Grass blend may fill need for a lawn alternative

Published 10:29 am Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Imagine a lawn that stays green all summer, needs mowing only once every three weeks and, once established, rarely needs water or fertilizer.

In a nutshell, that’s ecoturf, a lawn alternative designed to be easier to care for and better for the environment.

Ecoturf is a mix of lawn grasses and broadleaf perennials. The mix forms a dense planting that is softer and less uniform than traditional turf lawns. It’s meant to be kept about 2 inches tall, and the ecoturf I’ve seen doesn’t look unkempt.

In the spring the perennials flower creating a pleasant meadow. In late summer the perennials in ecoturf keep it green even during drought periods.

Tom Cook, an associate professor at Oregon State University, began developing what is now ecoturf in the mid-1980s. The turf management specialist said he noticed that despite homeowners’ best efforts, lawns devolve over time as other grasses and weeds creep in.

So he began to experiment with mixtures of grasses and broadleaf plants that naturally thrive here. Today’s eco mixes are about 80 percent perennial rye grass, and generally the perennials are English daisy, common yarrow and strawberry clover or dwarf white clover. The clover in the mix provides nitrogen, which is one of the reasons ecoturf doesn’t need supplemental fertilizer.

With all the time and money people spend caring for lawns, with all the concern about water scarcity and pollution from herbicides and fertilizers, one would think ecoturf would be flying off the shelves.

It’s not.

This is partly because the companies that sell it don’t market it heavily. Also, seed of some of the best plants for eco mixes isn’t readily available. But mostly it seems people aren’t ready to try something different.

Ecoturf tends to elicit strong reactions, even from people in the industry. Folks in the turf world “either thought it was the greatest thing or I was some kind of heretic,” Cook said.

He said he felt like Moses parting the turf experts during a visit to the experimental turf plots at Oregon State. Half the group enthusiastically oohed and aahed over it, and the others headed in a different direction and started talking about herbicides.

Most homeowners don’t think much about what kind of grass seed they’re using, he said, although Northwest folks seem more willing to try ecoturf than other parts of the country. Those who do are usually gardeners, and they either want a perfectly manicured turf-type lawn or no lawn at all.

Ecoturf, which is sold under various brand names such as Eco-lawn, is more expensive than regular grass seed. A typical grass seed mix might cost $3 per pound, while an eco blend costs $15, Cook said. The price might deter some, although they might need to buy only a few pounds. He recommended 2 pounds per 1,000 square feet.

Cook, by the way, doesn’t make a dime off eco-lawns. His eco-lawn research is a pet project that isn’t funded. Environmental groups love the results of his work, but don’t want to pay for the research that supports it, he said.

He said he works on other projects that are funded; mainly research into better turf for golf courses.

I’ll post more information about ecoturf, including where to buy it, on my blog at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet.

Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com.