A lush green lawn is a goal for many homeowners, but getting a lush green carpet of turfgrass requires a lot of money and time spent on chemicals, mowing, watering, seeding, weeding, and other chores.

Maintaining a traditional turfgrass lawn can be a lot of work! ⁽¹⁾

Turf alternative — A traditional mowed lawn is not the only option. ⁽²⁾

While a well-maintained lawn provides a great space for recreation as well as a perfect backdrop for your home and garden beds, turfgrass is not the only option. Beautiful landscapes can also include a lawn created from many other plants that can provide a more interesting mix of color and textures as well as food and habitat for pollinators. All of this while requiring fewer inputs!

Below are several alternative lawn options to consider.

Choosing the Right Alternative Lawn

Choosing the right alternative lawn requires evaluating how the space will be used, how much maintenance and other inputs you're willing to provide, and understanding what "look" or aesthetic you are willing to accept. Considering each of these factors will help you choose the best lawn alternative for your landscape.

More information on the uses, benefits, and challenges with any type of lawn can be found in this article: How do I choose the best alternative lawn for my landscape?

A Changing Philosophy

Many homeowners are looking for something different in their lawns. This shift in priorities supports the use of lawn alternatives. Many homeowners are looking for a lawn that includes these priorities:

Easy Care
Fewer Inputs (Chemicals, Water, Time, Maintenance)
Pollinator Friendly
True to Place (Native, Well-Suited, Supports Local Ecosystem, etc.)
Less Need to Conform to the Neighbors
Something Beautiful, Colorful
Still Functional

Pollinator Lawns (aka Bee Lawns)

picture of turfgrass with clover — Turf and Dutch Clover Lawn ⁽³⁾

Turf performs very well in full sun, but the monoculture of grass requires many inputs to keep it healthy and attractive. Bee lawns are mixes of traditional turfgrasses and other flowering plants. By interplanting turfgrass with other broadleaf, flowering plants, you can increase the diversity of plant species, which reduces the time and money needed to keep it looking good. This mix of plants is beautiful and provides more food and habitat for pollinators. Additionally, when the right plant species are selected, you can still maintain the same functionality of the lawn as a recreation space and a beautiful backdrop for the home and garden.

Learn more in this article: How to Create a Pollinator Lawn

Turf-Like Alternatives

In Iowa, the most commonly grown turfgrasses are Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, tall fescue, and fine fescues. These cool-season grasses require many inputs to keep them healthy and attractive. Additionally, they typically go dormant for part of the summer leaving the lawn brown in July and August unless regularly irrigated. Several plants are available that look much like the turfgrasses we are familiar with but require fewer inputs. Most of these turfgrass alternatives can be minimally mowed, or in some cases not mowed at all.

prairie dropseed as a lawn alternative — An unmown prairie dropseed (*Sporobolus heterolepis*) lawn ⁽⁴⁾

Birch with groundcover — Periwinkle (*Vinca minor*) groundcover growing in a shady location ⁽⁵⁾

Learn more in this article: Low-Maintenance Turfgrass Alternatives

Groundcovers

Groundcovers are an excellent alternative to turfgrass. Once they are established, groundcovers require less maintenance than turf, they can out-compete most weeds, and many have attractive flowers.

There is a wide variety of groundcovers available for the landscape. Learn more in this article: Groundcovers as a Lawn Alternative

Create a Garden Bed

Perennial border — A lower-maintenance garden bed with a mix of shrubs and perennials ⁽⁶⁾

Consider eliminating the lawn altogether and replacing it with plants or garden spaces that don’t require frequent maintenance, support native insects and wildlife, and provide beautiful, colorful spaces year-round. Replacing turf with perennials, groundcovers, shrubs, and trees can reduce water consumption and chemical use while increasing soil organic matter, building soil quality, and helping to retain and infiltrate stormwater.

Options for new garden spaces include building a pollinator garden or establishing a vegetable garden. Establishing garden beds composed primarily of trees and shrubs can create some of the lowest maintenance spaces you can have in a landscape. The cost of planting new garden beds can be higher up-front, but the time and money saved in reduced maintenance more than makes it up in the long term.

Remember, you don’t have to remove the entire lawn all at once. Phase in the transition from lawn to garden space. Even just eliminating a portion of the turf in your landscape can provide all the benefits and reduce the amount of turfgrass you need to maintain.

More Information on Creating Garden Beds

native prairie planting on hillside — A native prairie planting on a difficult-to-mow hillside ⁽⁷⁾

Prairies and Meadows

Almost 85% of Iowa was originally covered by prairie. This diverse and resilient ecosystem is a great alternative to lawn areas, especially to replace large open areas of turfgrass or those spaces that are not used for recreation.

