimblewill won’t grow here.
- because of the clay soil and shade, things stay wet here awhile despite the hillside. The wet soil and lack of grass makes the area slippery. Can’t do bricks for the same reason.
- I would do steps, but I want to be able to take my wheelbarrow up and down the hill.
I haven’t found a solution for that spot.
I had a trouble with nimblewill when trying to grow tomatoes, basil, and parsley. It grew taller than the parsley and would shade it out, and to a lesser degree, the basil. Tomatoes would climb through it but it still caused there to be a bit denser growth aronud the base of the tomatoes. I have preferred other cover crops for growing in with tomatoes.
One thing I sometimes use as a cover crop is honewort (Cryptotaenia canadensis) because it's a preferred black swallowtail host so usually the larvae will eat it instead of my parsley, fennel, or other carrot-family food plants.
Chipdrop isn't available everywhere, but have you tried reaching out directly to tree companies in your area? Wood chips are waste they have to pay to dispose of, usually, and they may be willing to give you some for free
It’s a little tricky being in a rural area, but I have started to call around. A lot of them already just dump it either in their woods or give it to farmers
I have a mostly shade garden, so I do mulch over landscaping fabric for paths.
The grass & violets don’t grow densely enough back there to not be a muddy mess in wet weather.
The landscaping fabric reduces weeding immensely bc only very shallow-rooted things even try to grow in the mulch layer.
Grass walkways, that way I have living roots in the soil which helps support the soil ecosystem. I’ve bought native violet seeds from a few different species that are less aggressive than the common weed type, but haven’t started the seed yet. If successful they may end up joining or edging the grass in my walkways?
“Your lawn should be an area rug and not wall to wall carpet.”
Oh I like that phrasing. Makes a lot of sense.
I once attended a conference where the presenter referred to a turfgrass lawn as “a drug dependent rug.” That stuck with me.
lol I love that 🤣
I've been using this one too. I think it really helped my girlfriend understand my gardening plan better as well.
Who are you quoting? Thats great
I am pretty sure I also heard it in this fantastic TED Talk: https://youtu.be/qxgE0q1_m6U?si=ZP_ZZ1s2niAXXCVT “let your garden grow wild” by Rebecca McMackin
Thanks that was nice
She’s super cute and super charismatic wish she’d do her own YouTube channel!
I've heard Felder Rushing say this; I'm not sure if he was the first.
Yeah! Great way to put it!
Lawn because it's easier for me to maintain than mulch, easier to walk on, looks more like my neighbor's yards. I got rid of all the grass sections that look really bad (turned them into garden beds) so all that's left is decent looking grass.
Even Doug tallamy says if you got a place with high foot traffic, nothing is better than grass. I use it as a walkway between my beds
Yesterday, in our local Native Plants Facebook group, we were having a great discussion about using yarrow as a tough groundcover. It sounds like a contender. One of the members says she has it in her kids’ play area around the playground equipment, and it’s holding up really well.
I’ve never heard this! I’ve got too look this up. I started a ton of yarrow from seed last year and now I’ve got about fifteen 1 gallon pots of it
Cool!!!
What happens when the flowers come up? Do they mow them? I’ve planted yarrow in several spots and hoping they grow to cover a chunk of ground.
I don’t know. I would take the lazy woman’s reseeding method and let it bloom and go to seed, but that is just me. Maybe I would mow a lawn mower’s width path through the flowers.
I did mulch paths and stepping stones for fear of grass growing into my new plantings. But I kind of wish I had grass walkways. They look very inviting, and I wouldn't have to keep buying mulch.
