Removing existing turfgrass: the greatest hurdle in sustainable landscaping
The suburban lawn has long been the standard for basic landscaping, leaning heavily on the notion that it is easy to care for and beautiful to look at. Perhaps it was three hundred years ago, in aristocratic coastal Europe (well, for the aristocrat, anyway). On the middle-class Canadian prairies, however, a green expanse of lawn is likely one of the most difficult landscapes to properly maintain and certainly the most water-intensive. Municipalities across the nation have taken to undoing the idea of lawn as a standard by offering outreach and education on the shocking water use of such a landscape and suggesting lawn alternatives.
All that good information doesn’t change the fact that a homeowner has to physically undo a North American societal decision of mass-implementation (sometimes backed by aesthetic bylaws) of turfgrass lawns in order to move into a responsible future. Removing lawns on any scale in order to affect the water use of our prairie city is no easy thing. Where do we start? First, it is helpful to understand the type of grass that has been contemporarily used for lawns: athletic turfgrass, generally and a variety like Kentucky bluegrass, specifically. Turfgrass varieties are actually imported from Europe and Africa and were brought to North America in order to mimic lush lawns of wealthy Europeans (go for a deep dive on American lawn culture here). Contemporary turfgrass is a type of plant that thrives in rainy climates, has a shallow root system, and develops its own growing medium in the form of thatch, which traps moisture and offers cushioning to various forms of athletics (like soccer, football, tennis, polo, and golf).
Its wide scale use in residential areas along with massive input and climate costs in the form of dethatching, aeration, fertilization, broadleaf herbicides, mowing and, most importantly, heavy irrigation, has become a serious problem for municipalities facing increasing drought conditions. Furthermore, the knowledge that it is a massive problem in arid municipalities has led to homeowners questioning the responsibility of maintaining lawns and inquiring how on Earth they transition to an environment that is drought-tolerant, aesthetic, and relatively easy to maintain on a budget, like this mixed-species, drought-tolerant installation:
For your understanding of turf removal, here are four potential options that you might entertain to transition an area away from athletic turfgrass:
Small-scale, multi-year, manual overseeding: There is a notion that a homeowner can overseed their existing lawn with native grass blends and within a few years they will have a new, drought-tolerant lawn. Unfortunately, due to the thatch layer of athletic turf varieties, this won’t happen, particularly because even drought-tolerant lawn blends require some moisture to germinate and the existing mature turf plants will also get that moisture and continue to out-compete the seed. What I recommend for this overseeding option (which is your cheapest, most environmentally friendly way to transition a turf), is to stop watering your existing lawn and find your weakest thatch areas (dogs can help with this, as their urine gets trapped in the thatch and kills the plants growing there). In the case of dog spots, dig out the thatch in the dead area, add a little topsoil/compost mix to level it to the rest of the lawn, sprinkle some native seed (See at the end of this article resources for alternative and native lawn seed blends), press it down with your shoe, and lightly water.
You can do this at any time throughout the summer, but the germination rates will decline significantly in summer heat. Additionally, stopping regular irrigation will stress short-rooted grass varieties and they will start to shrink on themselves and “tuft up”. If you don’t mow this type of lawn short (let it grow to about 6”) you will essentially be able to see the individual grass plants separate out of “the lawn” and be able to visualize your weak areas, which you can treat like the dog spots, above. It isn’t pretty, but it IS a low-cost way to responsibly transition your existing lawn. What happens over several years of patiently digging out weak/dead spots is an interesting patchwork of lawn (stylishly called a “tapestry lawn” in home and garden magazines), where the native, drought tolerant, long-rooted blends will start to outcompete the short-rooted, thatch-heavy, athletic turf varieties in times of drought. It’s important to understand that grass will need to be cut significantly higher or not at all, for this type of drought-tolerant aesthetic to take hold.
Small scale, multi-year, manual removal and replacement. This is you, your shovel, some native grass blends or larger perennials and mulch, and lots of patience. I recommend starting with digging out around trees to a pace beyond their driplines (the very outside edge of the leafy canopy); watch for a future article on creating dripline beds. By removing turf and mulching your trees, you can direct water those plants effectively (or simply allow rainfall to do it for you, as the rainwater will actually make it to the tree roots, rather than getting caught up in lawn thatch).
If you don’t have trees, start digging out small sections around your house and replacing the turf with gardens or strips of native ground cover.
Again, garden creation is best done before July and after August in order to avoid transplant heat stress, lack of seed germination, and excessive water use. The heat of summer is exactly like the cold of winter when it comes to DIY landscaping: it’s best for dreaming and planning.
Medium-scale, multi-year, mechanical removal. This involves the rental of a sod cutter, a form of hefty transport, and buying pizza for strong friends and family. Using a sod cutter and rolling up the cut sod is very easy and relatively inexpensive. The lifting, carrying, transporting, and disposing of sod is not (hence the able-bodied friends/family and pizza). Homeowners in Lethbridge are not permitted to place sod in the green bins and the City of Lethbridge will not pick up sod in large item service (LIS), therefore it needs to be taken to the waste and recycling centre (landfill).
Usually 2 fit people can easily keep up with a sod cutter, removing rolls to the edge of the new bed – this new area can be created in an hour or two. The sod removal and disposal is the tricky bit because sod is very heavy and its movement is solely the responsibility of the homeowner (i.e. there is no municipal pick up for this item and you may not place it in the green bins). Quite frankly, it is this heavy and expensive concern that can halt resilient landscape transition in its tracks, particularly for folks with mobility issues and/or a tight budget.
Large-scale, single year, mechanical removal. This involves hiring a reputable landscaping company to remove sod and level your area, using a combination of sod cutting, shovels, skid-steers, labourers, and a dump truck.
This is your most expensive, invasive option and very difficult to take care of as a DIY project (even if you rent the equipment and trucks yourself) because something has to replace the large amount of turf removed (large amounts of wood mulch, temporary landscape fabric covers with weights, garden installation, seeding of drought-tolerant, native grass blends) in order to preserve and protect the soil underneath. It also dries out the area exponentially, including the existing tree canopy and understory, which is a risk to your shade plants. Costs for such removal can range from a thousand to several thousand dollars, then you are left with additional costs for plants, mulch, and irrigating, which might be what you are interested in (and able to afford) for your DIY turf transition project.
Any way you look at it, existing athletic turfgrass removal is a huge barrier to transitioning to a more sustainable landscape in our arid climate. Environment Lethbridge is working closely with the City of Lethbridge and the Helen Schuler Nature Centre to come up with solutions for homeowners to assist with costs for their sustainable landscape transitions. Consider calling the municipality and asking if they might offer a program for sod pickup, or ask your municipal councilor (or potential candidate) if they would support an initiative to help citizens remove sod. Or take your time, and create a drought-tolerant patchwork quilt of a front lawn! Make sure you sign up for Living Cities in Your Yard here to be directly contacted for our fall/winter outreach education sessions and possible rebates for transitioning some of your outdoor space!
Native grass/alternative lawn seed suppliers:
https://www.grumpys.ca/native-plant-material
https://alcla-native-plants.square.site/s/search?q=grass%20seed%20blends