The terms "prairie" and "meadow" are often used interchangeably as they both describe large open treeless plantings that contain mostly grass with some flowering perennial plants. While both prairies and meadows are essentially the same type of ecosystem, prairies specifically describe the grasslands that dominate central North America. Because Iowa lies in the center of North America, when establishing native grassland plantings in Iowa, they can be called prairies. Whereas a meadow can be used to describe any grassland planting and could contain plants both native and non-native to Iowa.

Benefits of Prairies and Meadows

There are many advantages to replacing the lawn with prairie or meadow plantings. Thousands of grasses and forbs are native to these ecosystems, and with proper selection, a mix of these grassland plants can be selected to grow in any type of soil and environmental conditions. Once established, prairies and meadows need much less regular maintenance than the traditional lawn, requiring no irrigation or fertilization and minimal mowing (or burning). These plantings support an incredibly diverse range of wildlife, pollinators, and other insects. Prairies and meadows improve water infiltration, reduce nutrient loss in the soil, and prevent erosion. Plus, they are beautiful garden spaces that provide color and interest all year.

Important Considerations Before Planting a Prairie

Before swapping lawns for prairies and meadows, it is important to understand these unique ecosystems. A good understanding of the soil and environmental conditions in your landscape is important to select a mix of plants that will perform well. For example, prairie plants well adapted to dry conditions would not thrive in wet areas of the landscape, causing plants to die out and weeds to fill in the open areas left behind.

Both native and non-native seed mixes for various site conditions are available for purchase. Keep in mind that meadow “wildflower” seed mixes found in garden centers and hardware stores typically include annual flower seeds that are not native or well adapted to Iowa. These seed mixes can create a colorful flower garden in their first year, but then leave behind open spaces in subsequent years, allowing weeds to take root.

Meadow lawn — This meadow planting is a mix of native and non-native species ⁽⁸⁾

Planting and establishing a prairie or meadow is a multi-year commitment. Most prairie plantings take 3 years for the area to look like a cohesive prairie planting and seven years to become fully established.

During the establishment period, proper management is essential. Without proper management, these plantings are quickly overtaken by weeds and other unwanted plants. While this management is typically much less labor-intensive than the traditional turfgrass lawn, there are still things that must be done on a regular basis to keep these native plantings healthy, weed-free, and beautiful.

More Information on Prairies and Meadows

There are many reliable resources available to help you learn how to plan, establish, and maintain a prairie or meadow planting. Learn more in this article: Prairie Restoration - Habitat Headquarters.

Reduce or Stop Mowing

When looking to reduce inputs, increase diversity, and promote pollinators and other wildlife, one of the easiest things to do is to simply stop mowing and let whatever grows, grow! While this option can be attractive in its simplicity, it can lead to unintentional issues.

Not Mowing Has Negative Consequences

In Iowa, nearly all lawns are comprised of non-native grasses, and most of them have some (or many) weeds that are also non-native plants. If you stop managing the lawn, it will not revert to a more natural space. Instead, it will be a collection of non-native plants allowed to grow unchecked.

Often plants that are normally not an issue in a mowed lawn will become a problem when the space is no longer regularly mowed. Woody plants like mulberry, Siberian elm, or honeysuckle, as well as other weedy forbs like velvetleaf, leafy spurge, and garlic mustard, can become established and crowd out native plants.

Simply ignoring or halting the maintenance of the lawn is not a responsible way to manage these non-native plants. Additionally, most municipalities will issue citations for unkempt lawns. Simply not mowing or otherwise managing the space will often result in fines or mowing fees.

Mown turfgrass vs unmown turfgrass — A lawn mown higher and less frequently (lower right) compared to a more traditional mowing height and frequency ⁽¹⁰⁾

Consider Mowing Less

For much of the growing season, especially spring and fall, it is typical to mow the traditional lawn once a week in Iowa. Rather than not mowing at all, mowing less frequently can support pollinators and reduce inputs while avoiding many of the drawbacks.

Most flowering plants in lawns, like dandelion and clover, flower even with mowing, making them available to bees and other pollinators. By extending the time in between mowings from every 7 days to every 10-14 days (14-20 days in summer), you can continue to manage your landscape in a way that supports the pollinators and wildlife with more flowers and avoids many of the drawbacks, such as citations, undesirable weeds, and stress to the lawn.

Mowing less frequently will require you to set the mower height high to avoid removing too much leaf material at once. The good news is that mowing grass at a taller height promotes a healthier lawn. Mowing at a height of 3.5 to 4 inches promotes a larger, more drought-tolerant root system, can help shade the soil surface, reducing undesirable weeds, and allows you to use less pesticide and herbicide on the lawn because the turf is healthier.