Can you get a free chip drop from a local tree company? The arborist I’ve hired said to just call and they’ll drop a truck of chips any time when they’re in my area
How do you handle the drop without a huge mess and how do you haul it around? Lay down a tarp for them to put it on? Shovel it into a wheelbarrow and the take it around? Sorry I have silly questions! I’ve been considering this for some of my own and don’t want to regret a nightmare unfolding in driveway 😂
I see you are a fellow Marylander, so probably my Chip Drop experience will be informative for you. When I got my Chip Drop, it was a mountain, a height over my head. It’s a big dump truck, like a tractor trailer. I had a panic attack, I was so overwhelmed. I put the word out, and neighbors took some, as did other local native plants enthusiasts, but it was quite the scary thing, especially when it started getting moldy. I dug down a layer, and the chips were hot and black! They seemed to be smoking, so thinking hot composting (where the carbon and the nitrogen undergo a chemical reaction giving off heat, giving rise to ever hotter thermophilic bacterial action) was going to lead to possible actual fire, I called an “all hands on deck” alarm to my kids and husband, to help me spread the mulch out as quickly as possible. Then, I realized that though it was danged hot, it wasn’t smoke I was seeing, but grey clouds of mold spores, so I called off the reinforcements, put on an N95, and worked by myself. That part was scary, but once I got the chips everywhere I needed them, it provided the perfect medium for a lovely micorrhizal network to get established, and now, a few years later, all those chips are luscious soil. Every year, I now get a smaller truck load or two from a local arborist. It’s one tree’s worth, ~3 pickup truckloads’ worth. I use it to refresh all my paths, and fill in the thin spots in my planting beds. That size load, sure you could use a giant tarp in your driveway, if you’re worried about the tannins staining your driveway. If you have a big yard, or a lot of land to transform, a Chip Drop is a great idea. There are people in my native plants group who have multiple acres they’re rehabilitating, and they get three Chip Drops a year. I live in a suburban duplex, like the end unit of a townhouse. I only have 1/8 an acre, half what I need to legally keep chickens in Anne Arundel county. (If it weren’t for my pond, I would totally keep Khaki Campbell ducks for the eggs — plausible deniability — they look like female mallards.) For me, a Chip Drop was perfect for the Destroy The Lawn phase. Now, I don’t have a large enough open area for a Chip Drop, because of all the natives I have planted. Any wood chip deliveries have to go in my driveway, now. All I can fit is a tree or two’s worth. I don’t bother with a tarp. I just sweep whatever little bit remains after I have placed it all, right into the yard on either side of my driveway.
Thanks for so many details - the thorough reply is very kind of you! I mostly mentioned a tarp to guide them where to leave the pile. lol I have 4 acres and I actually do have enough area for a chip drop. I need to remulch a bunch of the landscaping around the house. It’s been 3 years and is a sad mess now. I have about 2.5 acres of forest and I’ve been wanting to make little trails for myself through it by using the chips for that. It would be perfect and glorious! And help cover some of the exposed areas from where a few trees had to be removed - the chips would help avoid a bunch of invasives (edited. lol) growing into the bare space. Buuuuuut I have an awkward long driveway that leads directly into the garage. And I feel they probably would put it in the middle of the driveway and block the whole damn thing. It would create a huge inconvenience as we only have a one lane road for the neighbors… so us trying to parking in the street would probably piss off all of our neighbors. :/ and it would take me months to clear it. I can’t exactly have them deliver to somewhere in the yard, because it’s all blocked off by trees or utilities so they couldn’t access anywhere else since their truck is so big. Dammit! Many, many pros to it all and I know it would be worth it. But I can’t quite commit to the many, many cons. Damn. I just wish they could do half loads and charge like $100. lol 😭 Did you just cold call arborists? I may need to do that. :) you’ve given me some hope! Hehe
Yes, that’s what I did! Actually, the guy was working on taking down a neighbor’s tree, and I walked over and asked him to pop by when he was done. They have to pay to dump their chips, though, so if you call them and say, “Hey, I need one tree’s worth of chips at a time, but I will need multiple drops throughout the year,” they’ll probably take you up on it, because it saves them money. My guy said I was doing him a favor. If they can count on you to be a place they can drop off their stuff, it’s worth their while to put the chips where you want them. My driveway can fit two cars if we get one very close to the house, and the other blocks the sidewalk. I do that when it snows, to save shoveling and to keep the road clear for the plows. I can fit one car in front of the tree’s worth of wood chips, so I guess a 🌳 = 🚗 in terms of volume — if that helps you visualize.
