Florida Yards & Neighborhoods 
Do I Really Need All That Lawn?
By Ed Ayen, Florida Yards & Neighborhoods
This is another in a series of articles written about the new area urban conservation program called Florida Yards & Neighborhoods.
Why do you really have all that turf grass area? Was it there when you purchased the home? Do the rules and regulations of your homeowners association specify a certain amount of lawn area? Do you want a nice grassy area for the kids to play on? Speculation is that the expansive lawn areas were started by the European aristocracy as an indication of their wealth. The lawn was a status symbol that spread to the United States when our population became wealthy and had enough leisure time to emulate their European ancestors.
By far the most questions asked of me and the Master Gardeners are in regard to lawn problems and care. Should you assess the cost of the care of your yard the turf area will probably be the most expensive. Of course, lawns do have their good points; they are pleasing to the eye and they act as a buffer by absorbing runoff and pollutants.
If you are ready to let go of some of your turf area; you may want to do a phased approach such as expanding the existing planting beds outward, adding shrubs and groundcover plants. If you have a sunny area you may want to put in a butterfly garden using native Florida plants that attract them such as Firebush and Passion Flower (Maypop). Another idea is to put in a “pine flatwoods” area emulating the natural Florida pinelands or a “hammock” area with oaks and saw palmettos.
Low growing native plants are often suggested as alternatives to turfgrass. For more trafficked areas try Creeping Charlie and Sunshine Mimosa. Other groundcovers are Blue-eyed Grass, Coontie, Lovegrass, Beach Sunflower and Railroad Vine.
One of the better ways to get rid of turf areas without doing the hot, dirty work of digging out sod is to cover the area with a good, heavy duty ground cloth which will smother the grass. This method turns the grass into decaying organic matter. Put mulch on top to hold the cloth down; then, when the turf is dead, plant your trees and shrubs through the ground cloth. For mulching use pine straw, pine bark, melaleuca or eucalyptus mulch if possible; try not to use cypress as that encourages the deforestation and destruction of Florida’s few remaining cypress wetlands.
If you are putting in some new turfgrass use Bahiagrass as it is more drought tolerant and pest resistant than St. Augustine and therefore you will use less water and pesticides.
The Florida Yards and Neighborhoods program is being implemented through your local county extension service in Highlands, Okeechobee and Glades County and is partially funded from Clean Water Act Section 319 funding from the U. S. EPA through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Ed Ayen is available to address interested groups such as homeowners associations, voluntary organizations and clubs. For further information he can be reached by calling the Highlands County Extension Service office. Phone: (863)402-6540 or email. Location is 4509 George Blvd., Sebring, FL 33875-5837