a lawn substitute suggestion

At 05:18 PM 1/25/99 EST, K1MIZE@aol.com wrote:
>                     <snip>                                   I do like the
>idea of having a diversity of species in a lawn.  My former home in Santa
Rosa
>had English daisies (Bellis perennis, for you purists) in the front lawn, and
>I always thought they were charming.  I'd like to hear about other flowering
>plants that can be grown successfully in a lawn, one that is mown quite
>closely and regularly.  Any suggestions?

Hi Kurt - 

A really tough plant for a lawn in hot, dry areas is Phyla nodiflora (Lippia
repens).  For a picture and the start of some information, see this test
page on the Medit-Plants web-site:

http://www.support.net/Medit-Plants/plants/phyla.nodiflora.html

I've planted this species in lawns to help 'toughen' them up, and there are
areas I know where it grows by itself, making a serviceable walking medium.
I like the flowers too, but they can draw bees which can be a problem
(especially when you walk barefoot!).

Occasionally you'll find a flat for sale (ask your local nursery who is
willing to order for you), but most of the time I've taken cuttings from
plants in town (usually spilling over sidewalks where people don't mind
you helping them trim it back), soaked them in 'willow water' (water in
this willow shoots were 'soaked' for a few days) for a day ot two, then
planted them directly into a prepared soil surface (like you'd do for a
lawn) and keep well watered for a week or two.  Warm spring weather is the
best time to do this as the plant are in active growth at this time.

Sean O.
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