It is simpler in the sense that there is not really any thought required. I have to mow my small lawn every three weeks or so, true, but I know how to do that, because it's the same thing everybody does and you grow up watching your parents mow the lawn. It requires no judgement skills, and no gardening skills -- just run the mower over all the grass, and you're done. I would actually potentially be interested in having something less dull than just a lawn, but I wouldn't know where to start (what would work in my climate/levels of sun/shade/etc, what do I need to do, when does it need planting, does it need watering, all that). Keeping grass is simpler than that.
Depending on where you live, you could start with introducing clover into your yard. It grows well in most of the US, tends to be more drought tolerant than many grasses, is easier on the soil (requires less soil treatment), and flowers nicely part of the season, which is great for bees and other pollinators. It will co-exist with grasses, so you don't need to do anything beyond tossing seed in the early spring and letting it germinate, just as you would do with grass seed.
Weekly maintenance is similar - just mow it (though let it grow long when it's flowering - cut off the flowers and you lose the pollinators).
I'm in the UK. My lawn is about 1/3 clover already, as it happens, just by natural process of it being stuff that grows better in the conditions on that part of the lawn. I don't consider that to be not-a-lawn, it's fairly normal I think, and the management is no different to the grass. (My 'lawn' overall is about 1/3 grass, 1/3 mostly-clover, 1/3 mostly-moss: the grass grows well on the sunny side, the moss beats out everything else on the side that's almost perpetually in shade by the south-side fence, and the clover wins in the middle-zone between them.)
I only half-joke about cultivating crab grass; it's green, grows flat so never needs mowing and is drought-resistent. I never walk on the lawn in our front yard and could really care less about what the neighbours think. Resists inconsiderate dog-walkers as well...
Not really, but I hate the stuff. I finally managed to get most of it plucked out of my front yard. Hopefully the additional clover will displace it fully next season.
I guess maybe that's a regional thing. In the southeast US, lawn care is a year round battle against weeds and invasive species. Without weeding and chemicals, grass can easily be choked out in one growing season. Mowing the actual lawn is a very small part of the regiment.
It's particularly difficult with the mild Winters we have had of late because it's almost as if spring goes from December to May now. Sods like Bermuda or St Augustine still go dormant in fall but the weeds don't stop growing.
Might have to do with the grass type? One thing that shocked me when I went to Florida was how coarse (larger strands and way stiffer) the grass was compared to where I live (Canada). I eventually learned it's simply a different type to deal with climate differences. I'm admittedly not very knowledgeable with everything plant, but it wouldn't sound odd to me if I learned that it could also mean different care. Up here it's mostly weeding, adding soil where needed and reseeding every spring, mowing it every couple of weeks, and watering once in a while. Maybe 2-3 rounds of chemicals a year if you want that healthy deep green lawn look.
> Might have to do with the grass type? One thing that shocked me when I went to Florida was how coarse (larger strands and way stiffer) the grass was compared to where I live (Canada).
Grass types are a reflection of the climate and vary dramatically due to factors such as sun, growing season, and soil composition. In Florida the soil composition is mostly sand, and they receive a lot of year round sun so the predominant grass is St. Augustine because it thrives and produces thick turf that chokes out weeds.
St. Augustine is also very similar to Crab Grass, which is considered a weed in many places, like Georgia. And it is easily killed by all but a few herbicides (e.g. MSM). So while St. Augustine is great in Florida, doesn't work well in Georgia where the soil composition promotes more aggressive weeds, and the tree canopy inhibits St. Augustine's growth.
In other words, Florida grass is Georgia weeds.
> Up here it's mostly weeding, adding soil where needed and reseeding every spring, mowing it every couple of weeks, and watering once in a while. Maybe 2-3 rounds of chemicals a year if you want that healthy deep green lawn look.
In the south your yard can grow 4-6 inches a week and during the growing season you sometimes have to mow as frequently as every 5 days. The mowing season in Georgia is from March to November for grasses that go dormant, it's year round for those that don't.
Weeding is a year-round chore and many people opt for year round weed services that spray for weeds on a monthly basis if not more frequently. Pre-emergent weed control is put down in February or March, and other herbicides are used through out the spring and summer.
Fertilizer is only done a couple times a year and varies depending on the type of grass.
Installing a native lawn does require a startup cost, but it's not too bad. You kill your grass, lay down mulch, and plant the native species. After a few months of watering, your lawn is self sufficient and you don't have to do anything to it ever again. Picking out the native species might seem daunting, but there are many resources online these days to help you pick out a handful of native species that will work for your lawn.
Do native lawns attracts more ticks in areas with high tick populations? Seems like a possibly significant health risk considering that Lyme disease seems to be increasingly common.
I'm personally a huge fan of native lawns, but this is always in the back of my mind and I haven't seen it addressed.
Just mowing less isn't perhaps simpler by the definition of it but is way better for biodiversity. You could try it in just a small piece of your current lawn and see what happens. Mow once near the end of spring and again once 3 to 4 months later. Shouldn't take long before native flowering plants will pop up.