"No Mow" Fescues

Fine leaf fescues, including hard fescue, creeping red fescue, Chewings fescue, and sheep fescue, are nice options for gardeners seeking a lower-maintenance lawn. These grasses grow more slowly than many traditional turf species and require less frequent mowing. While they are sometimes marketed as "no-mow" grasses, that description can be misleading. Most plantings benefit from being mowed at least once or twice each year, typically in spring and fall, to remove dead foliage and maintain a tidy appearance.

Fine fescues are particularly well-suited to shaded sites, although hard fescue and sheep fescue also perform well in full sun. When left unmowed through the summer, they can grow to 4 inches or more in height and develop a natural, soft, windswept appearance. These grasses are less tolerant of heavy foot traffic than traditional lawn grasses, making them best suited for areas that receive limited use.

No Mow May

No Mow May is a conservation initiative that promotes leaving your lawn unmown for the month of May, creating habitat and food sources for early-season pollinators. This initiative can help to support pollinators (at least for one month), but also has limitations. Learn more in this article: Tips for Participating in No-Mow-May

Mulch, Gravel, and Patios

Organic Mulches

When areas under trees are so shady and dry that few plants grow, a good alternative is to lay down a layer of mulch. Mulch helps suppress weeds, conserves soil moisture, and provides an attractive alternative to bare soil or sparse plants. Mulch has the added benefit of creating a great growing environment for the tree by eliminating any plants that would compete with the tree for water and nutrients.

Shredded or chipped wood or bark mulch, as well as pine needles, are great options as they are attractive, weed-free, and decompose slowly. Spread the mulch 2 to 4 inches thick and refresh thin or bare spots every few years.

mulch area — Mulch is a great alternative to turfgrass in this shady site with a lot of foot traffic ⁽¹¹⁾

Gravel and Patios

Utilizing gravel, stone, or paving materials can be another alternative to turfgrass. These long-lasting options can provide the same uniform backdrop for the home and garden beds as turfgrass can, but require fewer inputs. Additionally, they can still allow for some functional or recreational use of the space.

Utilize materials like pea gravel, crushed granite, river rock, and other types of gravel as well as patios built from concrete, brick, or pavers. These materials all work well to provide a low-maintenance alternative in areas with a lot of foot (or vehicle) traffic or areas that tend to be hot and dry.

While gravel and patios are low-maintenance, that does not mean they are no-maintenance. Regular weed control through hand-pulling or with herbicides will be necessary to eliminate the plants that emerge between the stones and cracks. Initial installation costs can be higher as you will need to purchase the stone or pavers as well as cover the costs to ship, deliver, and install them. Create barriers to prevent the stone from shifting or washing away. Rock is not organic, so it will not help build better soils, and it will not support most pollinators and other wildlife. These materials can absorb heat and in some situations may significantly warm the ground and surrounding areas, especially in sunny locations.

More Information on Mulch

Moss

Moss can be difficult to establish in an Iowa landscape, but if you already have moss growing, it can be a good opportunity to embrace it and utilize it as a groundcover instead of the typical lawn. Moss does well in damp, shady locations; an area where turfgrasses do not grow well. When growing in these conditions, moss becomes a low-input, easy-to-care-for lawn alternative.

However, just like any other plant, when moss is grown in less-than-ideal conditions, it becomes high-maintenance and difficult to grow. If you already have moss in your lawn, encourage it to spread naturally. Remove any remaining weak turfgrass. Pull out weeds and rake out any debris like fallen leaves and twigs.

If you have conditions perfect for moss and want to establish some, transplanting is the best option. Move small clumps or sheets of moss with some of the underlying soil still attached to the rhizoids (root-like structures of moss). If needed, use moss pins or wooden toothpicks to hold the moss in place and keep the area shaded and moist until they become established and begin to spread.

Skip the "moss smoothie" technique of blending moss with buttermilk (or beer, egg whites, potato water, or any other number of potential mix-ins). While mixing with food additives is touted by some garden bloggers as a good method of moss propagation, no research has shown it to be effective at much more than growing fungi and attracting insects. Transplanting clumps or sheets of moss locally sourced from vendors or approved/permitted areas is the best way to establish new moss plantings.

More Information on Growing Moss

More Information

Photo credits: 1: Aaron Steil; 2: Aaron Steil; 3: Aaron Steil; 4: Aaron Steil; 5: Aaron Steil; 6: Aaron Steil; 7: Aaron Steil; 8: Aaron Steil; 9: Aaron Steil; 10: Aaron Steil; 11: Aaron Steil; 12: Aaron Steil

Authors:

Aaron Steil

Last reviewed:

July 2026

Lawn Alternatives to Turfgrass