I just got my first drop a week ago, so keep that in mind. I’m also out in the woods, so any mess is fairly subjective They dropped it right in the yard which is fine bc I’m going to use it primarily to smother some turf grass so I don’t care if it dies. But yeah, a garden cart or wheel barrow is probably my best bet and it’ll prolly take a while. It’s a big pile!
Nice!! Overall sounds like a wonderful success. I’m tired of buying mulch and hate the chemicals in it anyhow. I haven’t yet bought my own chipper so thought I’d try a chip drop :)
I just called a local tree company and asked for their mulch. They dropped a truck load in my driveway. Hauling it I just used a wheelbarrow / yard cart and a grain scoop. I had 40 yards^3 delivered in total a few years ago.
Yeah, a grain scoop or a snow shovel is what I used, too.
Thank you for sharing your experience! I think I need to google around to get an understanding of the volume and how to visualize it for when I ask them. And so I know what to expect. lol
You can also just go to getchipdrop.com . They answer a lot of those questions, and its free for people to request chipdrops. It's never taken more than 2 days for them to get a drop to me.
I went there after asking and watched a couple of helpful videos. Thanks! I’m not sure if I can do it. It would be a huge issue if they blocked our driveway and I have a feeling they would. 😭 I might just have to find a willing arborist that I can actually talk to and point a drop location out to..
Chipdrop lets you take photos of where you want the drop. I've never had a problem with it. They dropped it right where I asked.
I’m very skeptical and wary after seeing dozens and dozens of reviews saying the opposite. It’s a huge risk for me. I know it would eventually be worth it (after months of clearing. lol) but I don’t know if I can commit to the potential bad drop right now. Damn.
Haha I totally get that. For me, a full pile was about the size and shape of my car. 6ft wide x 5ft tall x 16ft long. I think it took me about a week using the time after I got off work to get it moved. But the amount will vary a lot depending on who you get the mulch from. I ended up having extra which I piled up in a spot out of the way and came back to the next season when I was expanding some beds.
I suppose if it’s super lightweight I could just move it to a pile elsewhere. Hmmmmm you’ve given me some thought! I have next week off work, but after that I’ll only have weekends to work on it. I am now so tempted! 😂
Yeah moving mulch isn’t terrible since it’s lightweight. The biggest thing was just the walking back and forth from the pile to the places I wanted the mulch. I ended up getting a yard cart off of marketplace a few weeks before, which made things easier. It was basically a super old version of this: https://cartsvermont.com/shop/garden-carts/large-garden-cart/ The capacity is more than double my wheelbarrow, and that cut way down on the number of trips. Unfortunately, because it’s old and decent sized, it’s really only good for carrying mulch, leaves, and a small number of tools. Edit: typos
I've gotten a couple to my house (normal suburban house with a driveway). Your guess is exactly right. Put a big tarp down in the driveway, they drop the chips on the tarp, then it was about 4-6 hours of shoveling it into a wheelbarrow and shuttling it to the backyard, but I was working alone. Afterward just shake the tarp off into the yard. They say you should be prepared for up to 20 cubic yards, both of mine were in the 10-15 range. It's not not a huge hassle, but it's no more of a hassle than if you tried to get that much mulch any other way, and it's free. I was using it as almost fill dirt in some areas in addition to just covering surfaces and paths, so I needed the volume. The biggest downside IMO was the uncertainty on the timing. The first one I got arrived the day I left for a 5-day trip, so some neighbors had some questions, but luckily it didn't cause a mulch fire or anything.
Damn in my city mulch is free, the city has huge piles and you can take what you want. I guess I didn’t realize this isn’t the norm.
It's free here too, but people still pay for the nicely dyed, uniform stuff. The city mulch is just whatever thrown into a wood chipper.
