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The Trials and Tribulations of a Lawn Reduction Company: AKA Me vs. the World of Lawns Everywhere By Matt-Dell Tufenkian Sure it’s simple, just turn off your sprinklers and put away your mower, right? Well not quite… At first, it seems there is no reason to get rid of our lawns. They are easy to care for, and an un-matched multi-use play surface that already exists - so why should we change? What is stopping us from doing away with our lawns? We are conflicted with wanting lush greenness, and yet we want to not feel guilty about it. Don’t feel guilty about lusting for and desiring a lawn; it’s not your fault, it’s in our wiring to have a preference for it. We desire it to make sense of the chaos of the wild jungle in which we live. The love affair and obsession with the lawn is actually a preference based on self-preservation and survival that can be traced to a genetic level. The ideal setting for human safety and success is open low grass with no obstructions or hiding places for giant man-eating cats to hide. Deep down on a molecular level we want to be surrounded by lawn and shortly neatly clipped hedges and such – it makes us feel safe & secure. A complete lawn replacement can be an overwhelming idea. One of the biggest obstacles is overcoming the hurdle of the initial investment - a leap of faith to let go of what you know and try something different. It’s a whole lot easier to continue to pay the

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gardener and water bill every month, than to have to pay for labor and materials to build a new landscape and install the associated infrastructure. The best way to enjoy lawn is to reduce its size, to put it upon a pedestal and appreciate it as a highly-articulated, highly-manicured focal point, gathering space or play area. Less lawn square footage actually heightens the impact of what lawn is visible. Here are a few ideas to start you thinking: • Can an area that is difficult to mow and maintain be allowed to naturalize? • Plant beneath mature trees. Put a bed of perennials, groundcover, or low shrubs around an existing tree, or cluster of trees. • Expand an existing plant bed. Adding one foot to the width of an existing bed that runs along a stretch of walkway, driveway, fence, or exterior wall of your house, can make a big difference. • Add meandering pathways through existing turf areas. Reducing and changing over lawn areas allows us all to be creative and express our own individuality. A word of caution: You may be tempted to use herbicides to kill off vegetation before establishing your wilderness. However, herbicides may kill crucial soil microbes and other life-forms. Therefore, they are not recommended. Consider your landscape a work of art in progress. What shapes, textures, and colors do you want to add? What wildlife habitat can you create? Lastly, remember you are not just decreasing your lawn but increasing your oasis.

Matt-Dell Tufenkian is a SCHS member and native Angelino, born 1968 in Pasadena, California. He grew up on a double wide lot of two houses joined together. The back-yard hillsides were connected and terraced with different patios and sections. There was the apple patio, the apricot patio, the greenhouse, the berry vine, the rosemary hillside, the mulch pile and lots of stairs. Most of all, there were masses of pelargoniums and geraniums. His prolonged exposure to scented geraniums and geranium people at very young age had a life-long effect. He had his own watering can with his name painted on it at age two. At age eight, he grew and exhibited plants — winning numerous awards, including best in show. Currently he is living in Pasadena, and working as a garden-maker.

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An example of a planting plan, plant list and sample plant picture (Agapanthus praecox, photograph by Dierdre Mowat, upper right, used here with permission from the photographer) for a lawn reduction project by Matt-Dell Tufenkian.