Although I can appreciate the benefits of grass around the home, I am not a big fan of big lawns. They demand lots of energy and water, and in return, our family, which consists entirely of humans, cannot eat grass. For this reason, we have devoted most of our backyard to a vegetable garden, shrubs, berries and fruit trees. Unfortunately, a borough by-law prevents us from growing tomatoes or other produce in front of our home, so I maintain a small lawn.
Here’s what it looks like today, in early September.
Although not “impeccable” by conventional standards, it’s quite green, and yet it has not ever received any herbicide or pesticide in its entire 21-year existence. For the last 15 years or so, it has not received any synthetic fertilizer either. So how do I keep it green?
I add used coffee grounds to my lawn throughout the summer. In the spring I also spread a few composted chicken manure pellets with my backyard’s compost in areas that have mostly grass. It also gets some urea(a nitrogen-source) from dogs who pee on my front yard during the winter. What’s wrong with synthetic fertilizer? Aside from being expensive, it inevitably spreads beyond the lawns’ borders, eats away at sidewalks, and runs off into our storm drains and river.
Next we come to the subject of “weeds”. Using such a term demonstrates ignorance of botany, which is a beautiful but underappreciated science. By not using herbicide, I save money, don’t risk health effects and allow plants like bird’s foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) to survive. Before flowering it looks like this patch from my lawn:
It is a legume so it provides some of its own fertilizer thanks to a bacteria in its roots. If I don’t mow the lawn for a while, the trefoil produces attractive flowers that look these:
Other non-grass plants worth tolerating are herbs like oregano, which spread to the lawn from the rock garden. If you look carefully, there is also parsley at the bottom center of the picture. 
There are three plants that I treat as “weeds” because they would otherwise grow at the expense of the grass, oregano and trefoil. They are dandelions, plantain and crab grass. To remove dandelions and their entire root, I use a tool. But trefoil does compete with them nicely. The other two have shallow root systems and are easy to pluck out with my thumb and index:
These were removed a little late. They have flowered and could have already spread their seeds. It’s best to learn to recognize them and pull them out earlier and donate them to the compost pile.
To encourage a deeper root network, I rely on rain, and even during dry spells, I water grass only every second day. To conserve more water I use some water from a rain bucket positioned below the roof gutter. Since the patch of grass is only about 300 square feet, it takes me less than 15 minutes to hose it down.
Hopefully, if you haven’t already adopted similar practices, you will now be willing to save money, learn some botany and spend a little more time outdoors.
Pictured is my fourth attempt at growing a poplar from seed. The seed, which was within a capsule-like fruit, landed in my garden after it drifted in the wind, courtesy of an attachment to a cottony puff. Most people, if they notice them at all, think they are an annoyance that have to be skimmed off swimming pools. They are in instead another species’ way of perpetuating itself. And they are more ephemeral than most flowers. In fact, prior to germination, the soil must have been moist because poplar seeds are only viable for a few days.