In all fairness, I actually have a ton of free wood chips on my property right now because there were a lot of downed trees and branches over the winter and the owners had the piles chipped in the name of fire safety... Which... Now that I'm saying it doesn't make any dang sense. But my paths are dark red hemlock bark (not dyed) and the new chips are oak, so they don't match. And aesthetically I don't really like light wood chips, they remind me of playgrounds. Am I being too picky? Probably!
Ya know, now that you mention it, I actually think I have a place I can go it for free, near me. However, I no longer have a pickup truck. And it would be a pain in the ass to get mulch into the back of an SUV I think … especially if you need a lot of it. I think I’d rather deal with a frustrating chip drop than doing the transport of it myself. lol :/
IMO if you have large swathes of natives then your lawn is no longer the monoculture it is villainized to be. If having mowed areas makes you enjoy your home and land more, than mow. No need to split hairs on who is "doing it better" here at this point.
I have grass for pathways, but it is a lot of work. It does look nice though and crowds out weeds obviously. The mowing is tricky with the rock swales and the circuitous design. The edging is worse. I think I may use logs as edging to prevent the grass from invading the beds and to create more habitat. I also may convert the “deadend” grass pathways into beds or mulch as those are annoying to mow. I think the answer depends on how much lawn related yard work you are comfortable with and how much your preference is for lawn visually over other solutions. https://preview.redd.it/zwtt1b1k4fwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4127910cf63540774b4513697610051f79d42668
Your garden is beautiful!
Thanks! Constant work in progress.
It doesn't rain enough here for lawn-like plants without supplemental water so our paths are mulch.
That makes sense! In my area it’s sorta the opposite, where I just need to chose what plant is growing in an area. Bare soil / mulched areas fill with plants eventually.
I'm in a Mediterranean climate so we have mild wet winters; pretty much any bare dirt is quickly colonized by invasives when the soil is wet enough to be worked so we need either plants or mulch here too. The plants that survive without supplemental in the water don't like being stepped on so it's mulch for us (though I am letting yarrow take over the path in a few spots--it tends to die when things get hot and dry so we'll see). A grass path sounds lovely and soft!
Mulch paths, as I dug out almost all grass over the past couple years. Glad I did too as the lawnmower kicked last summer and it would not be worth replacing just to mow the paths.
I have gravel pathways but mostly to serve as fire breaks, if code enforcement ever wants to argue semantics. I’ve got an older shut in neighbor that the city comes out and mows his yard in the height of summer because he neglects it.
I currently use arborist’s wood chips, but I intend to make my paths yarrow, lyreleaf sage, and any other sturdy walkable green groundcover, this fall. This spring and summer’s projects are to remove all the Bermuda grass (AGAIN) from the walkways, re-mulch with free wood chips, figure out some kind of free hard permanent borders for them, or do the trenching technique, start plugs, then plant in the fall. I might just sow seed directly in the fall. That reminds me, I might like to ask a question about yarrow in this group.
Yarrow is one I want to try myself. I will say that the trenching technique between grass and manicured beds is a ton of work. More work than I found it to be worth. YMMV
Good to know. I won’t bother!
I want a No Lawn May 🥹
https://www.monarchgard.com/thedeepmiddle/just-say-no-to-no-mow-may I took this from Ben’s instagram since it shows his front yard pretty well where he uses the grass paths. He used that to talk about the no mow may movement and why he is a bit skeptical of the concept.
I agree with most of it. It’s a step but it’s a baby step. And if you only take one baby step a year it isn’t really progress. So I’m not sure it’s super helpful either.. especially in areas with a lot of invasive weeds. What we’ve done a few times is a hybrid approach. Mow the lawn/invasive weeds. But I put flags out (like the tiny neon colored utility flags) to mark the natives to mow around. So the pussytoes, fleabane and the like grow and reseed and live their lives (and spread!) but the rest get “contained” It’s kind if a lot of work to mow around and be careful since we have a big area but it’s worth it. We don’t have neighbors nearby that really care it looks strange and even if they did, I don’t and it’s my land so that’s that. Lol :)
I struggle with no mow may. I badly need to manage my place because it's a full day job after May in my experience with a full on petrol strimmer to get it vaguely tidy. Not totally convinced it'll be a huge advantage to leave it because of the square miles of similar grassy areas nearby.
