Consider reducing the size of a traditional lawn because it consumes a lot of resources.
Lawns are good for families with kids and dogs. Grass makes a nice visual break in the form of broad walkways through an ornamental garden too. Lawn can provide some erosion control, but not if it is cut short. Grass root depth is directly proportional to the blade height, and it is the plant’s roots that provide erosion control. A lawn height of 3 inches is ideal.
Related resources: Grasscycling | Landscape Design & Maintenance | Landscape Features | Soil/Compost/Mulch
Related articles: Water Use & Management
Alternatives to Conventional Lawns — Eco-Lawns
An eco-lawn is composed of turf grass that is bred to be low maintenance. Turf grass can use up to 50% less water than other grass varieties, and needs less fertilizer. Depending on the type of eco-lawn, fescue grass may be combined with clover and a mix of short flowers. This type of turf resembles a short meadow, and may attract bees.
Some eco-lawn options use our native clumping grasses. These grasses handle our weather better than other varieties.
Please visit your local nursery for more information about eco-lawn options.
Lawn Care
Whether alternative or conventional, lawn needs care like the other elements of your landscape.
Beautiful Lawn Made for Shade — Goodnight Design.
The advantage of turf grass lawn in shadier situations.
Grasscycling — Clark County Green Neighbors.
Grasscycling is simply recycling your lawn grass clippings. You can use a mulching mower and let the clippings lay on the lawn. They don’t actually lay on top of the grass, but the special mower and blade chop up the grass blades very finely and they are pushed down right next to the soil where they can compost in place. As the grass decomposes, its nitrogen is released. You are fertilizing your lawn each time you mow it. Another way to grasscycle is to bag the clippings, and incorporate it into your compost pile. You can also use the clippings as mulch in other areas of your landscape.
How to Have a Dynamite Lawn 
— WSU Extension King County.
Article by Ciscoe Morris, renowned Master Gardener with his own TV gardening show, about traditional lawn.
Lawn — Goodnight Design.
First in a series of blog posts about ‘eco-izing’ your lawn, and why Dutch white clover is a good thing.
More About Lawn — Goodnight Design.
More about lawn, shade, and clover. Learn how different plants need different conditions to thrive.
Managing Turfgrasses During Drought — University of California.
Moss in Lawns — by Sherry Lajeunesse, Extension Urban Pest Management Specialist.
What causes it? What to do about it.
Moss as Lawn — Goodnight Design.
The good, the bad, and the beautiful.
Practical Lawn Care for Western Oregon — Oregon State University Extension.
Also a good resource for Western Washington.
Practical Lawn Establishment & Renovation — Oregon State University Extension.
How to replace or renovate your lawn.
Using Gravel to Improve Your Lawn — Joy Creek Nursery, Scappoose, OR.
Gravel. Yes, this is real. Joy Creek Nursery uses this technique about every 3 years on the lawn area of their demonstration garden. It seems weird, but it really works — particularly on compacted soil.
