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A new fully illustrated book, 'Tapestry Lawns: Freed from Grass and Full of Flowers'outlining the background to the format, some of the theory on how such a format ispossible, how to make one, management requirements and details on possibleplant constituents is now available for pre-order via Routledge Publishing and canbe accessed here:Due for release in May/June 2019.What are grass-free tapestry lawns?• Tapestry lawns are a researched turf lawn alternative made by using specificmowing tolerant plants instead of grass.Why?There are a lot of turf lawns!Turf lawns certainly have their place, but in the UK alone a reasoned estimate suggeststhe area of lawn is one and a half times the size of Greater London. That’s an area bigenough to stand in the middle of and see nothing but turf lawn to every horizon.In places like the USA more accurate satellite mapping indicates turf covers an area biggerthan entire countries. More land in the USA is covered by turf than the total area of Englandand Wales combined.The common image of the ‘perfect’ lawn is one of a monoculture of just a few species ofgrass. Monocultures are rare in nature and to maintain one takes substantial amounts ofenergy and effort.The ideal grass lawn has been termed the ‘industrial lawn’ due to the amount of fossil fuel,chemical additives and number of management techniques that are continuously requiredto maintain it to an ideal standard.The ideal monoculture lawn has also been described as a ‘green desert’ since a regularlymown and highly managed grass monoculture does not provide much in the way of habitator resources for either other plants or pollinators.How are tapestry lawns different?• Grass-free lawns can produce over 20 times more flowers than found in commongarden lawns.• They are visited by, and provide a source of nectar and pollen for, more species ofpollinators than grass lawns and commercial ‘flower lawns’.• Native and mixed origin species tapestry lawns contain significantly more insect lifethan turf lawns, providing resources for insect eating predators such as birds and smallmammals.• Plants can be selected for flowers, foliage, scent and novelty.• There is an immediate increase in plant diversity when replacing a monoculturetype turf lawn.• Mowing is reduced by up to two thirds from the traditional 20-30+ times a year toaround 5-9 times annually.• CO2 emissions are significantly reduced due to the reduction in mowing requirements.• Moss is very rarely found in grass-free lawns. No need for moss killer.• No requirement for de-thatching. Thatch is unique to grasses and has not yet beenfound to occur in grass-free lawns.• Tapestry lawns do best with no added fertiliser.• A tapestry lawn is not designed for frequent footfall but can be walked on more thanyou might imagine. Occasional footfall has been seen to be beneficial, acting to pressdown plants so that they maintain in contact with the soil and helps encourage them tostay low growing. It also releases fragrance from scented foliage.• The use of many British native plants makes it very easy to grow in the UK and NE Europe.• Ground coverage in an established grass-free lawn is equivalent to that found in grasslawns even in winter.• Tapestry lawns are perennial and do not need to be replaced every year like beddingplants.• Tapestry lawns show drought tolerance (not immunity), and can remain greener forlonger during short periods of drought compared to traditional grass lawns.• Tapestry lawns have been found to absorb rainfall up to twice as fast as commonturf lawns and up to three times faster than bare soil.• Tapestry lawns are not static features. The internal structuring continually andvisibly changes with the years and seasons.• It is quite possible to add and remove plants as required in a new form ofavant-garde horticulture – lawn gardening!Requirements:Tapestry lawns require the regular removal of grasses to keep them as grass-freeas possible.Like any living and constantly changing garden plant community, tapestry lawnsbenefit from a little on-going care (lawn gardening) to keep them looking goodand species rich.Further Information:Peer reviewed journal articles:Recent article: September 2014. Developing grass-free lawns. The Plantsman. New Series Volume 13, Part 3, 182-187. RHS, Peterborough. Plantsman article Thanks to the following people and organisations that contributed to theresearch and information sharing: Royal Horticultural Society (RHS),Garden Centre Association (GCA), Finnis-Scott Foundation, Mr S. Bass,Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust (UK), Gilchrist Educational Trust,Herbiseed, University of Reading, Botanical Garden of University of Valencia,Bosch (UK).