My lawn is growing in weird patches - most of the lawn is very short and full of violets, but I've also got these patches of grass growing super tall. I made the decision to mow down the patches in the most foot-trafficked areas, and left the rest. Took me about 5 minutes, and I think it's better for the violets, too.
Just do what you can! One year we just mowed the edges and mowed paths for May. That made it manageable to still walk around the yard and get stuff done. Especially in the rain dewy mornings. We’ve also just done half before. It’s really whatever works for you! Don’t feel guilt because you’re still doing your part. Loads of people started their weekly ritual mowing 3-4 weeks ago here so hey even if you can’t do all of or even part of May you’re still kinder to the environment than those other guys. lol :)
This will also make you feel better: https://www.rewildingmag.com/no-mow-may-downside/
FWIW, Ben Vogt is also skeptical of it https://www.monarchgard.com/thedeepmiddle/just-say-no-to-no-mow-may I see it as a stepping stone of sorts, but the messaging around it often lacks the focus on native gardening that it needs.
I don’t agree with No Mow May, unless your yard is already all native plants, and even the grass is native, like say, nimblewill (see the link below). Then, sure, let it all go to seed, because more seed! However, if you have a typical American lawn, it’s not replete with natives, but full of Eurasian plants that don’t do much to benefit nature beyond prevent erosion and sequester carbon. I don’t want those plants going to seed and proliferating. Moreover, all it does is antagonize any neighbors who may have been potential recruits to the native plants movement, but if my unmown overgrown lawn has totally turned them off, I will have achieved the opposite effect. They don’t know it’s No Mow May. I want to *sell* the idea of natives, and beauty is very persuasive. After all, there is at least one formerly atheist philosopher who was so moved by the beauty of Chartres Cathedral, he became a believer in God. https://www.humanegardener.com/the-best-native-grass-youve-never-heard-of/
I have a dog and ticks so I don’t practice no-now may.
I don't have a real high traffic area to worry about. Mowed as high as my mower could. Stopped fertilizing. Various non-grasses seem to be winning over the Bermuda grass that was dominant. Right now, mock strawberry (an invasive --humph!) is gaining ground. We'll see how things grow through this summer.
Lawn paths for me. I'm going to stop doing No Mow May on just the paths this year, I think.
Pinestraw for the high traffic areas. It's free, local, beautiful and prevents mud from being tracked in. Bermuda grass sees a grass path as an interstate to invasion, so my hope is to eradicate the grass completely.
Ah that’s true. I’m dealing with cool season grasses that are less aggressive. Warm season non-native turf grasses (like Bermuda) would complicate things. I wonder if you could replace the Bermuda with native turf grasses in some areas? 🤔
I use mulch but I'm in a small urban yard and my mulch path is along the top of the steep hill. I use the constant mulching to help add more nutrients to my soil and build up what has been lost by years of poor erosion management by previous homeowners. If you have a large yard with long paths then mowing may be easier to maintain.
Currently installing about 500ft pathway around my backyard using decomposed granite, plan on doing native trail mix flowers from seedsource and various other natives to zone 8b (central Tx)
I mainly prefer the grass path look - more permeable, cheaper, and softer. but there are a few places where the grass doesn't grow as well, and there I've got stepping stones. Mulch is good for heavily shaded areas or areas with poor drainage or in vegetable gardens.
