Ignore the rain, I live in Denver and it is dry as a dust bowl. The grass is gone and aint coming back. I hate the look of the front yard and want green, easily maintained cover.
I have a toddler and it makes yard care difficult unfortunately. We want the front yard to not be an empty dusty pit but we simply don't have the time or energy for full scale gardening. No sprinklers installed either. We bought the house from a retired couple who maintained a lot of garden beds around the property and I wish I could keep up with them, but pulling bind weed alone is hours of work. Meanwhile I am keeping a 2 year old from tangling himself in the thorny rose bushes lol.
I keep coming back to clover coverage, but don't even know how to start. Any advice? Note the pine tree as well, makes anything but weeds die all around it.
by rachface336
8 Comments
Denver, CO
Clover would be a lot of work to get going. I think your easiest option would be to cover with nice mulch (not the cheap dyed stuff) and place some strategic shrubs and stepping stones, maybe plant a nice fruit tree.
Absolutely! Clover in Denver does quite well. The key thing is you need to lay the clover seed down and then make sure it gets watered and doesn’t try out before it gets established. Quite easy with sprinklers, much harder without.
Best case setting up sprinkler from a hose with a sprinkler timer (can be bought online) and make sure it’s getting wet at multiple intervals throughout the day for the first two weeks.
Otherwise, it’s doing it manually multiple times a day.
Now is the time before it gets hotter.
I recommend microclover for the least height, most tidy option.
Its not looking like this will be a good year to establish any new plantings.
Look up blue gramma grass or other effective species for the climate.
There is a reason that Xeriscape was invented in CO.
Sheet mulching is the simplest/best ROI esp with how late in the season you’re planting and the prognosis for summer in the mountain west. Get clean cardboard from your municipal waste facility and submit your chip drop request getchipdrop.com – a layer or two of cardboard and 3-4” of mulch will reduce weed pressure and break down nicely into good topsoil just in time for spring planting next year.
The good news is it’s already dead, so really just need to rake the dirt a bit and then throw seeds on and water it.
I am planning on smothering what’s left of my lawn (not a lot, it’s very sad) with a chip drop this year. Unless it stays rainy like it is forecasted this week, I’ll probably try to wait on a lot of other native plant gardening…however getting some drought tolerant stuff in the ground sounds like a pretty good plan. Would have been better 20 years and two homeowners ago,but oh well.
I would recommend blue grama/ buffalo grass. Once established, lots of natives dont need a lot of attendance. Weeding, especially bindweed, is forever. An established cover of plants will keep a lot of other weeds down.
Some other native ground covers/ low growing stuff off the top of my head-
Antennaria parvifolia( small leaf pussytoes), Penstamon caespitosis, Achillea millefolium (yarrow) if you dont mind mowing, Frageria virginiana (wild strawberry) for the partially shady parts of the yard.
Honorable mention to creeping thyme which is not native but is pretty and hardy (and not poised to become a noxious weed)
Consider doing an area with wild strawberries for ground cover! We had a strawberry patch next to our house growing up. Green all year, the best strawberries I’ve ever had, and in the springtime bunnies would often make a nest by it. Very toddler friendly