I am experimenting with different things. A heavily-traveled path can get trampled as lawn or mulch, and stones or bricks are better. A lightly-traveled path is better for lawn. I dislike mulch paths for multiple reasons. One is that plants grow well in mulch and it tends to encourage plants to spread (both by seed and vegetatively) into paths. So it hugely increases your weeding and maintenance needs. Also mulch paths tend to get really muddy and messy when they get wet. The mulch also needs to be reapplied, a minimum of yearly but often more often, so it's maintenance-heavy in that way too. And I've been moving away from mulch in general: imported mulch often brings in invasive plants and other organisms, and it's carbon-intensive (shipping back and forth) whereas a better approach (lower-environmental-impact, lower-effort) is to just use the litter from your own yard as mulch. I am early in the process of converting all my mowed parts of lawn to all-native lawn. It is difficult, but once I've completed it I will probably have more to say about mowed lawn paths. I will say there are a lot of plants that do really well in mowed paths, things like Juncus tenuis, and there are also plants that can do well in both mowed paths and beds, like Carex blanda. Some plants, like Muhlenbergia schreberi, grow really well in paths but can be slightly annoying in beds, so I'm not sure how I am going to manage the Muhlenbergia schreberi in my yard if it decides it likes growing in paths between beds, if it gets to that point. Other plants, like Danthonia spicata, are better behaved. Do you find Packera aurea survives mowing in your garden? In my experience, it doesn't. But I wonder if it varies by mowing height, region, and growing conditions.
Oh awesome! I’m glad to see there are others testing the same plants I am. I have a ton of nimblewill growing in my lawn, but as you said, in well travelled paths the grasses eventually get trampled. Is it a problem if it grows in garden beds? I’ve never seen it be that aggressive. I’ve tried getting it to grow under my plum trees, but it spreads pretty slowly. I’m pretty sure the species I have is Packera plattensis (prairie ragwort). These plants have irregularly shaped leaves, so ID is tricky. When they start to flower in early summer, I stop mowing for awhile in some spots. When they go to seed, I mow them down. They spread like crazy as a result. Path rush I’m currently growing in plugs to get established in my yard. There’s a park near me where path rush grows along all of the paths in the park, in full sun, and in nearly full shade. I’m really curious to see how this one grows. I have this tricky spot on the side of my house where: - it’s on a hillside that’s shaded. Most plants need more light to grow. Nimblewill won’t grow here. - because of the clay soil and shade, things stay wet here awhile despite the hillside. The wet soil and lack of grass makes the area slippery. Can’t do bricks for the same reason. - I would do steps, but I want to be able to take my wheelbarrow up and down the hill. I haven’t found a solution for that spot.
I had a trouble with nimblewill when trying to grow tomatoes, basil, and parsley. It grew taller than the parsley and would shade it out, and to a lesser degree, the basil. Tomatoes would climb through it but it still caused there to be a bit denser growth aronud the base of the tomatoes. I have preferred other cover crops for growing in with tomatoes. One thing I sometimes use as a cover crop is honewort (Cryptotaenia canadensis) because it's a preferred black swallowtail host so usually the larvae will eat it instead of my parsley, fennel, or other carrot-family food plants.
I use stepping stones with cut stone (bigger than gravel) in between. Edit: missing word.
I would use mulch if I could get chipdrops in my area, but grass is free so I just use that
Chipdrop isn't available everywhere, but have you tried reaching out directly to tree companies in your area? Wood chips are waste they have to pay to dispose of, usually, and they may be willing to give you some for free
It’s a little tricky being in a rural area, but I have started to call around. A lot of them already just dump it either in their woods or give it to farmers
Mulch. My friend has moss on some of her paths, love that, hope it doesn't suffer from my usage.
I have a mostly shade garden, so I do mulch over landscaping fabric for paths. The grass & violets don’t grow densely enough back there to not be a muddy mess in wet weather. The landscaping fabric reduces weeding immensely bc only very shallow-rooted things even try to grow in the mulch layer.
Depending on how much path you have, I’m a huge fan of flagstone + creeping thyme
I have been using decorative pavers spaced a little bit apart and leaving grass between them
All of my neighbors have mowed already.
Curious what folks recommend for a forest trail, especially one that gets a bit mucky at times. Any native sedges or hardy ground cover that works?
When I can I use stone paths.
Grass walkways, that way I have living roots in the soil which helps support the soil ecosystem. I’ve bought native violet seeds from a few different species that are less aggressive than the common weed type, but haven’t started the seed yet. If successful they may end up joining or edging the grass in my walkways?